Buck and Belle: Merry Merry Christmas Day!

Fawn is at the perfect age to love Christmas. He's still young enough to be captivated by the magic of the season. But, he's old enough to start to understand the significance from a religious perspective. Advent was a special time with him for so many reasons and in so many ways; and that definitely culminated on Christmas morning. He bounded into our room ready to go -- he had seen the presents in the family room and was thrilled to report that Santa had indeed come. Only problem...our night owl Small Fry was still snoozing. We tried to keep Fawn occupied for as long as possible. I got him to help me in the kitchen getting his baked bacon going and we chatted. But finally, though I hate to ever wake a sleeping child, at the late hour of 6:45 I sent Buck to fetch Small Fry. Fawn was actually very patient and was thrilled when his brother came down the stairs and the present opening could begin. Fawn was slightly concerned that Santa had forgotten the stockings because they weren't hung on the stairs, but once he saw them on the couch all was well and the excitement continued. We started with opening stockings and then moved on to their three big Santa presents. Santa also had a few tricks up his sleeve this year and left some presents for the boys to take to the farm.

Waiting patiently.

Discovered the stockings!

Sleepyhead.

Look what I got!

Lego minifigures!

Dynamic duo.

Even more presents waiting.

Loving his new bulldozer.

The year of the fake weapon.

Merry brothers.

The crossbow was a huge hit.

Priceless.

And now not allowed indoors -- it's so powerful he's going to break something!

Only one child wanted to pose with Mama.

And try to shoot Daddy.

We took a break from present opening for a quick breakfast, then it was back to it to exchange family presents. The boys each got four presents from us...A toy you want, a thing you need, a fun surprise, a book to read. They gave each other a present which was so cute to watch. And together they gave Mommy and Daddy a present. It was a super sweet morning -- absolutely magical in just about every way possible. Oh the joy!

We spent the rest of the morning visiting Mimi and Pops and the Nichols. It was great fun and we made great memories with our extended family. Small Fry and Buck slept the afternoon away while Fawn and I built Legos, built Legos, and built more Legos. Wow! Then we headed to Mema and Abou's to say Merry Christmas to them and the entire Trafton clan on Christmas afternoon. We headed home for a casual supper -- homemade pizza for the kids and southwestern chicken soup for Buck and me. Buck and I capped off the night with a viewing of the 90s classic The Santa Claus. Watching a cute Christmas movie was a fun way to end a fabulous Christmas day.