The Big Day

When I was a child I used to get really really confused as to why my parents were always so darn exhausted on Christmas Day. I just didn't get it. Hey Mom and Dad? I get it now. Thank you. I'm exhausted. And happy.

As can be predicted, Christmas morning was great. I think it was partly great because my kids had been up so late the night before that they slept in until almost 9:00. I was expecting Stomper at least to come pounce on us and wake us from the sleep of the dead, but we had to wait for him for a while, and when he woke up we had to go get Bitty out of bed. Is this normal? I don't think so, but I'll take it. Most people I know were done with presents by the time my kids were up. That's okay - it made the morning last longer and the rest of the day last..shorter.

I need to say that it's always so hard for Santa to know how many gifts are too many and how many are too few. The kids need about the same number as each other, right? Plus they need to be equivalent in magnitude, right? At least approximately? And he should not go berserk, but he also gets happy giving them things he knows they will love. It's a tough balancing act. Not that Santa is complaining - Santa is very grateful that he can give gifts to the Preslar kids at all. It's just something that scrambles Santa's brain a little bit every year. Any other Santas out there have the same dilemma? A dilemma we're glad to have, of course.


This was the last year we felt Stomper would enjoy a dinosaur. He's been so into superheros and action figures lately that the dino-obsession is waning. He'll come home from his friend's house and complain that our toys don't have enough muscles. So aside from one last really great dinosaur (notice the streak of blood on its face? Very realistic...), Stomper mostly got toys with muscles. Bitty got a new and improved dollhouse - it's actually a great hand-me-down from a friend (thanks again!) and it was a hit. Her favorite, though, was probably a tutu and ballet slippers. She's asked to wear tutus at friends' houses, but she always gets upset (in that special way that only Bitty can) that the tutu is going DOWN. She wants it to go UP. Meaning, she wants the kind of tutu that sticks out straight from her waist, not the long flowing kind. So she got a tutu that goes UP and pink ballet slippers, which we couldn't get her out of all day.

Here's poor Alex, who gets upset on Christmas morning, as at all times that are boisterous and filled with his people not sitting still. When I finally sat down on the couch he burrowed in between the new dollhouse and my feet, the only place for his head being inside the dollhouse. What a nutty dog. There are times when he acts offended that you invited him up on a comfortable bed, but when he's freaked out he'll go anywhere to be close to you. Love him.

After a quiet morning together we went back to my folks' house, just us this time, and we enjoyed brunch with them plus Troy's parents too. My parents put together quite the feast - we only needed about 10 more people there to finish up all the food. It was really nice. The weather was horrid - no magical afternoon of sledding this year - it was so windy and sort of sleety. But being together while the kids played happily and quietly (and mommy got a little nap...) was just the ticket. By the time we left it was after 4:00 and then it was just a downhill slide until bedtime. It was then that the real storm hit and we got pounded. Eight inches, which isn't so much, but it was blowing in like crazy all evening. Made for the perfect setting for a fire, popcorn, and A Christmas Carol with my husband.

Nice day. I'm grateful for it, for the things we enjoyed today like the gifts and the tree, and also the things we enjoy every day, like our family and friends.