Finally, they raced out to see what Santa had left them. Harrison had one big request this year -- A Batman Castle. He also got his own Leapster (no more fussing over sharing Madeleine's which kind of made it a gift for me too) and a few other fun toys.
This year Madeleine didn't really have any big requests. She wanted a pretend puppy and a real church bag of her own. The funniest part is that Santa had already put in the order for the church bag, long before she actually asked for it -- guess he really knows the kids well, huh?? Her big gift ended up being an Easy Bake Oven, which she loved!
We let Charlotte sleep for a bit longer and enjoyed watching the big kids explore their new gifts. Then we got the little one up and had such fun watching her get SO excited about what Santa brought her!
That Ball Pit has brought her so much joy -- she loves to get as far away from it as possible, then run crazy fast and dive into it.
Charlotte was also thrilled with her new baby and stroller. She loves her baby dolls! She rocks them and sings to them and carries them around all day long. She has to have one in her crib when she goes to sleep, too. Such a little mommy!
After playing with all that Santa had left and checking out their stockings, we took a break and had some breakfast -- cinnamon rolls (homemade, of course, since they are my new fav thing to make), eggs, bacon and fruit. Then it was time to tackle the presents under the tree. We tried to take our time with this because I really wanted to see the kids reactions to what they got.
One of Madeleine's gifts was a new nightgown, something I actually had picked up during the summer and forgotten about until just before Christmas. She immediately put it on, and kept it on for the next 5 days. :) I had to sneak and wash it during one of her marathon baths.
I think Charlotte was completely confused by the mess. Ha!
We spent the rest of the morning and afternoon playing with all the new stuff. It's funny how that after they've seen all their own new toys, they have to go and check out/play with the others new toys.
See....Madeleine with Charlotte's stroller, and Charlotte with Harrison's Leapster. :)
We finally sat down for Christmas dinner around 4pm. We feasted on ham, sweet potato casserole, green bean bundles, corn casserole, and strawberry pretzel salad and rolls. It was sooo yummy!
I made a pie for dessert, but the kids prefered to have their christmas cookies from the day before. I think Charlotte enjoyed hers.
After dinner, we gave the Easy Bake Oven a try. Madeleine is at such a fun age for this. She still needs some help, but she can do a lot of it by herself. And, was she proud of the finished product! I have to say that I had a whole new love for my Dad after that night for the years he spent not only eating every bite I cooked from my Easy Bake Oven, but also requesting that I cook and raving over what I made. He made me think it was the best food he'd ever eaten, when in fact, as I learned that night, it tasted like cardboard. So, thanks Dad. Thankfully, somewhere along the way I actually did learn to cook. :) And, I ate every bite that Madeleine cooked for us and while, yes, it did taste like cardboard, it was still the best cupcake I've ever had because it was made by my sweet 7 year old.
Can you tell how proud she is of her work?? 
It was the perfect Christmas day. I'd do it over again and I'm already looking forward to next Christmas. I love the traditions we have and the memories we make each year. I love that the 5 of us haul up in our house and spend the entire day playing and having fun. And, this year, that fun day turned into a fun few days. We actually didn't leave our house until Wednesday night after Christmas. And that was only for a few hours. We spent most of that week playing with new toys, watching movies, playing Wii and just having fun together. I could do that week again too. I don't think I even turned on my computer the entire week. :) It was wonderful. 
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