Sometime after the kids opened their annual Christmas eve pajamas, and were (finally) tucked snug in their beds while visions of sugarplums danced in their heads, Santa visited our house. He ate all of the cookies the kids had carefully picked for him and then must have gone straight to work setting out gifts and setting the stage for what would be a magical morning at our house.
I'm guessing Santa's visit took place sometime in the wee hours of the morning because we had a super excited little 5 year old who couldn't get her eyelids to close. After what started out as cute excitement and then turned into about 100 trips up and down the hall to put her back in her bedroom, threats started to work there way out of my mouth. Threats that Santa would not come if the entire house was not sleeping. Threats that there would be one very unhappy brother and sister in the morning if Santa had to skip our house because Lillie wouldn't go to sleep. And at about the two hour mark of going back and forth Hunter took it upon himself to stake out in front of Lillie's door. It wasn't to long after that, that our sweet girl finally gave into sleep, until about 3am when Clint caught her trying to sneak into the living room to see if Santa had come. Oh I love the age of our fun little girl and get just a little bit sad when I think about the fact that she's the last five year old we'll have in our little family.
A few hours after Clint got Lillie back to bed I heard Molly stirring. It was 7am when I stuck my head in her room and could tell that even though she said she might, she wasn't going back to bed. We decided it was a good time to check to make sure that Santa had come and then wake up the rest of the kids to see what awaited us. I just love the joy, excitement and squeals that is Christmas morning at our house!
Hunter was the first one out of our bedroom and instantly found the bone waiting under the tree for him. The kids seemed to have gotten most everything they had asked for and were so sweet and thankful as they opened their gifts. Molly found a special letter waiting in the tree from Santa letting her know that he had arraigned for her to send her American girl doll, Holly to the hospital to get her hair fixed and her ears pierced. The sparkle in her eyes was pure magic! She was so excited that Santa had gotten her letter and given her the one thing she had asked for but kept secret from the rest of us. The joy and excitement of her response to Santa's gift brought a tear to my eye. I loved that even though she's growing up and didn't ask for any toys, Santa's gift brought with it the slightest glimpse of our mature girl as her little girl self for just a few minutes again.
After all the gifts were open and most of their new treasured items were put away,Clint's parents came over and shared in a big breakfast with us and then some more gift giving. After they left we lounged around with full bellies watching the Christmas story. Our all time favorite Christmas movie and the only thing that makes it's way to our t.v. set on Christmas day.
After spending a good part of the afternoon relaxing we loaded into the car (all still in our pajamas) and headed to my parents house for what felt like Christmas morning all over again. We enjoyed a dinner feast with more food then any one family should consume and then spent the rest of the evening playing games and spending time together laughing and reminiscing. I know I say it every year, but I honestly think this was the best and for sure the most relaxing Christmas ever!
{Liam (aka Dennis the menace) in the tree 2, Molly 10, Lillie 5, Landon 2, JK 13}
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