Best Christmas Ever!

SO, in general Christmas has been a bit of a bummer for the past few years. Not because of Christmas, but just me--my mood. I would often get irritable and sad. This year was so different though! I enjoyed almost every moment! I felt so blessed when about a week before Christmas, I was just overwhelmed with feelings of joy and contentment. I put a lot of effort into doing some special stuff with the kids and really trying to enjoy the season. We had the Gingerbread House Party, we went to see the Lights in Meadow, baked cookies, went ot church on Christmas Eve...it was a wonderful Christmas.
Yesterday was a perfect Christmas Eve (except my husband was a little grumpy for some reason). I prepared Christmas dinner, with some great help from my husband the dishwasher and my sister who was in charge of the turkey. We ate early--at 3pm. And it was delicious! Most of the meal was our traditional fmaily fare--we had a ham and turkey, stuffing, duchess potatoes, broccoli with cheese sauce, roasted carrots and then we threw in a last minute addition of creamed corn casserserole. Everything was fabulous. Between the two of us, Katie (my sister) and I managed to produce a perfectly cooked, glazed turkey (kudos to Aunt Kiki!) and all of our sides were fantastic. We ate at 3:30pm with lots of time to get ready for church at 5pm. The boys were decked out in their new suits, and all of us put on our best--although we were all a bit warm, because it was 70 degrees outside!!
This was one of the first Christmas Eve services that we have attended as a family. This probably seems wierd, being that I work at a church, but with our family committments Christmas Eve is usually a stressful, non-fun time. This year was different. part of that was in my mood, and another reason was the planning. This is the first year that Christmas has been at my house, totally under my control. So, I thought long and hard and tried toplan the day in a way that would be not-as-stressful, and would gety us to the church on time! Success!! The church service was amazing--it was a beautiful, and yes the kids kinda drove me crazy, but seeing them at the end, singing Silent Night, each holding up their own candle warmed my heart.
We came home and realizzed that we could not find the "special" reindeer food (aka oats & glitter) that jackie had gotten from a friend at school. So, I had to have a creative mommy moment and declared that reindeer LOOOOVE Honey Nut Cheerios. The kids totally went for it and we preceded to sprinkle half a box of Cheerios in our front yard!
We then got ready for bed, left out cookies and carrots/celery and coaxed the kids into bed.
When the rest of us finally went to bed last night, I know I fell asleep with a grin on my face. I remebered how it felt as a kid, waking up in the early morning and feeling the weight of a filled stocking at my feet--knowing that Santa had come! I fell asleep smiling, knowing that my kids would know that feeling in a few hours. Sure enough, come 5:30AM there came a small voice, whispering that Santa had come!! Charlie woke up Jackie and they opened their stockings. Charlie dumped everything out like a whirlwind. Jackie took each item out, one at a time, and examined each small gift. They were very excited with their new Webkinz and we managed to keep them upstairs until almost 7:30am. They named and registered their new pets and played with the little toys that had been left. Then we all went downstairs to wake up Aunt Kiki and wait for Baboo & Grammy. Santa was so good. The boys all got items that were on their list--Charlie almost peed his pants as he opened up the Police Headquarters Lego set!!! Jackie got the Bat Cave and Pogo Stick he had requested and Santa totally followed through on the Thomas the Train stuff Henry wanted. He also brought a Shake'N'Go Race Track, a box of dress-up clothes, these crazy Batman Wings, a three story garage for hot wheels and bunches of little stuff. Jeremy got a cashmere sweater and new hat and I got a set of Jim Shore angels, an awesome knife sharpener and a pair of Birkenstocks! The Morgans were more then taken care of! My dad got his annual t-shirt with a picture of his adorable grandson's on it (he says these shirts make him a chick magnet--girls are always looking at him and smiling when he wears his Christmas t-shirts!) and my mom got lots of chocolates and a necklace from a small shop in Cameron Village. Aunt Kiki got a bunch of great stuff, including jeans, a scarf, an awesome duvet cover and a new game.
Jeremy worked hard all afternoon, putitng together Legos and new toys, while my sister, mom, Henry and myself all enjoyed looong naps. We had a huge Christmas breakfast before that (pancakes, raspberry syrup, vanilla scented whipped cream, bacon, fried duchess potatoes, fried ham, scrambled eggs and mimosa's, which probably contributed to the need for a long nap!).
It was a wonderful Christmas. It was such a blessing to have my family here and spend time with my beautiful children. I am looking forward to spending next week with friends and family in Florida.