Buckets of Fun!

I know I said Christmas Day was kind of crazy, but since that chaos has died down we've been having nothing but fun! On Boxing Day (yesterday), Martin's family has a tradition of going out and hitting the after-Christmas sales at the mall. Now, Martin and I are neither one big mall-goers, nor are we big shoppers, but this is a fun tradition anyway, especially since we get to eat lunch at Luca Pizza! Yesterday we ended up being a group of 10, which was kind of big for shopping (mostly we spent the day keeping track of each other, and then Martin and I had to break off because Anja got a little crazy and none of us had eaten, so we went to find food) but it was still fun! AND Martin got three new pairs of pants for work, which is something he desperately needed. We are going back sometime this weekend to look for work shoes for him... his brown shoes have sprung leaks and he comes home on the wet and snowy days with soaked socks!

We came home from shopping and all three of us were worn out. Anja took a good nap and didn't wake up until 6:00. By that time Auntie Perkalator had come over and we were making plans for people to come over and play Boggle and eat Chinese Food. It ended up just being Joel, Perkins, and TusaRebecca, with Emily showing up for a few rounds of Boggle. Fun! We stuffed ourselves full of Chinese Food (leftovers will be eaten tonight) and had a good time. It's fun when Anja takes late naps and stays up later than usual because we can be social and loud without waking her up. Plus, she enjoys having all those people over.

This morning we all slept in until 8:00 and didn't get out of bed until 8:30. We lounged around downstairs for awhile, Anja opened the last of her Christmas presents from us, and eventually she went down for a morning nap (surprisingly) and I was able to jump in the shower before the Marmalejo's came for their visit. Luckily, Clare forgot about the time change and it didn't matter that I was just getting in the shower at 10:00, which had been her estimated time of arrival. They got here at 11:00 (which makes them very prompt, considering the time zone thing) and we had a very fun time! We visited for awhile and Anastasia played with all of Anja's toys while Anja finished out her very long nap. I was so happy that they said they liked our house and that it was cute and cottage-y! I find that the biggest compliment anyone can give us. I feel that way about my house, but I know it's a little dirty too, and I always hope that people aren't just grossed out by it. Aaaanyway.... it can be a challenge to get Martin REALLY laughing, but Nick succeeded in doing this, which is great. Once Anja woke up we all walked down to Scagnoli's for lunch. Yum! On the walk back we bumped into the Schafer girls. From there we drove over to Vienna where we had more of a good time, and eventually their little family went on back to Munster and we stuck around Vienna to hang out with Uncle Joel who was there reading applications. Anja was in the most fantastic mood of the century THE WHOLE TIME, and only when I saw the time did I suggest we leave to get her a second nap. She fell asleep almost instantly when we got home and she had her bottle.

So, it's been a very fun day!! I loved meeting Clare--my mom asked me if she was just as cute and sweet as she seems on her blog, and I assured her that she is!--and it's always fun to see Nick. Their girls are gorgeous! And it's fun to hang out with people who aren't your best friends, and yet you never seem to run out of things to say.

Anja got LOTS of books for Christmas, which is wonderful, but her book basket is now overflowing! We've decided that when we take down our Christmas decorations after Epiphany, we will replace the mantel with the bookshelf from Martin's weight room. I'd like to paint it a sage green and maybe distress it a bit, but no matter what, I think it'll be a nice addition. It will be enough to hold her wooden toys and all her books. I love our front room. I think it's so cozy.

I'm regretting my lack of picture-taking from this weekend... Tomorrow I think Uncle Joel is coming over with pizza for dinner!