Santa Came!

They kids slept well all night! This hasn’t been the case the last few years, so we were pleased. Even Ruby, my early riser, didn’t wake up until 6:45. She got to spend a lot of time in our room while we waited FOREVER for the boys to wake up. She was in heaven playing with my make-up and watching shows on the computer. We finally woke the boys up around 8:15 because none of us could wait any longer. We all gathered in our room while I went out and made sure everything was in place. Then we opened the flood gates, and they came out to see what Santa had brought for them! It was a picture perfect Christmas morning. I wouldn’t change one thing. Their ecstatic little voices as they discovered new things around the room were priceless. We let them eat candy, and open toys all they wanted. It didn’t take long for them to realize that there were also presents under the tree, so we went ahead and opened those too. There were even a couple surprises for me! As they opened new things, I’d stash others away, so they weren’t overwhelmed, and I’d have some secret weapons for when there was a need. Also, we may have recycled the easel they got last year, but I never let them play with because they were irresponsible with chalk.

We hung out with the Ribeiras a little and exchanged some gifts (a gift card to Graffito's and all the babysitting I could ever ask for, not to mention very cute arts and pictures!!). It’s fun having family around, especially during the holidays.

We finally got around to our pull-a-parts and breakfast Strata around 10, which I was happy about. I was still full from dinner until then. It was delicious as I always remembered, and the kids loved it. Mostly the pull-a-parts, of course. They thought the timer on the camera was hilarious when we took a picture at the table.

Somehow, I managed to get everyone into the bath, which was  a nice break fro the craziness. I wasn’t so successful at nap time. Not only had they slept in, but there was so much fun to be had! So after a “quiet time”, we loaded everyone in the car and headed for the church where we had plans with friends and missionaries to play with marshmallow guns. I kept track of the kids while the game was going on. It was fun to see some friends that had stayed in town for Christmas. We ended up inviting the Verhaarens for dinner. She just had a baby a couple weeks earlier, and we had so much food. So, we headed home, taking in all the lights while it still felt Christmasy. I threw the ham in the oven, and we were very happy to put the kids down for an early bedtime after one last reading of their favorite pop-up version of “The Night before Christmas”.

Elise and I did a quick Facetime with the fam, while Mom and Dad opened the present from all of us. Hopefully their new tablet will make webcamming easier! We put a quick table together, and around 7:30, and enjoyed a delicious, warm meal with friends and family. We also hade a great time playing a round of BANG!. And we got to play with a cute tiny baby. It was a lovely end to a lovely day.

We’ve been having a hard time getting dressed and eating anything healthy ever since. But the new toys have saved the day on a few occasions when I needed something to keep the peace around here. We’re still hearing medleys of Christmas songs from the kids (Bennett in particular loves to sing his heart out during a good part of the day), and they continue to ask to see Christmas lights on a daily basis. I was in the mood to take a lot of our decorations down the day after Christmas, and the kids were so confused and sad, going around the room asking where this was, and where that went. Even the wreath! I love that they love this time of year so much.

So ends our last Christmas in Maryland. It’s been a place of many sweet memories, and we’ll never forget all of our good times here. Merry Christmas to all!