The Magic Of It All

I realize that Christmas happened practically a month ago, but it seems every time I run into someone and we have the "how was your Christmas vacation?" conversation, I'm repeating the same thing--it was so fun this year! So I want to document it (and dump a bunch of Christmas pictures into the post for safekeeping. Sorry. But not really). The kids--especially Marie--have reached that perfect age where they are bursting with anticipation and excitement for pretty much anything fun, be it play dates that will happen in a few hours or birthdays that will happen next week. Just like I remember my excitement as a kid, Christmas was the like the Mecca of excitement for them this year. And even though we were the ones now staying up all night playing Santa, our kids' delight in every little thing rubbed off on us and made it all so enjoyable and so worth it. I can't think of a better way to describe it than just magical!

The Countdown
Marie has been enamored with calendars lately; one of her favorite things to do is circle important dates and cross off the days. I know the countdown to Christmas for her seemed agonizingly slow, but there was still lots of magic in chocolate-filled advent calendars from Grandma and gathering around our family advent wreath every Sunday to light candles and sing songs. Finally it was Christmas Eve. We went to church, then went to Peter's brothers to exchange family gifts with the cousins and grandparents, and came home for some late-night festivities. It had started snowing while we were in church, so we got the White Christmas we had been hoping for! The kids were so excited when they could eat the last chocolate, blow out the candles for the last time, and set out cookies for Santa. Marie also left carrots for Rudolph and wrote Santa a note. Then Peter and I put the kids to bed to dream of sugar plums while we quickly set to work on the rest of our elf tasks. Peter filled stockings and piled presents under the tree while I feverishly stuffed pillows for the new reading corner. We made short work of Santa and Rudolph's treats, and "Santa" wrote back to Marie. We finally trudged up to bed exhausted but happy that every last bit of magic was in place for the morning. And blessedly, the kids all slept in!!!

The calm before the storm: Our resident bunny
enjoying a White Christmas, the tree all lit up, and a tired
elf headed to bed on Christmas Eve...then
all quiet on Christmas morning (not for long!)

Christmas Morning

Setting out cookies for Santa, discovering the reading
corner, opening baby Jesus, and putting
him in the manger!

Marie woke up first, and we were waiting for her. She asked to put on her queen costume that Gran and Granddad had given her the night before...a theme complete with king and knight costumes for the boys and a cardboard castle to play in that is miraculously still standing! (Erik slept with his new sword Christmas Eve). Marie was soon looking like royalty and made a beeline for the little present sitting in the middle of the new reading corner. We've carried on my family's tradition of reading the Christmas story and opening the most important gift first--baby Jesus--and putting him in the manger. But the boys were still sleeping, so we let Marie play quietly in the castle until they woke up. Once awake, we read the Christmas story from her kids' bible and watched them place Jesus in their Little Tikes nativity set. Then the excitement really took off. They opened stockings filled with Hot Wheels and dinosaurs and nail polish, and made ramps (with daddy's help) to race the Hot Wheels. We took a break for breakfast--caramel rolls and candy cane hot chocolate--and then moved on to the pile of gifts under the tree. This also turned out to be the best time to Skype with my family, who got to witness the kids opening all the long-distance love they'd showered upon us.

More discoveries: Santa's big appetite, stockings, toys, and castles!

Opening and enjoying the gifts! Racing cars through wrapping paper
tubes, trying on clothes, and of course eating yummy Christmas
caramel rolls and Fattigmann from Gran and Granddad
(it's just as it sounds--"fatty man," yummy Norwegian fried dough!)    

Samson also got some love in the form of a rawhide bone a new toy. Ethan actually got the hang of tearing through wrapping paper to open some of his gifts, and it was just so fun to see each of them in their own little bubble of happiness at any given moment. I think the best part was that they seemed genuinely happy about each gift they opened, playing with things or trying them on right away instead of just throwing one gift aside to open another. They were also excited to give each other gifts, which is something we really tried to stress leading up to Christmas--giving instead of just receiving. It just warmed my little heart!

The Aftermath
We got to spend the rest of the day having fun with toys and just relaxing. I baked a birthday cake for Jesus, and Peter's parents brought over a Christmas ham for dinner. We enjoyed a laid-back evening together with all of the new gifts. Before bedtime we snuggled in the new reading corner for story time and bedtime prayers. (I've since caught both Marie and Erik in the reading corner looking at books when they're supposed to be in their room for nap or quiet time)! We all went to bed tuckered out but absolutely fulfilled by the magic of it all!

Happy Birthday, Jesus! Next year I'll do a better job decorating that cake of yours...

Caught in the act!

Bonus: Zoo Lights
We decided during Christmas Dinner that we should take the kids to the Denver Zoo for Zoo Lights before the season was over. It's just what it sounds like--a bunch of really cool lights all over the zoo that you can go see at night during the Christmas season. It was pretty frigid; there was hot cider and cold tears to be had from our little ice queen, but still very much worth the trip! We saw some ice sculptures, and got to go inside to warm up for a bit and see what elephants and giraffes do at night. The elephant was doing some very questionable things to his salt block (sorry, kids), and the giraffes were just lounging around and looking tall. Before we left we saw one giraffe get pampered with a little brushing from a zookeeper which was pretty cool--it reminded us of Samson when he gets brushed. Marie is adamant that she never wants to go back because it was so cold, but I think Zoo Lights definitely on the list for (a warm night) next year!

So many lights!!!

The G-rated version of the elephant playing with his salt block and the giraffes! It's hard to tell,
but that zookeeper is actually reaching as high as she can from a second-story ledge to reach his head!