Christmas Magic

It was a sweet Christmas.

I still have reservations about the whole Santa issue, and I will always strive to downplay it as best I can, but I was reminded about the sweetness of Ella’s anticipating his arrival: the cookies and milk, the letter she carefully wrote him, the trying to stay awake to hear him come, the noises she heard outside that she was pretty certain were Santa’s reindeer. And of course her sheer delight when she walked down the stairs and saw the missing cookies and milk, return letter from Santa and gifts under the tree.

It really was a magical day for her. (Aren't the girls' matching Christmas gingerbread jammies so cute?)

The highlight for Ella was “Felicity”, her new American Girl doll who now accompanies Ella wherever she goes. Samantha's big Santa gift was her new slide. Learning to walk more than 2 steps on her own is priority #1. Climbing the slide by herself is priority #2.

In addition, we now own more baby dolls, doll clothes, Barbie stuff, walky talkies, books, clothes and talking toys than ever before.

Santa was very good to me this year. While I was adorned with all of my favorite things, the best gift of all was in an envelope in my stocking. It was neatly labeled, "Mother Medallion Level Member-- Congratulations, You've Arrived!" Santa apparently read my earlier blog post lamenting the fact that us moms have to do without any job perks. And what was inside? A Marriott Rewards certificate for a free night's stay! But where shall I go? And whom shall I take? Oh, the choices! Thank you, Santa.

Brian, the kids and I squeezed in a visit to our friends, the Kebbies who we try to visit with every Christmas. Adama had been cooking for two days straight and tried to stuff us full of food. We enjoy our tradition of being with them and now that we live a little bit further from them, this was the first time since we moved that we've seen them. It’s hard to believe how quickly their kids are growing up. We’ve known them for over 5 years, when Adama and the kids arrived from Gambia to join Brima here. Their kids, Tity, Joe and Fatimatah are kind, entertaining, smart kids. We're so glad they're our friends.

Brian assisting Joe with his new transformer toy:

We spent the remainder of Christmas at my parents' home. My sister, Jen and her family, and my brother, Drew and his fiancé (yes, we were informed that morning that they will be getting married! We are delighted that Chloe will be joining the family and we are of course looking forward to traveling to Hawaii for their wedding in 2010.) had flown in on Christmas Eve. We had a lovely afternoon with everyone, exchanged gifts and took naps. Conveniently, my sister has girls who are very close in age to Ella and Samantha, which makes playing with Christmas toys much more fun.

Ella and Lauren posing in front of the tree prior to gift unwrapping:

Feasting on my Mom's fabulous Christmas cooking. Her Christmas morning orange rolls did not disappoint. Heaven forbid I ever have to make those myself one year--I don't think I could do them justice.

Samantha and Sarah--nine months apart in age, which is a big difference now, but will become less significant as they get older.

And for those of you who know my Mom, you'll know that she is a woman who does not sit still. She does not know the meaning of relaxation or putting her feet up. When she's not being principal of her high school, she is engaged in something productive. So if you know my Mom, it wouldn't surprise you that there were 4 handmade quilts under the tree (3 queen-size and 1 King), and she and my Grandma made 6 DARLING dresses for Ella and her 5 cousins who are the same age (I will post pictures once I can get them off my camera...they are lovely). She really outdid herself this year.

Family, friends, traditions and good food are my criteria for a fabulous Christmas, so I guess you could say it was a success! The day after Christmas always seems like such a let-down after all the excitement is over. But with my sister's family here through New Year's, and cousins to play with, we're still celebrating and getting lots of fun outings in. A full report shall follow!