Merry Christmas

After dose 3 of Tamiflu on Christmas morning, Miller was fever free and acting normal. What a huge relief and present to our family! The kids slept until 7:30 and they waited until Joy to the World was all cued up for their departure to the hung stockings on the stairs waiting to be opened. 

It wasn't long until the kiddos raced into the living room and spotted Santa's special deliveries. There were squeals of delight all captured on film. It is such a magical experience. A doll house for Eliza Kate with a Princess and the Popstar singing Barbie. She literally is two dolls in one. With the push of a button she belts out "Here I Am" .  The surprise gift was a Mega Mansion wooden doll house with an elevator. Now, all of EK's barbies have a home in our playroom. This was a labor of love for Santa to assemble. The dollhouse was too big to fir in front of the tree so it found it's home in the corner of our living room. How did it ever squeeze down the chimney? A mystery for sure!

Santa brought Miller a 20 inch bike. He quickly outgrew his first bike this year as we would sing "Big boy on a Little Bike". He specifically asked for a green Mountain bike. And, Santa delivered one with all kinds of gears. He's riding it with the seat all the way down in the lowest position so there's room to grow.

Omi and Papa opened gifts with us. We all take turns opening one gift at a time.

Santa brought Skylanders SWAP force for the Wii. This was his second Santa gift that was unwrapped. In our house, Santa doesn't wrap his gifts from the sleigh, They are set out by the fireplace if they fit. 

The new Skylanders figures can be mismatched with bodies and heads to create your own character. Miller is excited to start trading and swapping figures with our neighborhood friends. They visit each other's houses with their characters:)

Miller picked out a Tortilla Making Taco bowl set for Landon:) They now have a new project together in the kitchen.

Then we tackled all of the wrapped gifts from us. A Cinderella doll was oohed and ahhed over. 

I love Eliza Kate's body language in this photo asking Miller, "What could it be?"

He opened an LED spin flyer to use inside or outside. We'll see if it marks up the basement ceiling & then I'll give it approval for use inside:)

This was Miller's most talked about request this year. I think part of him was disappointed that it wasn't sitting out from Santa. Now, Santa can't steal all of the gifting glory around here. He unwrapped a Lego Train set with a remote control. I love the look of sheer joy on his face as he opened one of his favorite gifts. It's fun to have a project with directions on Christmas day. And, he's really quite the lego master these days at 6 years old. 

There were lots of little girly gifts that EK loved. It was the year of princess and Melissa and Doug crafts. She is our arts and crafts dressed up princess lover after all. We are in a wonderful age of all things girly.

We cleaned up Christmas and enjoyed a traditional Foken's' Christmas breakfast of yummy chocolate and vanilla filled pastries called Pandulce. The kids played with their new toys and we slowly enjoyed our new treasures. The kids didn't anticipate any more surprises left to discover.  Landon announced a final outside gift. We got all bundled up in mittens, hats, and coats to unveil the last outside surprise. 

 Omi and Papa spoiled the kids with a new trampoline! Now, our Santa had time to assemble the entire trampoline on Christmas Eve ( pinched fingers from the springs and all). The finishing touches of the spring pads and net covering were left for a warmer day:) We did let the kids jump in the very middle in the brutal cold for about 5 minutes! 

A funny side story involved the trampoline sitting out in our backyard for all of Christmas Eve. We made sure the kiddos stayed away from the windows on the back of the house in order not to ruin the surprise. We knew this gift would be a little tricky to keep a mystery.

What was wonderful Christmas morning surprise! Miller was made to get  out all of his energy out on a trampoline.

 Giggles and laughter quickly took over our back yard. We quickly knew this was the winner gift. It was a highly discussed present in our home. I wasn't sure if I was ready to break out of "safety mom" mode to patrol the trampoline on playdates. But, trampolines are made so much more safely today than the trampolines of my childhood. Anyone remember landing on the springs?

Merry Christmas to all! With two healthy children, we felt blessed to share in togetherness on this day celebrating the birth of Jesus and the gift of family.