Had a Holly Jolly Christmas This Year!

What a whirlwind the past couple of days have been.  The force of the whirlwind can be assessed by taking a look at my living room right now.  Boxes, toys, and stuff as far as the eyes can see.  But how could it be Christmas any other way, am I right?

The past three days have been wonderful.

Our Christmas celebrations started on Christmas Eve when we went to P-Momma's house for Christmas Eve dinner.  She cooked up a huge pan of mozzarella mashed potatoes with sausage, green beans, homemade bread, and deviled eggs.  We ate until our little hearts were content and then went straight in to opening presents.

My little Jelly had all of her Christmas wishes come true...almost...thanks to Grammy.  The first two things Jelly asked Santa for this year were a pair of Stompees slippers and a Cuddle-Up-It blanket.  Well, looky what Grammy bought for her...

Butter got the Nerf Crossbow thing he asked Santa for...

And Peanut got the bracelet making stuff she asked Santa for...

Grammy must have some great connections with the Big Guy.  She even managed to know that I wanted a gift certificate for a mani/pedi and Hubby just wanted cash... because that's exactly what we got!

After opening gifts, it was time for some homemade pecan and pumpkin pie.  We sat around and talked, drank coffee, and let the kids play for a while before it was time to head home to prepare for Santa's big arrival.

Once we got home, the kids made cookies for Santa and then we all watched Elf.  After the movie was over, we hung up the kids' stockings at the end of their beds, and I tucked them all in.  Then, I went to bed...once I made sure that Santa was clear for his arrival.

Christmas morning started at 4:30am!  The girls were the first to wake up.  I heard them and got out of bed myself.  I had set the coffee pot to make coffee at 5, so I had to start it myself.  I made the girls sweat for a while in their room while we waited for Butter to wake up.  He was up by 5:30...so Christmas morning started!

They came out of their rooms to discover that Santa must have been pretty happy with them this year...

It's kinda hard to tell from the picture, but there was close to 60 gifts under that tree for the kids.  Santa must have been REALLY happy.  I can't imagine what the tree would have looked like had they been perfect little angels all year.  HA!

It took us almost two hours to open gifts.  Each child opened a gift at a time, while everyone else watched.  We took a couple of breaks so that I could grab a cup of coffee, but the majority of the time was spent unwrapping.

I managed to get a few gifts, too.  Hubby and the kids bought me a new mini camcorder, a case for it, an electronic photo keychain, and a Frappachino maker.  I was shocked by so many gifts... especially since all that Hubby got was a deli meat slicer.  But thankfully, it's what he'd been wanting - so he was more than happy.

The highlight of the morning was when Peanut and Butter got to open up their last gift.  Each of them opened them at the same time.  They were the exact same shape and size.  Peanut was the first to discover a pair of headphones in hers, and then Butter found some...then digging a little deeper, they both realized what was at the bottom of the boxes... NEW iPODS!

I didn't catch the next part on camera, but Butter was so overwhelmed that he actually started crying.  Which, of course, made me start crying.  He's wanted an iPod for so long - and we told him that there was absolutely no way he'd get an iPod for Christmas.

The funny part is that he'd unwrapped a game specifically for an iPod and speakers for an iPod before opening up the iPod.  I made it appear that I had no idea the game was supposed to be for an iPod and that I'd messed up.  I apologized and told him that we'd take it back to the store and get him something else instead.  I told him that the speakers were to use with his MP3 player - which I knew was broken, but played dumb.  The poor guy was a little disheartened... until he opened up the actual iPod.   I'm so mean, but it really added the element of surprise for him. 

It was a very emotional and happy end to gift opening.  Everyone thought they were done... except for little Jelly.  There were just three things she wanted from Santa this year - Stompees, a Cuddle-Up-It, and a bike.  Grammy had taken care of the first two, but I explained to Jelly that Santa wouldn't be able to bring a bike because they were too big to fit on the sleigh.

Take a look in the picture of Butter opening up his iPod.  Do you see the thing sitting next to Jelly's little recliner?  The ugly, blue sheet sitting over the top of something?  Yeah, that had been there all morning, and nobody had taken it any notice...even though it had never been there before.

After all the excitement over the iPods died down, I asked Jelly if she'd take that sheet into my bedroom for me.  She walked over to it, grabbed it, and then discovered that it was covering something up.  Yep.  Her new bike...

More tears sprung to my eyes at seeing her excitement and pure joy on her face.

It was such a wonderful morning.  The kids got EVERYTHING they had asked for, and lots they didn't ask for.

After a little while of opening up boxes and letting the kids play with their new stuff, it was time to head to Grandma's.  We headed out a little earlier than usual because we were supposed to get hit with 2-4" of snow Christmas day.  I had asked Santa for no snow...and he listened, because not a single flake fell at all.

Christmas at my parents' was awesome.  We had a lot of fun, there was no arguing, the food was fantastic, and everyone enjoyed themselves.

Yesterday morning, we all got up and Jelly told me she wasn't feeling very well.  A quick feel of her forehead told me something was wrong.  She was running a pretty high fever and spent the entire day sleeping on the couch.  Hubby and I decided we should head home after dinner, and mom offered to keep Peanut and Butter for a few days.

Jelly's fever broke last night, and she's back to her normal bouncy self today.  Peanut and Butter are spending some quality time with their grandparents, and I'm enjoying some quality peace and quiet.

I really couldn't have asked for a better Christmas.  I'm a little sad that it's all over already, but it always goes by so quickly.

Today, I need to go and get some groceries and clear the tornado devastation from the living room... but other than that?  I think a day or two of relaxation is most definitely in order.