Another stellar Christmas. The kids are at the perfect age for Christmas. We gave them a pop quiz on Christmas Eve about the Nativity and they scored nearly 100% and you can bet your bottom dollar that next year they won't forget what type of shrub yields myrhh. Erika fell asleep early, Christian stayed up a little later to leave cookies and carrots for Santa and his reindeer, and Juliet cried, ate, slept, ate, slept, cried, cried, ate and slept. We were lucky that the kids slept in until 7:00 a.m. before going out to see what Santa had brought them. They were delighted with their booty. Juliet got milk and she could not have been happier. Erika loves her Barbie head. I found the in-laid jewerly table on which it rests on eBay. You open the lid and a Reuge music box plays Arrivederci. We're afraid to leave the head in Erika's room. I wouldn't want to wake up and see that thing staring back at me in the middle of the night. Would you?

A month ago, Christian said Commander Rex from the Clone Wars was his favorite clone. So I bought, masked and painted this helmet in blue with Rex's unique horn markings on the forehead. Then three days before Christmas Christian announced that Commander Cody was his favorite - you know, Cody, with the yellow markings and yellow visor? Well, we can't have everything we want, can we? Christian opened the helmet and was so excited that any thoughts of a Commander Cody helmet vanished. For the purists, a comparison of renderings and computer images of Rex's markings lack continuity. I did my best with this helmet I bought at Target. And for those unfamiliar with AYBABTU, check out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nf9Y--_aY70&feature=related for the original and some of its permutations. See also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_your_base_are_belong_to_us