Somebody was here last night!

Ho Ho Ho!!!! Looks like someone slipped down the Thomas chimney! Yep, it was Jolly Old St. Nick himself and he definitely spread some Christmas cheer! It's always such fun to watch the girls light up the moment they realize that he has been here and left his magic little touches everywhere. As usual, Caroline was the early bird - and I say that a bit sarcastically because there is none of this five-o'clock-in-the-morning waking everyone  from a dead slumber. No, she is more of a 7:30ish kind of girl - which is perfectly fine with Trav and I. And little Miss Emily sleeps until 8:30 or 9:00. I admit that by that time we are usually pretty ready for her to stir and stand up in her crib and demand someone come and get her so she can come and inspect the night's delivery. The girls loved all of their treats. Caroline got an XBox Kinect (okay so maybe Santa brought that for the whole family), lots of new beads to make jewelry, games, clothes, and new Barbie odds and ends. Emily's big gift is a new red stroller for her new baby that talks and lots of real baby diapers to keep that baby clean as a whistle. For a couple of months now Emily has been diapering her baby dolls with her own diapers which was becoming a tad expensive, so we were very glad to see that Santa brought her "bee-bee" some of her very own.

We had a good breakfast - the same as every other Christmas morning - and Grandmama and Granddaddy came over to share that and see what Santa brought. We even got Grandmama to play some XBox and she racked up quite a high score on Dance Central. Very impressive. All in all a fun and memorable, cozy family Christmas morning for us. More than anything that was left under the tree we are thankful for each other. Nothing beats family at Christmas.

Orbeez

Calling everyone she knows to spread the word.

Grandmama can break it down.

Proudest mama in town.

Sharing with Granddaddy.

Feed the baby, Em.

My sunny girl.

Alas! How dreary would be the world if there was no Santa Claus!... 
There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, 
no romance to make tolerable this existence.

~Francis P. Church

Christmas Eve Memories

Christmas Eve is probably the most magical evening of the year. It's one time when everyone gets to experience the excitement and joy of Christmas through the eyes of a child. I know that, at least for me, I am able to leave behind all the stress and rush of the entire holiday season for a couple of hours and enjoy the moments of anticipation and just embrace my family and the joy of Christmas. After spending the morning and afternoon with Grandma and Papa at their house, we went to church for the Christmas Eve candlelight service and then back to Grandmama and Granddaddy's for a quick supper. After that we had to scurry home quickly to get ready for Santa's visit. We left a note and cupcakes out for Santa, sprinkled our reindeer food, and then the girls were allowed to open the gifts that they got for each other before bed (they loved them!) After that, everyone had to go to bed! Caroline was very nervous that she wasn't falling asleep fast enough because she said she kept hearing reindeer hooves on the roof! Excitement!!

"Christmas Eve was a night of song that wrapped itself about you like a shawl. But it warmed more than your body. It warmed your heart... filled it, too, with melody that would last forever."

~ Beth Streeter Aldrich

No Boys Allowed!

I'm putting this here to mark my place! More later.

Feeding Reindeer

Every Christmas Eve, our girls leave reindeer food out for Santa's reindeer. We lovingly cook up a recipe that includes oats and glitter and then sprinkle it all over our front yard. The glitter helps the reindeer fly! It's soooo much fun to watch our girls enjoy all the holiday excitement of Christmas. I venture to say that Christmas as a parent is double the fun of Christmas as a little one. All the food was gone the next morning, so those reindeer obviously enjoyed themselves! We were glad to provide the service!

"You know Dasher and Dancer and Prancer and Vixen, Comet and Cupid
And Donner and Blitzen. But do you recall the most famous reindeer of all?"

~ Johnny Marks