Greetings From the Gilleys: Christmas and New Years!

It’s over. The best day of the entire year... we do so much to build up to the day. We anticipate it and can hardly stand the wait. And then, poof! Just like that, it’s over. Christmas has been over for less than 2 weeks now, but it already feels like a distant memory. I don’t know why, but I do know that all my decorations are up. I had to throw out all the beautiful Christmas cards I received, the toys have been put away and all Holiday cheer has exited stage left. We are back to the real world! But this Christmas was perfect.

We slept in on Christmas Eve (yessss) and then woke up and did a little family hot-tubbing. Then I went to work on baking and cooking up a feast for my small family- the food lasts for days upon days, and my kids like maybe 3 out of the 10 things I make, but it’s all in the name of tradition and I love doing it every single year; it truly brings me joy to make this one HUGE feast for us.

The kids were so well behaved on Christmas Eve because happiness correlates with the anticipation for Santa. In fact, they were so excited for Santa to come that they wanted to go to bed early, and then they actually forgot to leave out milk, cookies, and carrots for the reindeer! About 45 minutes after they had all gone to bed I realized they had forgotten so Shawn and I did it for them. And I knew (because I know my children) that if I didn’t go up and tell them it was taken care of, they’d come down in the night to tell me the bad news and they’d see all their gifts! So I went up to where they were all sleeping (a big slumber party in Sully’s room!) to let them know. And sure enough, Lucy was still awake and immediately said “Mommy! We forgot to leave out cookies and I can’t sleep because it’s all I can think about!” Haha, like mother like daughter....

Anyway- as usual, we read the Bible story of Christ’s birth and Lucy read “ ‘Twas The Night Before Christmas” to her brother and sister. But something we added in this year was that at 6pm on Christmas Eve, we went outside on our driveway and rang bells for 2 minutes to “help Santa fly his sleigh.” Our whole neighborhood did it so bells could be heard throughout the streets, and it helped unite us all once again as we literally rung in the Holiday. I don’t know if this was just a 2020 thing because the year needed a little more magic, or if we will add it to our list of annual traditions, but it was pretty cute while it lasted! We were hoping we’d see Santa in the sky while we rang our bells, but Shawn said he was still over in the Middle East at that time 😉

So! Christmas Day.... for the first time EVER Shawn and I woke up before the kids! We tell them every year they have to wait until 8am to wake us up. They ring bells to wake us up (a childhood tradition of mine that I passed down) and now since we all have Alexa’s, they “dropped into our room” and rang the bells as loud as they could😆 Usually I don’t wake up until they wake me up, and then I make them wait for about 10 minutes while I get the camera set up and all that. This year I woke up at 7:30 so I was totally ready and when those bells rang we were rung. It’s the whole “on your mark, get set, GO!” mentality after they open the door to the room they’ve slept in that night, and when I say “Go” they literally fly down the stairs so fast my eyes and ears can’t keep up with who saw what and who is screaming first🤣 It’s the BEST. THING. EVER. I swear to you, those 10 seconds of flying to the tree to see what Santa brought and hearing the squeals and laughter and “OH MY GOODNESS!” are the best 10 seconds of the whole entire year. You can’t get those 10 seconds back when they first discover it all. So you better watch it and soak it all in because it’s so fleeting. And so perfect. Ahhh, just thinking about it again warms my heart 🥰

So this year, Lucy asked for a cell-phone. Not with a phone plan, but just a phone (rather than in iPad) to play games on and what not. Santa brought her an iPhone 8 because no 9 year old needs an iPhone 11 or 12 and I stand firmly behind that! Anyway- he also brought a sparkly donut case for the phone and a Taylor Swift Pop-socket and she was shocked that he knew EXACTLY what she wanted even though she didn’t write those 2 extra things down in her letter to him😉

Piper asked for a BIG Hatchimal that re-hatches over and over again, dances. copies you, talks to you and grows taller when it’s happy and healthy. And yes, Santa delivered ☺️

Sully asked for a “big-boy” green scooter with blue wheels.... 🤔 Santa did the best he could, but both of the blue wheels that came in didn’t fit the green scooter- only the back wheel fit. So he has one blue light up wheel in back and one regular green wheel in front 🤣 He’s happy enough- no questions were even asked!

Then, Santa also brought them all a Magic 8 ball and the game Kerplunk because he always brings a game or 2.

They spent about 2 hours opening everything and loving it all. Then we just laid around all day- we were lazy, snacked on Christmas Eve food from the night before, and just relaxed. It was cold outside (I think this was the first year we’ve had a cold Christmas since living here and it felt more magical to me- I hate that our Christmases here are usually in the 70’s- it’s just not right!) so hot-tubbing felt extra special that night.

The next day was similar to the day before. Not much went on, but I packed 3 suitcases because.... the kids were going to Louisiana!!! Shawn and Bruce each drove 3 hours to do a kid swap on the 27th and then we were kid-free for 6 days! I took 3 days (seriously- projects everyday) to get my house sparking clean and then we just enjoyed the peace and quiet and cleanliness. We ate in silence🤣 It was weird but great. We just sat and ate and reveled in the fact that we COULD just sit and eat... we weren’t up and down, we weren’t yelling and scolding, we weren’t threatening to take away privileges if they didn’t eat, we just enjoyed unique meals that I’ve never made before because we know the kids would HATE it, and we ate it all while it was still hot. It was amazing, to be honest. The whole 6 days they were gone was like a honeymoon for Shawn and I. We didn’t do much- in fact we only left the house 3 times. One day we ran some errands and went to lunch together, another day I had a doctors appt and he went hunting, and then on the 31st we celebrated New Years Eve by going out to a fancy schmancy restaurant (no kids allowed) with the most decadent delicious food ever in downtown Tulsa and watched the Ball Drop on our outside TV while in the hot-tub. Relaxing IN my house- sleeping in my own bed, not needing to live out of suitcases but still getting a break from my kids in the comfort of my own home was just what the doctor ordered. Shawn had to work from home all week so we spent all day together and loved every second. It was a blissful 6 days and I was completely re-charged. It was day 5 that I started to miss the kids, so it’s good they stayed away at least that long because I needed to miss them! As bad as that sounds, it was for the best that we had a break from each other. I needed to feel like “Britt” again, not just “Mommy.” It’s been a hard year and I needed a re-set more than ever.

My forever New Years Eve kiss! Love this man!

My beautifully clean living room looked like a bomb went off within 4 minutes of them being home, and I wasn’t even *that* upset about it 😉 It was so good to see them again. Now we’re all re-charged and ready to see what 2021 can do for us!

They start school next week, Piper got her cast off yesterday, I am re-charged and ready to shed not only the stress of 2020, but also the pounds I packed on 😒, and we’re all looking forward to a better year ahead. Please give us that, 2021. Please!!