Christmas Morning

Ahh, Christmas!  The happiest day of the year!  Our children we practically delirious with excitement for Christmas this year.  Looking back, I probably made things worse with our Christmas countdown starting at Thanksgiving!  We had multiple conversations a day about when Santa would be here, what he might bring and how excited they all were.  Maura wanted a zoo set, Tristan wanted a light saber and Bennett wanted a Mickey Mouse pillow and they wrote their Santa letters in mid November this year.  Because of all the excitement and because of Tristan's tendency to sneak around a bit, I put up a barrier at the top of the stairs to keep all the little sneakies contained until we were conscious enough to join in the action.  I was right to do so, too, because Tristan was the first to burst indignantly into our room in the morning, demanding to know why there was a barrier on the top of the stairs!  I took a page out of my parent's playbook and made everyone at least brush their hair before we headed downstairs.  When I was a child, my parents would drag out the production on Christmas morning, making us all find robes and slippers, brush teeth and hair, make beds and line up at the top of the stairs in birth order before finally being allowed downstairs.  We used to chafe under it, but it taught patience!  I simply required a hairbrush and a photo before they were allowed to see the downstairs!

Three happy, excited, impatient kiddos managed to bring out a smile for mommy.  They probably knew it would just delay things if they didn't smile!

It took them just a moment when they got downstairs to figure out where everyone's gifts were.  Santa brought the presents wrapped up in Santa paper.  Bennett was slightly overwhelmed for a few minutes, but he quickly got into the swing of things!

It was so much fun to witness the unwrapping and the joy of my children.  It's truly one of the most magical experiences to witness as a parent.  Bennett could not have been more thrilled with his new Mickey Mouse toys.  I love that he's in a Mickey phase right now.  The other kids liked Mickey, but nothing like Bennett!

This Christmas was all about weapons for Tristan.  He got Nerf guns and Light Sabers galore.  Maura got one present that I just knew she was going to love.  It was a beautiful peacock puppet.  She's been asking for a stuffed peacock for awhile now and this one was the coolest one I found.  She launched herself at me as soon as she opened it to give me a hug!

SUCH a happy girl!  She plays with that peacock all the time.  My sweet little bird lover!  Tristan FINALLY got his light saber.  This has been on the wish list since just after his birthday in May.  Too bad he didn't mention it before we bought him his birthday gifts!  We're looking forward to many light saber duels to come.

So excited about his castle too!  You can see Bennett in the background with his Mickey Mouse pillow.  He was so thrilled!  The big kids have had pillow pets for two years now, but Bennett has had to wait.  The fact that it was Mickey Mouse is icing on the cake.  He loves it.  It goes with the rest of the menagerie in his crib, which includes about four blankets, a pillow, a stuffed Mickey and football, a toy motorcycle, plastic Mickey mouse and generally a least one sword or dagger.  He likes to be prepared!  Bennett got yet another weapon to add to his arsenal for Christmas.  He loves this Buzz Lightyear gun so much!

After making it through all the gifts, I asked the kids if anyone had spotted the pickle ornament.  It's an old German Tradition to hide a pickle ornament on the tree and the first child to find it gets a prize.   Of course Maura has ALWAYS won this contest!  Always until this year, that is!  Tristan was quickest this year and Maura was in tears when she didn't find it first!

I wanted breakfast to be really special this year, so I made a breakfast casserole with homemade cinnamon rolls and homemade hot chocolate and some fruit.  I shouldn't have gone to any trouble for the kids.  They were so excited that they barely touched their food!  I think they were just trying to save room for the chocolate that was still to come when they opened their stockings.  I tried to have them hold off on their stockings a bit because they're really the last gifts of Christmas and I wasn't ready for the fun to be over in fifteen minutes!  They finally wore me down with asking for them and they were so excited to dig in.  Poor Bennett doesn't have a stocking of his own  yet. His loser Mommy hasn't sewed one for him yet.  It's on my agenda for this month, though, so that I don't get to next December and run out of time again!  I WILL have a stocking for my child by his fourth Christmas!  Thankfully he can't read yet!

After stockings, all the assembly began.  There was a lot of assembly.  A WHOLE lot.  Daddy is a trooper!

Brent got lots of nice gifts, but I think his favorite might have been his helicopter.  He's truly young at heart!  Grammy and Pappap stopped by for a visit in the early afternoon.  The kids were so excited to show off all their new toys and to play with their grandparents. 

That evening, we headed over to Grammy and Pappap's house for Christmas dinner and a little more present opening.  The kids had forgotten to give their gifts to each other!  Correction:  I had forgotten to get the gifts out that were purchased in early November and hidden away since then.  The kids went shopping at a local Extension office.  They had a Santa's workshop and the kids got to go shopping with a helper.  They brought all the gifts back already wrapped and ready to go.  It was wonderful!!  Apparently, though, one of the friendly helpers allowed Bennett to buy a Louisville scarf for Tristan!  Tristan was thrilled and thought he was stylin' in his new scarf, until Brent made a big fuss about it!

We made Brent wear the scarf in punishment!  It was apparently the year of the scarf as Brent gave scarves he purchased in Afghanistan to all the females in our family.  Emily enjoyed trying out her burka.

It was truly a magical Christmas for the Allen family.  I couldn't help reflecting throughout the day about Christmas last year, when we Skyped with Brent in Afghanistan and missed his presence for the rest of the day.  This year, it was such a blessing to have our whole family together, to make memories and share in the love we have for each other.  We are truly blessed and we thank God for the blessing of His son!  We took one last photo with Uncle Jeff and our Christmas was done.  Can't wait for next year!