Things to love about Christmas

There are lots of things that I loved about this Christmas. 

 I loved Ashlynn's second grade Christmas program, and seeing her absolutely giddy to show off for Mom and Dad.

 Apparently, my seven year old already has lots of admirerers.  The little boy next to her, making googly eyes at her, has been writing her love notes almost every day.  They are in second grade people!   So not funny.

I loved our Christmas tree.  Originally I didn't.  Our only matching ornaments were, unfortunately, glass. They, of course, got broken approximately 2.3 minutes after the Christmas tree was decorated when Max decided to see how stable the tree was by pulling it over on his head.  Our tree was covered in every kind of ornament imaginable, collected since I was a teenager.  We have more handprint reindeer and preschool wreaths than we know what to do with.  Plus, the ornaments were continually rearranged not only by two girls who are wanna-be Christmas tree designers, but also by a toddler who was determined that the football ornaments on the tree were for kicking, not for looking at. At one point this season, I wanted to scrap the whole thing and get a tree with matching decorations that actually looked decent.  Then, gradually, I realized it was really a metaphor for our lives.  A little messy and disorganized?  Yes.  Did the kids love it?  Yes.  They probably loved it even more than they would have loved a designer, everything color-coordinated tree because they got to help.  So yeah, we'll keep the mismatched tree and the kindergarten ornaments.

 I love the treats at Christmas time.  I love that people randomly ring your doorbell and bring you plates of homemade goodies.  I may or my not be devouring nibbling on some of the best homemade caramels I've ever tasted right now.  I love that both my children shown in this picture were eating candy out of their Christmas stocking as breakfast.  It's Christmas, what can you say?  And Max's crazy bed-head hair is just a bonus.  You're welcome.

 I loved watching my two year old admiring the presents, and placing his brand new basketball ornament on the tree.  He was very proud of himself. 

 I loved watching my kids' excitement on Christmas morning.  The shriek that we heard when the girls went downstairs and discovered that not only had Santa come, but they were most definitely not on the naughty list made both of us laugh out loud.  And there's nothing quite like the "I got exactly what I wanted!" smile. 

 I love oddly wrapped presents, and the way it takes the two year old forever to open them, much to his sisters' dismay.  This one was a new Nerf football, complete with a kicking tee for our budding athlete. 

 I love new Christmas outifts, and the little boy who is so excited about his new vest that he demanded to put it on over his pajamas, and threw a screaming fit when it was time to take it off for breakfast.

And I especially love the cuddly new baby, who was completely oblivious to the Christmas celebration going on around him, and slept happily on Dad's chest through the whole thing. 

What were your favorite parts of Christmas?