Navy played Mizzou in this year’s Houston Bowl, and so we made our way down to Reliant Stadium to tailgate, enjoy the company of family and friends, and see if the girls had the right stuff to last through a full day of football-related fun! They’ve visited a tailgate before (Rice/Navy) but didn’t stay long - so this was the real deal.

We started out a bit slow…and COLD. At 10 AM there was no sun out as advertised, but luckily we had some hot chocolate which Sophie’s recently discovered she enjoys. Phew.

Maddie prepared for a “Photo Scavenger Hunt” that I threatened to make them go on if they got bored. Somebody tell her she’s not going to get very far with the camera pointed that way!

Later on inside the stadium, Soph decided it was more interesting taking pictures of the seats - inch by inch - than actually watching the game…

And poor Maddie just thought it was better to just play dead. Or at least, very, very asleep. For the first half, anyway.

This picture speaks for itself. These girls look out for each other no matter what. Even through football games!

Soph eventually gave up too, though in perfect sync with Mad - who woke up just before Sophie dozed off for the whole second half. Maddie actually ended up enjoying the game while awake - though she was much more concerned about Mizzou’s mascot looking sad on the sidelines than the action on the field. At least we have her looking the general area. Andy will have to work harder if he wants girls who know their football!

Oh my.

The kids thought Daddy was being rather grinchy making them wait until 8 AM to open their presents. And they showed it! Just kidding, they were just hamming it up for me. But they did run into the bedroom about once a minute to update Daddy on what time it was and how many minutes they had left. Did I mention this started just before 7?

In the meantime, they played with one of the un-wrappables - a great big cardboard playhouse for Sophie. Truth be told, this was my solution to a Christmas request I couldn’t bear to buy - a super-large Barbie dollhouse seen in one of the Sunday newspaper ad inserts. So I decided that Santa was a little absent-minded and just thought “big house” instead of “big dollhouse”. I think this is more fun anyway! Luckily for us it folds up flat and fits under a bed, so it’s not nearly as obnoxious as one would fear. And just their size!

“Hey Mom!!! Is it 8:00 YET?????”

Amazingly enough, we didn’t have a single thing under the tree that required batteries! And not even on purpose! Golf clap, please.

After everything was open, Maddie and Sophie got to work decorating the house with the markers that came with it. It’s kind of like having the biggest coloring book ever. I haven’t taken pictures of the inside, but let’s just say at this point it looks…a bit like being under a city bridge. Except with washable markers instead of aerosol spray cans!

Sophie was SO GREAT at sharing the whole thing with Mad - we were really proud of them. There are two doors on the house, so each of them took one and decorated that side themselves. I like how Sophie’s light is completely black…either she loves Halloween or just hates visitors. Don’t know which one yet (wink). That’s OK - we can always go in through Maddie’s door!

They come bearing gifts of…themselves! And construction paper!

Wise-person hats designed and created by none other than themselves. Maybe they’ve been watching too much Project Runway…

When Sophie first came home and told us that she was playing the part of Mary in the 4-year-old preschool Christmas program, we weren’t quite sure whether we could take her seriously (about the part, not whether she could play it. She could play just about anything as long as someone was watching!). But, lo and behold, on performance night, there she was in all her Mary-ness.

As timing would have it, Sophie tried a taste of her first hot chocolate (ever) about a half-hour before the evening show started, and as a result was a little bouncier than usual. We were sure that she would be more “Sister Act” than serene, but somehow she directed all her energy into singing…BIG.

This song isn’t a solo, all the kids are supposed to be singing the same thing. Guess who we could hear plenty of? Luckily, she’s largely able to sing in tune and so it was pretty wonderful.

Maddie approved of the show, since she had a turn in the exact same program last year as a sheep. It doesn’t matter what part they played - I love both my angels!