Christmas 2010

Christmas is magical...especially when you have kids to share it with.  There is just something about seeing it through the eyes of a child.  Leaving the cookies for santa (Cortlan left about eight).  Feeding the reindeer (both kids had to put their boots on to shake the glittery food on the snow).  The anticipation.  Waking on Christmas morning with excitement and gasping at the wrapped treasures under the tree.  Even I had a more difficult time sleeping on Christmas Eve.

Our Christmas traditions begin on Christmas Eve, when we have my in-laws over for socializing, dinner and gifts, and a traditional reading of The Night Before Christmas.  Christmas morning is time for us to slowly enjoy the opening of presents, breakfast, and whatever else we feel like doing as a family of four.  After the kids have their naps, we head over to my parent's house for dinner and gifts with them.  If we are lucky (and this year, we were) we are able to put the kids to sleep there and enjoy the evening with some adult conversation.  This year was pretty typical in routine, and we loved every minute of it.  Even the moments that made it unique, like

• A beautiful church service with lots of singing, Everly's diaper leaking, and Cortlan obsessing over the candle we got to hold.
• Bringing up the turkey from the garage refrigerator on Christmas Eve morning, five days after putting it there to thaw, and two hours or so before it was to go in the oven, and finding it rock-solid frozen.  Still.  Fortunately, the grocery store had a fresh one left.  Otherwise, who knows what new tradition may have started.
• Our family picture in which the kids are dressed in their beautiful red and black Christmas outfits, but in which makes the appearance of two pillow pets and new winter hats.  The picture wasn't going to happen otherwise.
• Everly crying herself to sleep because she wanted to wear her new shoes from Grandma to bed on Christmas Eve.
• Cortlan waking in the morning to ask us if he was allowed to see if Santa had come, and then when he saw that he indeed had, running straight to the present that he was sure was the grill he wanted.  He opened it first, and he was right.
• Everly tearing into her presents like a champ, and loving every one, but us having to stop halfway through as she totally stripped down to her diaper and declared that she needed to get dressed.  "Desst!  Desst!!"
• Cortlan staying in his PJ's until after nap because he did not want to get dressed.
• Everly making crazy monsters with twenty different appendages with the new Play-Doh set that she got, while Cortlan made us burgers and hot dogs on the grill.
• Everly and my dad rubbing noses, laughing, and upon stopping, her saying, "Moe!  Nos!!"  (More nose!) Again and again and again.
• Cortlan telling me a bedtime story about himself and his cousins that included the line, "and up the hill I ran."

The holiday was filled with too many toys, but many, many joys.

Magical.