Christmas Joy

I hope that everybody had a great Christmas, just like we did. I love Christmas with little kids. It totally brings back the magic of Christmas. The sheer, uncontainable joy and excitement that they have is priceless, and thankfully, it is contagious. Watching them enjoy the gifts that I selected for them is great too.

Aaron is too cool (he's almost 7, you know) to show too much excitement. However, on Christmas Eve, he went to bed at 8. This was his own idea. He wanted to hurry up and fall asleep so that Santa would get here quicker. Aaron usually falls asleep in less than 5 minutes, but on Christmas Eve, it took him close to an hour to finally be able to keep those lids closed. Sadie was her typical self at bedtime...it took her close to an hour to fall asleep, too, but that's what we're used to.

On Christmas morning, Aaron woke up at 1 (we sent him back to bed), at 4:30 (he got in bed w/ us), and at 6:30 (he went and woke up Sadie). The kids looked at their stocking stuff for a bit, and then, on to bigger things.

Aaron opened his biggest gift first (the one from Santa). It was what he expected...a red electric guitar. But he was disappointed because there was no "box" (aka: amp). I asked him if he had asked Santa for a box, and he realized his mistake. I told him he could use his birthday money to buy an amp (but really, he got one the next day from his aunts, uncles, and cousins for his b-day...thanks everyone). He was fine, then. He was also excited about his Rip Stick (so far, no trips to the ER, but keep watching...there's bound to be a post about that when it does happen), and his game. He was less than thrilled with the gift that was clothes. Oh well. My kids always get 3 gifts from me and Toby, and one is always clothes. He'll just have to get used to it.

Sadie was visibly (and audibly) excited about all her gifts. I think she screamed the loudest for her gift from Santa. It was "Dora with a Flying Horse," which is what she had been asking for every time anyone asked her what she wanted for Christmas. That's pretty consistent for a 3 year old. She also screamed w/ excitement when she opened her clothes (typical girl?) She also got some pink Lego's and a jewelry box.

We then cleaned up a bit, and loaded up to go to my family Christmas. That was the mass chaos that I have come to know and love. There were 7 out of the 8 of us kids there most of the day, plus spouses and children (7 kids in all, not counting the grown men who act like children). It was noisy and hectic, but I loved it. It feels like home and I always miss it when it's over. We did Aaron's b-day, played, opened gifts (again, Sadie squealed with excitement for every gift...it was fun), and then ate.

Friday, we woke up to a child w/ pink eye. Lovely. So, we didn't get to spend all day Friday in the chaos. Instead, we packed up, and headed home. I feel like I have been cleaning ever since, trying to put up all the new stuff and figure out what old stuff we can get rid of to make room for that new stuff. We are so blessed!

So, like I said at the beginning, I hope everybody had as great of a Christmas as we did. Family and joy and excitement. You can't beat that!