Christmas

Merry Christmas! Hope everyone had a great one. Join me now, for our Christmas. It's hard to believe that my two oldest are already on the naughty list for next year. They did it in record time too! At 3:28 on Christmas morning, Lanny and Louie came running into my room and woke me up. Now, just the day before Lanny and I had agreed that 8:00 am would be a good compromise for everyone to get up at. I didn't want to get up at 5:30 and he didn't want to get up at 10:00. So why, were they in my room at three...bleepity, bleep, bleep thirty? Lanny started speedily talking about how Santa had been there and left a note and that the apple we left made Rudolf's nose glow brighter and I couldn't figure out how he knew this since he wasn't suppose to go in until everyone was up and Aaron was sleeping right in the living room and apparently hadn't even noticed Lanny prancing in. Lanny had woken Louie up and then they had both come in to wake me up. Aaron and I hadn't gotten to bed until two, so I was a little cranky. Here is our conversation.
L-"Mom, get up!"
Me-"What time is it?...Grrrrrr!"
L-"It's three-twenty-eight!" Then he proceeded to speed through how he hadn't seen anything, but still managed to read the note from Santa.
Me-"Lanny, Louie, go back to bed...grrrrr!"
L&L-"Okay."
L&L-"Hey Mom....."
Me-"It's been six minutes, go away...grrrr!"
They left, then came back again and again and again.
L-"Mom, can I take a shower?"
Me;"Yes, go away."
I fell asleep....
Louie-"Mom, can I take a shower now?"
Me-"Yes, go away!"
I fell asleep and was rudely awakened by two quarreling children, "I didn't flood the bathroom, you got all the water on the floor." "No, you did, that's how my underwear got wet." "You need to clean it up." "Uh, uh, you do."
Me-"Go away...grrrrrrrr!" Are we seeing a pattern here?
L-"Hey Mom, it's five thirty!"
Me-"Lanny, what was our agreement? You and Louie need to go back to bed. You can read, you can sleep, you can talk to yourself, but stay in your bed and don't come back in this room until it is eight o'clock....got it?"
L&L-"Okay."
I fell asleep.
L-"Hey Mom, now don't get mad (probably not how you want to start a conversation) it's 7:30, and I know that we aren't getting up until eight, but.....I thought since it might take a while to wake some people up (he was talking about Kessie) we could start now and then she'd definitely be up by 8:00."
Me-"Lanny, it is not going to take a half hour to get your sister up."
L-"But, Mom...."
Me-"Okay, Lanny, give me until 7:45 and then you can wake your sister up."
L-"Okay."
I did not fall asleep again.
Louie-"Hey, Mom, it's time to get up!!!"
Me-"Louie, grrrrrrrrr, it is only 7:37. I said 7:45."
Louie-"Oh, sorry, my bad!" She ran from my room.
L-"Mom, I know your clock only says 7:44, but my clock said 7:45, so can I go wake up Kessie?"
Me-"Grrrrrr, fine (I was giggling by this point)."
So the two naughty children woke up their sister and then yelled for their Dad to get up and he woke up Kel....who is not a morning person, and did not enjoy Christmas at all until after she had taken her nap at 11:00.
Even with so much sleep, I was a bit tired Christmas day, but we did have a wonderful day. My favorite gifts were the homemade ones. All my children, except Kel, insisted on making gifts for each other. They were so thoughtful and giving and I love that about my kids. Santa was very good to us this year and now we just have to find places to put all the stuff. We're a bit crowded as it is.

I made them line up in the hallway for a pic before they went into the living room. As kids we always had to go in youngest to oldest, so that's how my kids have to do it to.

This is my absolute favorite picture from Christmas. All the kids were so excited because Aaron got pencil shavings in his stocking along with a note from Santa. Aaron called that jolly man fat on Christmas Eve no less, and that is unacceptable. Apparently, coal, is a hot commodity (no pun intended), and so Santa thought pencil shavings more appropriate to remind Aaron that he shouldn't slam Santa.

Although, not thrilled to be up before 10:00, Kel perked up a bit when she saw chocolate. She proceeded to help herself to whatever she wanted from her siblings stockings!

Lanny's in love! Wouldn't you be if you got live traps from Santa, yeah, me neither.

Kessie was sooooo cute! It wasn't really what she wanted, but she got ice skates from Santa. When she opened them she squealed..."I got skiiiiiis!" Yes, I love skiing on ponds too! Can't wait to try it out with her!

A cute moment I caught when Kel was stuffing her face with candy and Kessie was tickling her. They are so cute together. And if you look close, you'll see Kel is sitting on Kessie's saddle that she got from us. Aaron found a used one for her and one for Louie. 

Louie was thrilled to get a bunch of earrings from her Auntie. She never plans her outfits, but she has been planning what earrings she'll be wearing the next day every night before bed.

This is one of those homemade gifts I mentioned. Without my knowledge, Lanny made this cute snowman for Kel. He used glue dots, leather, and his brand new socks....aaaaargh! When I saw the new sock, I kind of choked a bit, and then had to control my seizure when he casually said, "It took quite a few socks to stuff it too!" No wonder my children can never find socks in the morning. It is such a thoughtful loving gift, and I am so proud of him for making it, but I told him I'd help him re-stuff it with stuffing. Sweet boy!

Hope you all got more sleep than me and were blessed to get to spend Christmas with the ones you love!