Tuesday, December 28, 2010

And so this is Christmas...

So, Santa did, in fact, come to our house. Brenna woke up first and just came straight to our bed without looking in the living room. She fell back asleep until Brooke woke us up about 8, very excitedly, telling us... "Santa has come! Santa has come! Come look Mommy! Daddy! Brenna! Hurry! Santa has been here!!!!"

So we all scrambled out of bed to find this...
Brooke was very excited, but also trying to hide her disappointment for not finding the highly coveted REAL hamster she had asked so hard for. All that were there were two Zhu Zhu pet toy hamsters. And she told me, "you were right Mommy... I guess Santa thought I meant a toy hamster...oh well." She was such a good sport and that made me love her so much more that day. She wasn't bratty or upset by it. She was just excited to have gotten so many other things. The hamster not being there was only a slight disappointment. Here she is looking at everything, taking it in that there was no hamster...
And here she is with the toy hamsters, trying to hide her disappointment...
However, what she did not realize, that Santa had tricked her! He had put the hamster up on the bar (out of the dog's reach) and there was a bag blocking her view.

It wasn't till later that she discovered the REAL hamster. In the meantime, we first went and got dressed for the day, then had our annual birthday cake for Jesus before any presents were opened. Who can argue with cake for breakfast??
Then on to Santa's presents. Here's some excitement over the glow in the dark Scooby she also really wanted. Hamster not forgotten. She was just genuinely happy/content with what she was receiving. Love this girl. :)
And Brenna was equally excited over a Rex (from Toy Story) flashlight that talked/lit up when it opened.
And then we moved on to stockings. Brooke made sure there was nothing left behind this year. When we put up stockings at the beginning of the season, there was a pair of socks in Brooke's that she had apparently missed last year! So this time, she was making sure it was empty!! LOL
Brenna got more of a sugar high that morning than ever before I'm pretty sure...
Even the dogs had a nice treat in their stockings. :)

And then, before moving on to our own presents, when Brooke was not looking, I casually went over and moved the bag that was blocking her view of the hamster. Then I asked her to go take the cookie plate and empty glass of milk to the sink. She was shocked at what she saw...

I think its safe to say this was the best surprise ever for her. She was beyond thrilled and couldn't believe how Santa tricked her. She is still talking about it 3 days later! As far as the hamster goes, she has decided to name her Belle. In keeping with the "B" theme and she said it would also remind her of Christmas time because of Jingle "Bells". She hasn't gotten to hold it too much yet. We are taking things slow, because the hamster is still real scared. So she pets her often through the cage and we've begun to feed her out of our hands and such. And honestly, Brooke is just as happy with that. She still can't wait till she is very tame and she can hold her regularly, but she will also just go in there and stare at her through the cage and/or pet her from the cage and asks us to open it up to pet her a lot (she knows not to do it herself for fear of the hamster getting loose). She also tells me a lot of the time how much she loves Belle. :)
Anyway, after the excitement of discovering the hamster, we went on to exchanging our own presents.
Brenna with her new Leapster2...
A Buzz and Jessie showdown (that they gave each other)....
And Daddy with his new Keurig coffee maker (and lots of coffees to go with it!)...
I got lots of techie stuff (which I love, so don't knock it!)...including the new Photoshop version, plus the video editing software too! A super high capacity mini SD card for my phone, along with a new headset for my phone, and a new neck strap for my camera (cuz I hate the one it comes with). I also got a real pretty Mother necklace and some iTunes. :) And Brooke and Brenna picked out each a nice scarf/glove set for me. They are really nice and Brad said they both flipped out when they saw them, wanting to get them for me. :)

Here's the aftermath of Christmas morning (after a lot of the trash was picked up of course)...:P
Finally, after the sugar rush wore off (sort of) and we had a light lunch and naps, the rest of the family came over for Christmas dinner. PaPoo got busy right away cooking in the kitchen...
Nana arrived..
And later Sammy, Tara, and Muna too!
Here is Brooke doing placecards for everyone...

And the pretty table..

We had a huge turkey and ham dinner, complete with all the fixin's that I take no credit for. My dad always enjoys doing allllll the cooking, so hey. I let him! After dinner, we gathered in the living room for more presents!

Here's the bunch...
And Sammy helping Brenna with her goodies...
Brooke excited about her Rapunzel doll (we had just seen the movie the day before....very cute movie by the way!)...
And opening more and more presents!
We all had a great Christmas. The girls were well behaved and very appreciative of all the new things they were blessed with. That's all I can ask for. I always fear that they will be spoiled and say something mean when they open new stuff. But they were most gracious. And most importantly, they know what the season of Christmas is all about. I hope everyone had as wonderful Christmas as we did! :)

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