Merry and Bright: Christmas Day

I think Stomper was the only person who woke up at some crazy pre-dawn hour and tried to rouse the rest of us, but we were successful in convincing him to go back to bed and not wake up until it was at least light outside.  I'm sure he rested very peacefully for that hour and a half. Actually he was so stoked that I kind of picture him lying with his eyes squeezed shut but levitating about 3 feet above the covers as he vibrated with anticipation.  The moment the sky showed the merest hint of grey he was back upstairs wiggling us awake.

When I was a little girl we had a tradition of lining up youngest to oldest or sometimes shortest to tallest, placing our hands on the shoulders of the person before us, closing our eyes and allowing our parents to lead us stumbling into the Christmas tree room.  I loved it so much I can barely imagine there is another way to begin Christmas morning.

Troy and I thoroughly enjoyed our children's excitement and jubilation as they opened their gifts - Stomper got a fire-starter from his father to be used only under his careful supervision as well as some Lord of the Rings legos. Bitty got her much desired clogs and a sock monkey, as well as her first set of legos which she seemed to totally love.  Bundle got the Merida doll with horse as well as the Merida dress she's been telling everyone since Novermber that she wanted. Thank heavens she didn't change her mind two days before Christmas.  They each got a book and a craft item and a few other little things - it was a very  nice morning.

Here I am reading a note that Santa had written in response to the letter Bitty wrote him and left by the cookies.  They were pretty darn excited about that!

Had to capture the actual affection between siblings - Bitty had just opened a gift from Stomper - a GIANT ballerina doll that you can hook to your feet and dance with.

Christmas wish coming true!!

Bitty also got a DS - it is a hand-me-down from my sister.  I had to say that so no one thinks that Bitty got better presents than everyone else this year. She was pretty stoked.

Hobbit Legos - a gift from his sisters

What was really fun was that both of the big kids got Lord of the Rings lego sets.  After a morning of thoroughly enjoying them (they began building them before the last shred of wrapping paper had hit the floor), and after a nice little brunch at my parents' house, we came home and had a discussion about Lord of the Rings.  We decided that both of the big kids were ready.  It's one of our favorite stories and one of our favorite movies of all time and the kids handled The Hobbit just fine.  So....early in the afternoon we started Fellowship of the Ring.  (Bundle and I of course did other things in other parts of the house.  She's not quite old enough.)  It was SO. DANG. FUN. to watch them watch it for the first time.  Troy fielded an almost constant stream of questions throughout the movie, good soul, and I was glad he was there so the kids could understand as much as possible.  Of course, the next day came The Two Towers and we are now at the half way point on Return of the King.  (That's a LOT of movie watching over the past few days - finally last night Troy and I insisted that we watch only 1/2 of the final movie and save the last for tonight.)  So we are in Lord of the Rings heaven over here and just loving it.  I'm so glad the moment finally arrived when we could enjoy it together!  And actually, I am excited and looking forward to the time when it is Bundle's turn - maybe in 3 or 4 years we can start the Harry Potter journey with her and then after that she can enter the world of the ring too.  So fun.

We have had a very Merry Christmas! (Okay, Troy and I  both have the flu at this point, but other than that...things are great!!)