Santa Came

Christmas morning around our house is such a wonderful, lazy time. We actually woke Madeleine up after 8:00 because Harrison was awake and wanted to see what Santa had brought.....and Matt and I just couldn't wait any longer either! :) Harrison had asked for some tools and a pirate ship; Madeleine wanted a Barbie house and car. And, of course, Santa delivered! These kids may not look like me, but they definitely have some of my characteristics....they took their time looking at their toys....no screaming....no chaos.....so sweet and excited as they checked out every single thing Santa left them one by one.

Here are a few pictures of what Santa left (which I took after they'd been up for awhile).

Harrison's tool bench. This is SUCH a cute toy. It even has "wood" pieces that you can actually build some things with!

Madeleine's barbie house. We had the same version of this house when I was little, only now it makes sounds. And has a popup flatscreen TV. And a hot tub. I want to live here....

Santa also brought them an easel which ended up being a BIG BIG BIG hit! They have played school and colored on it for hours. Good job Santa!

Harrison with his FIRST piece of chocolate for the day from his stocking. Thankfully, Santa doesn't bring a lot of candy in their stockings......this year they got lots of other non-sugar items.

I also have to add that this is what we woke up to on Christmas morning.....SNOW. A white christmas. I tried to take it in since I know this will probably not happen again for years and years. This is the view from our back windows....

We had to remind the kids that there were gifts to be opened as well. They were so thrilled with what Santa had left them that they completely forgot about presents! But, it didn't take much to convince them to stop and open them! :)

Madeleine modeling her new slippers.

And her new purple tutu (we also got a new pink one....she loooooves these things!) Notice Harrison in the background in his new big boy pants Santa left in his stocking. He's so stinkin' cute in them!

Another ballerina pose....

After presents it was time to go play outside in the snow. This is the first time they'd really played in snow and what fun it was! They lasted a good 30 minutes before coming in, and when they did their little legs and arms were red from the cold. :)

My little snow angel....she was crusted over with snow. Most of that came from playing tackle with Daddy out in the snow.

The rest of our day was spent playing with new toys and spending some time with Mimi and Grandad who braved the snow to spend Christmas with us.....and we're so thankful they did. We had a yummy meal and some of us got a nice nap (not me!).

Of course, the kids had to take turns playing with each other's toys as well. Harrison spent the better part of the afternoon trying to figure out how the elevator on the Barbie house worked and Madeleine created a birdhouse with Harrison's tools.

It was absolutely the most perfect day! It took several days before our house was back in order and didn't look like FAO Schwartz, but it's all worth it.