So I guess I should start the recap.

It started on the 24th when we gave the girls their traditional Christmas Eve pajamas to open. Then they had a quick bath, and Hayley set up the cookies and milk for Santa and some water and an apple for the reindeer. I got them into bed and it took Hayley until after 10:30 to finally fall asleep, sheesh.

George went to get the big gift for Hayley at his parents’ house and then we got ready for bed. Breanna ended up keeping me up from midnight to 3 am for no apparent reason, but even though it was so late when I went to sleep, I popped awake at 6 am. I was shocked that Hayley was still in bed. I just slept lightly for the next hour and a half and then we all got up (Breanna had to be woken up twice, that little stinker).

We checked out the table where we found that Santa is a big slop and had left chocolate chip cookie crumbs all over the placemat and in his milk, and the reindeer had sloshed water all over Hayley’s note and even deposited a chewed-up apple core in the water bowl. Next year I’m leaving a rag and a broom out for them.

We did the stockings and then moved on to the gifts. Hayley loved everything from us, and was definitely shocked by the train set. It was a good choice. Breanna was curious about the stuff we got her but was still a little confused and more interested in the wrapping paper.

Once we got to the Santa gifts, Hayley ran to the big box and said it was for her because she saw her name on the tag. She started ripping it open and was really happy to see her vanity set. Breanna was also pretty interested in the piano from Santa because there were already batteries in it and it started playing even in the box.

After we got everything shoved to one side, we set the vanity up and then the piano and let them explore the big gifts before George and I got dressed. Then we kept the kids in their Christmas eve pajamas, and whisked them off to George’s parents’ house for more gifting. Breanna fell asleep on her grandfather’s shoulder for an hour because she was tired and a little overwhelmed. The ball pit tent was from us but had accidentally been left over there so Hayley opened it up and she was pretty surprised by it. She also got an Aquadoodle that she had wanted and both girls got lots of nice clothes.

We came home for about two hours so they could play with the ball tent (BIG hit) and so we could all get changed. At first I had laughed at the warning on the box that said – and I quote – that the ball tent could “pop up vigorously without warning” while being set up, but I stopped laughing when I nearly lost the side of my head as the tent sprang up. Still, once it was done, the girls played long enough for me to get dressed up and get ready, so it was worth it.

We went back over and had a nice big supper. I actually skipped dessert. I didn’t eat enough during the day, so when I had supper I got really overly full quickly. Luckily I have half a pumpkin pie sitting in the fridge now, hooray for leftovers. We didn’t stay too late because Breanna was completely worn out and ready to melt down, and Hayley wanted to come home and play with her stuff.

Once the kids were in bed (Breanna was asleep in five minutes, by 8:30 and although Hayley tried to fight it, she was eventually out by about 10), George and I watched Mission Impossible 3. I can’t stand Tom Cruise anymore but it was on the movie channel and as much as he’s an asshole he also makes really exciting movies, so I enjoyed it despite myself.

We all had a good sleep and then on the 26th we did it all over again with my family. I did some tidying up in the morning and made my sauce after lunch for the lasagna. I had just gotten changed and stuck my contacts in when they arrived. I got to meet my sister’s boyfriend for the first time, and he is just as nice as she made him sound; he apparently has a good sense of humor because he was right in the middle of everything, cracking jokes.

We opened our gifts in the living room and we got spoiled some more. My new toys – all of which I had asked for – included a sandwich grill, a hand blender, a new hair dryer, and perhaps most useful and necessary of all, a new battery charger with four AA batteries so I can stop crying about how my new camera can only take ten pictures before the batteries die. My old ones were just too used to handle it anymore.

Breanna and Hayley got all kinds of cool stuff like a princess Mega Bloks castle with Cinderella and the Prince, Candyland, a xylophone, and Hayley was particularly thrilled to get a stuffed Pablo from the Backyardigans.

After all that chaos, I assembled, cooked, and served lasagna, George made garlic bread, and we ate, laughed, and hung out. We had forgotten to do stockings so we opened those after supper, and then I put Breanna to bed. My family stuck around talking until about 11:15. There was no way Hayley would have gone to sleep with them in the living room so she got into bed at 11:25 and was out by 11:30. She was so exhausted.

Although I had a bit of that post-holiday let-down on the 27th – the feeling you get when it’s all over and you’re thinking, “God I waited all month and now it’s over!” – it was also good to get back into a semblance of a routine. It was good to have meals at proper times and to get settled again. I actually woke up feeling like I had a hangover even though I had only had one small glass of wine at supper – it was because of not eating properly and neglecting my water intake.

I think that this was really the best Christmas since I was a kid. I had so much fun. If you’d like, there’s a whole Christmas photoset on Flickr. Enjoy!