Cindy On Tour: Merry Christmas!!

It's finally Christmas! Graham and Charlie woke us up probably around 8:30am or so. I guess they couldn't wait any longer, especially when Mommy LOVES to sleep in :-)

Looks like Santa did love all his cookies:

No, I actually had Bobby put them back into the tupperware instead of actually eating them at 10pm. Ha ha!

Graham and Charlie are ready to dig into their Christmas socks:

The boys even got some present from their English "uncle" Ben and "auntie" Ara:

Ohhh,... an emergency bracelet and also the boys' first Swiss Army knife. Fancy :-D

It never fails to amuse me how Bobby wraps presents. Definitely from him this one:

Wooo... Mommy likey. Thank you boys!

Awww, so sweet. The boys (including Daddy) picked out a new charm that's got a rocket on it. It's called "A trip to the Galaxy". They thought it was most appropriate since we just saw the rocket launch in Vandenberg right before Thanksgiving Day:

The number of charms on my bracelet is slowly adding up. It's like the gift that keeps on giving :-D And by the way, the hummingbird (on right side) is also a new Christmas present. Love it!

The boys bought something special for Daddy too. Don't you just love the way we've been wrapping present? Any present that are NOT from Santa will be in some sort of recyclable form i.e. paper bag or cardboard box:

Looks like Daddy loves his new pancake pan!

He also got this "Lucky Tiger" after-shave from Santa, which he absolutely loves. He discovered that at the Swim Club this year. The first time he used it, he was so excited and made everyone smell him. Ha ha!

I guess new clothing just doesn't excite the boys as much anymore:

This is probably more like it for the boys - a cup stacking game. We'll have to practice so we can have a little competition:

So okay, I don't think this is actually how the game works:

But now that Charlie has started, he just can't stop!

New record!!

Awww... this gift card also has an ornament attached to it:

Thank you Grandma and Pop-pop for the lovely gift cards (and the new Crocs too!):

Charlie wanted a new night light from Santa. Ta da!!

I really wonder if Charlie actually still believes in Santa. Graham is really good about faking it, I think for Charlie's sake.

Graham got a 3D paper panda. Let's hope he can start and finish this project!

Mommy decided that these boys needed to learn how to cook (and learn the science behind it) so here's a cook book for Graham and Charlie. Hopefully the boys will cook us a dish someday:

Ohhh, a lovely digital photo frame from a lovely friend/family. We have so many photos to upload!

Charlie is busy using his knife to cut into one of Graham's presents:

When Graham first saw this box arrive at the house a few weeks before Christmas, he already knew what was in it. He was already saying "Snowy" is in this one. Smart little stinker:

Bobby bought the boys a kids' version of crossword puzzles. Looks like this box is going to live another day from the recycling bin:

Looks like we are almost done opening presents and Graham is immediately playing with the microscope again. He says he needs to make a scientific discovery. Ha ha!

Daddy is appreciative of his new book from Momma :-D

Charlie is still playing with the box. Oh, I did make him put on some gloves since everyone knows Mommy's records with tools around this house :-P

Oh my goodness, look at our little crystal tree!

Time for Daddy to make his yummy pancakes with the new pan:

Oooh, these emoji pancakes are too cute!

Another good friend of mine brought some yummy popcorn, which is immediately getting Charlie's attention. This kid LOVES popcorn:

Such a lovely gift basket from my friend! I can't wait to try those new pajamas. I've been wanting to buy a new one and here it is now :-)

Family we-fie in front of our tree. It's a good Christmas:

And on top of breakfast, Daddy cooks up some breakfast sausages and also some eggs. He keeps saying it's the BEST eggs and I keep telling him I DON'T LIKE MUSHY eggs. Maybe he will get the message eventually :-P

In the meantime, Charlie has made a "Book Car". I'm guessing it's a box car that you can read in. Love it! Except it's so big and where is it going to go in this tiny home???

After a quick meal, we finally get the boys into the garage to bust out the "big" presents from Santa:

Here's the video: https://youtu.be/Wx7WZVKc2-g

Graham is obviously very very happy with his new surfboard:

I thought that maybe his collarbone would have healed by now, but we'll have to wait another month. Probably best anyway because it's been raining like crazy these past few days and the water is probably choppy and super cold.

And here's Charlie's reaction when he opens up his last present from Santa:

Looks like Charlie is super excited too! He just couldn't believe how Santa knew almost all the things on his wish-list:

After all the excitement, Graham is back at the microscope:

And Charlie is busy building his Lego:

Looks like Mommy will be busy with some of her own projects/presents too:

Not too long later... Ta da!! Charlie's Lego is all done!

And our kefir has fermented too. Ready for some strawberry and banana kefir/smoothie. Yuuummm....

And I told the boys we are doing a dance-off this Christmas. Daddy is first with Charlie:

This is too cute!

I'm glad Graham's shoulder is feeling better too so he could join in as well:

These videos are precious:

Okay, Mommy's turn. No laughing!

I just couldn't stop laughing. This cat video was just too funny. LOL!! Needless to say, we all had a good time and burned some calories doing it!

Well, now that the dancing is over, it's time to start making dinner. We did start this new tradition of making our own pasta for Christmas dinner. Looks like Graham and Charlie are having a good time:

Charlie is breaking up the dough into little balls and putting it into the machine, while Graham is in charge of cutting the pasta once it is formed:

I love that they are participating:

All hands on deck! Looks like Daddy is charge of the camera :-P

Oh boy, looks like we will be eating different lengths of bucatini. Ha ha! By the way, Charlie was the one that picked the type of pasta for this year:

Merry Christmas!!

I swear these taste better than they look:

I made some cheesy sauce and it normally turns out much better than this. Not exactly sure what happened. And this is even my 2nd attempt! The boys didn't complain though, thankfully: