Merry Christmas!

It was wonderful. It was magical. It was exciting, and they took my breath away. They believe with all their hearts .... and Santa came, and he left them all that any little kid could wish for.

This morning I waited for my kiddo's to get up and I reveled in the excitement that was surely to come. ... and it did. Three years old is such a wonderful age for kids. They loved all their presents, and they had such a good time.

... and seriously folks, I didn't go way too overboard, and Mr. Dairy Wife was very proud of me. It was definitely worth it, and so are they!

Have a great Christmas!

I Believe

It's amazing after all the years of raising kids, and now that I have these kiddo's and my Grandkiddo's ... that I believe again. Yes, I believe in Santa Claus again. He is the major reason for all the excitement around my house this year. He is coming to see us in a few days and we're so excited.

We only put our tree up a couple of days ago, which was none too soon. These kiddo's are so excited they can't contain themselves. They sit in front of the tree and talk about Santa bringing presents. They take the ornaments off the tree and put them back on and sit back down again. They're waiting until Santa comes.

After a very lengthy discussion with Mr. Dairy Wife doing most of the talking about the true meaning of Christmas, and how we don't want to buy a bunch of toys and get caught up in the shopping, and how we want these kiddo's to grow up humbled by the holiday and the meaning, we came to an agreement, to keep it real. (for the record, HE wanted this more than The Dairy Wife did, she just nodded her head and blinked a few times at him) Just a few presents ... and lots of excitement .... and make their Christmas wonderful. This is the first year that they actually are excited.

THEN .... The Dairy Wife went shopping one day alone, a day with her sister, another day alone, and a day with her daughter. She shopped again after work a couple evenings and she shopped yesterday with Marlboro Man and the kids, ... and she is shopping again today.

She didn't keep it real. She's so ashamed. He doesn't know it. She didn't tell .... and she won't. She can't. He'll find out Christmas morning when Santa comes. She's in trouble. SUCH .... Big Trouble.

She got all wrapped up in the lights and music, the traffic, and the people shopping and going nuts. While singing Christmas songs, she grabbed and clawed her way through the toy aisles and wrestled a fat man down to get a "Leapster". She fought her way through the crowds, with a heaped up loaded cart, and even shoved a few old ladies out of the way, just to get few prized toys that she thought they'd love. Not only did she grab one toy, but she grabbed FIVE of everything. .... and when she left the store, totally exhausted, she was happy. Each time she shopped she was even happier. Deliriously happier, and still singing!

Boy, she's in big trouble. .... and so ashamed! She'll let you know what happens when Mr. Dairy Wife sees what "Santa" brought!

Be Blessed Everyone and I hope you're all having a great holiday season!

Twelve Christmasy Things About Me!

I read this over at Quilted Hills and Rose tagged everyone reading. So here goes "Twelve Christmasy Things About Me."

1) Every year since I've been a Mother, for the past twenty-six years, I've written a letter to my children, telling them how much they mean to me. I roll the letter up like a scroll and tie it with the same piece of ribbon that is attached to a cream colored Fenton glass angel ornament. Every year I've updated and replaced the letter, and I lay it on top of the Christmas Ornaments in the box. It would be the very first thing to be seen, in case I am no longer here for Christmas with my kids. No one has ever read the letters but me, and sentimental me, cries every year when I read the old letter and write the new letter. (Don't tell)

2) When I was a little girl, Christmas was so much fun. We kids always peeked. We unwrapped our presents and wrapped them back up for years before we got caught. One year Mom was so mad at us, she took all the presents away, and on Christmas morning she went out to the trunk of her car, and gave us everything unwrapped in sacks. I'll never forget that .... it ruined my Christmas, but as I think back on it now ... it ruined Christmas for my Mother too.

3) Because I was so sneaky as a child and a "peeker" I was determined to outwit my children ... and I did. I never put a name on their packages and they never knew which present was theirs or their siblings. I've never told them to this day how I did it. Each package had a string of numbers on the tag. Some were long numbers and some were short. Since I had four kids I would assign a number such as 78547529057537 to a present. This present belonged to Jared. How can you tell? Jared is the fourth born ... and the fourth number is a four! This would be Juli's: 928473745985676. Juli is the second born. The funny thing is how much time they would spend adding and subtracting all those numbers. Smart Momma, huh? It wouldn't work for the triplets though now .... they came as a package deal!

4) I collect Snowmen ornaments. I love them.

5) I procrastinate wrapping presents until the last minute. I hate wrapping presents. You'll find me in the wee hours of the night on Christmas Eve still wrapping presents with my eyes crossed and nodding off! But this year, I'm going to do better! (sure thing)

6) Christmas is my favorite holiday. I love it, and I love to shop.

7) I hate getting or giving gift cards or money for Christmas.

8) We always had a real Christmas tree when I was a little girl. I loved the smell. Now I wouldn't have a real tree if my life depended on it .... well maybe, if my life really depended on it. But only then. I love my artificial tree. It's really tall and skinny ... like I want to be in my next life.

9) When I was a child, I hated always having to leave almost immediately after we opened presents. We always went to my Grandmothers when I was really small. Although I loved her and I loved going there, I wanted to stay home and play with my new treasures. As my kids got older, we stayed home and I cooked Christmas Dinner so they didn't have leave their new toys. Instead we went to Grandparents later in the afternoon. I still do that.

10) I remember the excitement on Christmas morning and how we would wake up long before daylight. I remember that my Mom and Dad would make us go back to bed and wait until daylight. The anticipation almost killed me.

11) On Christmas Eve when we went to bed, there were always presents under the tree, wrapped presents. But when we woke up in the mornings .. everywhere around the tree had unwrapped presents from Santa Claus. That's how I knew he was real. I did that too with my kids as they were growing up. The best part was watching their faces the very first second they walked into the room. It was priceless, and took my breath away. I'm sure you all do that too.

12) I feel like I have been given a chance to start over by having these kiddo's in my later years. It's like stepping back into the memories of my older kids all over again. I am reliving the year they were three and the excitement they had for Christmas. This year Sam, Jay and Meg are so excited, and I know it's true .... I've been there, done that ... twenty some odd years ago, and I'm blessed to get to do it all over again.

So in passing along the Christmas spirit, I am tagging Jaye over at Just a Mom, MaryBeth at Four Silly Sisters, and Vonda at Sisterly Ramblings. Have fun ladies!

Be Blessed Everyone!