Christmas Day

 So...it turns out I don't have many pictures of Christmas day...Sorry!  Probably because it was such a fun day.

 Some of my memories of that day now over a month ago include Dom waking up three times before I allowed him to go down and see the tree.  He was very patient and sweet.  I was so tired, however, that I let him go down by himself.  I love seeing the kids' initial reaction to the pile of gifts under the tree, but I was exhausted!  I heard his footsteps go down the stairs, some rustling, and the quick return of his steps.  It turned out that a big gift under the tree had Molly's name on it.  He rushed to her sleeping bag and urged her to come down and see.  She wanted nothing to do with it at first...but then agreed.  At this point, I realized it was crucial for me to join the excited duo.  With camera in hand, I followed them down the stairs.  I failed to find lights in my sleepiness, so my video turned out very dark.  Will, by the way, had refused to leave the warmth of his bed.   Smart kid.

 I convinced the two early birds that they needed to wait until at least 8:30 for others to awaken.  I occupied them with a movie and climbed back into my bed for another hour of rest...though, I was just as excited to see the reactions to their presents as they were to open them.

 By 8:30 the rest of the house had awoken and we joined all three kids by this time downstairs.  We spent the next couple of hours opening gifts.  Big hits included a glow-in-the-dark Hoberman Sphere, remote control cars, a Minnie Mouse costume (immediately worn), a Mario costume (also immediately worn), a book embosser for Eric, and a Jane Austen quote journal.  I was particularly touched by the journal.  Eric has a very hard time finding gifts for me and this was a total surprise.  And in giving it to me he fulfilled two criteria:  He gave a meaningful gift and didn't spend a lot doing it :).  He found it at TJ Maxx.  He also purchased a nice set of leisure wear because he wanted me to be comfortable in the months ahead.  Quite thoughtful gifts.

 Later in the day after many of the presents had been put away, the Reddigs drove in for round two of present opening.  We had anticipated chaos...and we weren't far off, but it was a very pleasant sort of chaos where everyone deals with it maturely.  Following this round of gifts which had highlights of a KU basketball jersey,  Chiefs jersey and helmet,  two very nice prints, beautiful jewelry, two Harry Potter audio books, Pi T-shirts(!), and Mario Kart legos, the kids disappeared to play with their loot and the adults retired to setting up for Christmas dinner.  I had lobbied to put all of the kids in the basement and had successfully argued my case.  The kids enjoyed eating alone where they could finish or not finish their meals in peace and quiet and the adults enjoyed eating their meals without attempting to get their kids to finish their meals.  It also helped that we allowed the kids to order their meals in a restaurant style.  Oddly, nearly all of them opted to go without a vegetable side...but requested extra rolls! 

 As the evening came to a close, we started discussing sleeping arrangements.  The Reddigs had not really planned to spend the night, but the Reddig kids and Buschelman kids wanted to maximize their time together.

 As a result, we laid out a bunch of blankets on the living room floor and they all settled down for the night, though Mitzi claims that there was very little sleep that night.

 We had not planned to let Molly sleep with the big kids, but she seemed so excited at the prospect we tucked her in on the couch completely assuming she would end up back in our room.  Surprisingly, she passed the whole night down with her cousins and Nana discovered them all the next morning in more or less (emphasis on less) the same way we had left them.

Notice my beautiful jewelry?  Courtesy of Dom and Will.  Will was so sweet when he gave me his present.  He'd barely been able to keep the secret for the three or four days he had to...actually, he sort of didn't.  On Christmas Eve he told me he'd heard I really like bracelets.