Christmas 2010

Christmas Eve was spent at home with my babies. I cooked, cleaned, and played. Tralee helped me make a birthday cake for Jesus, and we ate a piece for dessert after dinner. We even lit some candles and sang Happy Birthday to our Elder Brother. The kids were bathed, we watched some Christmas movies, and we spent a cozy night together waiting for Santa to come AND for Daddy to come home. We had a long day of prep and play, and before I knew it, it was time for sugar plums to dance in my children's heads, so I put them to bed and waited for Santa to come. Before tucking them in we played with our nativity and I told them the story of Jesus' birth, and reminded them once more why we celebrate Christmas. Even with all the excitement, it didn't take long for my babes to drift into their dreams. I promptly went downstairs and finished preparing for Santa's arrival.

Here's what the living room looked like after Santa's visit:

I went to bed late, and couldn't really fall asleep cause I was so excited for Jim to come home! I was also excited for Christmas to come!!

Jim finally made it home in the middle of the night and he and I spent a few hours laughing, talking, and wondering what the babies would think when they saw Jim AND when they remembered it was Christmas. Jim and I finally got a few winks when Tralee wandered into our bedroom (like she does most mornings), climbed into our bed, rolled over and saw Jim, and instantly became glued to him. She kept saying, "Oh!!!" She couldn't believe her eyes. Hunter was excited too when he woke up and noticed Daddy was home, but not as much as Tralee. Tralee's a little Daddy's girl. After all the excitement of having Jim home wore off a bit we asked, "Tralee and Hunter, do you want to see if Santa came?" That brought a whole new level of wonder, so off we went to see if we were good little boys and girls.

The consensus was we were all on the nice list. Tralee had been asking for a "Puffing Pig" (among other things) for weeks. Every time we talked about Santa, or saw Santa, she mentioned the Puffing Pig game. She even told her friends, "Santa's going to bring me a puffing pig." Sure enough, the game (which is really called Pop the Pig) was waiting for Tralee with a letter from Santa. Tralee couldn't believe her eyes, and as she crept up to it a breathless "Whoa!" escaped her lips. Jim and I started playing a game of Pop the Pig with Tralee right away, and became a bit confused when Tralee ran away scared. We figured out she thought the pig was REALLY going to explode and its insides were going to get everywhere. We showed her this wasn't the case, and she warmed up to it again. Since Christmas morning I think we've playing Pop the Pig about a million times.
Hunter on the other hand, wasn't all that impressed with all the gifts. Probably because they just looked like red and green boxes and not toys. The gift he did like right away was a ball that was wrapped up. Hunter loves balls, and before this ball was even unwrapped, Hunter was rolling it around. Imagine his joy when he realized, he didn't have to play with it wrapped up in silly Christmas wrapping paper. Other than that, he wasn't very interested in unwrapping gifts. Tralee was quite the opposite, so we let her help Hunter with his. She frantically unwrapped each gift and then exclaimed, "Daddy! Daddy! Daddy! Look! Look! Look!" It was really cute.

Tralee even helped Corky with her stocking.

Candy for breakfast? Yes, please.

Tralee got some princess shoes. As soon as she unwrapped them she ran up to her room and put on a dress. I guess princess shoes and pj's don't go together.

Hunter's favorite present was this ball game thing. He kept going, "Whoa!!!" and then cracking up as each ball popped out. Tralee also had fun playing with it.

And. . . . here's the aftermath:

We didn't get it cleaned up until the next day. In fact, later that day Jim and I let the kids play with all their new toys while we went and took a nap in our new bed we got each other for Christmas. But, before that we ate Christmas brunch.

When I grew up in Wisconsin, where all my family is from, our Christmas tradition was eating Christmas brunch at Nana's house. It's still a tradition there, but since I can't be there, I fix the same Christmas brunch for my family:

Frozen Peaches

Creme filled crepes with raspberry sauce

Ham

Quiche Lorraine

Kielbasa

Cherry Kringle

Cranberry bread

and give or take a few more menu items

It's just not Christmas without crepes, quiche, and all the rest.

We had a wonderful Christmas together as a family. We all spent the day in our pajamas (except Tralee who probably changed outfits five or six times), we watched Christmas movies snuggled up together, played games together, ate yummy food, played pretend (Tralee got a princess castle and she and I spent a few hours playing pretend), we called and talked to family, took naps, ate more yummy food, and just enjoyed each other's company. It was perfect!

I hope that everyone else had a wonderful holiday as well.