The Things I want To Remember about Christmas....

Here is my list of things I want to always remember about Christmas 2016.

1) First thing: it was 2 days of pure bliss.  No fighting, no tattle-tales, and only ONE melt-down on Christmas night at bedtime.  I'm not one to sugar-coat my life 'cause it is HECTIC and no one needs to think it is perfect. But Christmas Eve and Christmas Day really was so incredibly perfect between the walls of my home.  My heart grew 3 sizes for sure.

2) It was our first Christmas in Oklahoma and it was 75 degrees on Christmas day!

3) It was my sweet Sullivan's first Christmas!

4) On Christmas Eve, I cooked all day long for a feast that is still feeding us (2 days later) because even though I don't get to be with extended family, I can't give up the delicious Christmas Eve food that I grew up eating every single year!  With a few add-ons that we've come up with...

5) The kids' last calendar gift of the month was a set of bells for each of them to ring on Christmas Morning.  They were SO excited for that, and sure enough, at 7:22AM we heard those bells ringin' to alert us that they were awake and ready on Christmas!

6) My daughters asked to wear make-up on Christmas Eve because "it was a special occasion" and then danced and sang and smiled so beautifully in front of my camera for a good chunk of time.  They looked so beautiful that I wanted to cry.  I can't get over how big they are getting.  They're so special.....  And Sully is just beyond adored.  I love every single inch of all 3 of them.  I don't know HOW I got so lucky.

Piper- 4  Lucy- 5 1/2  Sully- 10 months

7) The girls laid on the fireplace mantel on Christmas Eve night to try to look up our chimney to see how wide it was for Santa to fit through.  I just thought that was so cute.  The magic of Christmas is SO alive in my home!

8) Shawn and I got right to work after they all went to bed (early!) to put together all the toys....Since Sully didn't need his big toys from his grandparents wrapped, we put them all together and that took us the longest.  Geez- so many screws!  Piper got a keyboard and Lucy got a bike, so Shawn was in charge of that! The next morning after they opened all their gifts from us, we brought out the big stuff for them :)

 9) The girls asked for such SIMPLE things from Santa this year.  I was happy to oblige!

 10)  One of my favorite memories is this one:  We let Sully sleep in because it's not nice to wake a sleeping baby.  And the girls were running through the house like tasmanian devils that morning to get to the tree when they first woke up.  Anyway- when he woke up we brought him out and put him on the floor.  Piper was SO excited to see him and show him his Santa gift that she stopped playing with her new toys and ran to get his Santa gift for him. She was knocking things over and stepping on stuff, but nothing was going to stop her from carrying his Santa gift to him as fast as her little self could.  She just couldn't wait to show him what his first gift from Santa was and play with it with him.  I loved watching the whole scene take place.

 11) Sully LOVES his gifts. They all play music and immediately he starts bopping up and down to the beat.  He loves to dance.  It's my favorite thing ever.

 12) The girls had so much fun with all of their new stuff. It's crazy to see Lucy starting to like things like journals and jewelry kits and such...She didn't ask for a single doll or Barbie this year.  It was shocking.  She still loves toys, but it was a little sad that no baby-dolls sat under my tree for the first year since she's been alive :(

Watching their new movies in their Mermaid Tail Blankets

 13) The last thing I want to remember is how magical this year was.  This was the first year that there was full-on dialogue between Lucy and I daily about Santa and how he manages to work his magic.  She has NO doubt in her mind that he is so real.  Same with Piper.  They believe in Santa and his elves and the reindeer with all their little beating hearts.  Christmas is truly full of magic, wonder and amazement and I get to witness that all month long during these precious years.  I can't thank Heavenly Father enough for the blessings of my children and for giving us the gift of Christ on Christmas.  It was the start of something wonderful; celebrating His birth and everything else that has evolved over the years to include Santa and the North Pole just fills me with so much happiness I feel as though I might burst.  I am so thankful to have 3 precious, darling children and watch 2 of them live each day in December with such excitement over all things Christmas.  It is just the best.  As I go to bed tonight, I am sad that it is all over for another year.  I know next year will be just as wonderful and magical, but it does stink that we have to wait SO LONG for it to get here.  I know, I know... the wait is part of what makes it all so grand.  But I wish it could last just a little longer...However, the show must go on and next year there will be 3 little kids again, waiting to hear hooves on our roof and bells in the sky on Christmas night.  They'll wake up on Christmas morning, ringing their bells for Shawn and I to hear to tell us to "get up!"  They'll fly down the stairs once again, shrieking in excitement when they round the corner and see their spectacular display of gifts that they asked Santa for in both letters and requests on his lap.  They will laugh and smile and hug me and Shawn and tell us how excited and happy they are all over again.  And I can't wait.


But before I go to bed, I need to add a couple of things.  First of all, Lucy came home with this certificate the other day.  I am so proud of this girl.  If I can teach my children to be ONE THING in life, it's to be compassionate.  She has demonstrated so many acts of compassion at school this year and I get all warm and fuzzy inside seeing that she got a certificate for it!

Also, I suppose I should add that today was 70 degrees!  We went for walks, went long boarding, fed ducks, rode bikes and played all day long.  Vitamin D was good for our health and for our souls! Tomorrow we go back to reality but today was just an addition to the happiness felt on Christmas yesterday, so I couldn't pass up the opportunity to jot down a note about it:)  We didn't get a white Christmas, but we got to spend a good portion of the last 2 days outside in the warm sunshine and it was beautiful!

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!