Christmas, oh Christmas. Another year come and gone but for some reason I didn’t get the post-holiday letdown like I usually do. Often, after it’s all over I feel a bit deflated – you prep for so long for this great day and it’s over so fast. Maybe this year it’s because it’s spread out more. We started being festive by the 24th. On the 25th we did our Christmas morning, then went to George’s parents’ house to celebrate with them. My own family came on the 26th. Today we took it easy at home, and tomorrow, on the 28th, we’re going to see some family that I haven’t seen in over a decade.

I figure that spreading it out so much is what made it feel like it wasn’t over too quickly and while it’s tiring it is so much more enjoyable than just doing everything in one fell swoop on one day.

Christmas morning dawned early with Hayley waking George up at 5:30 am. We had decided to divide and conquer with George and Hayley in one room and Breanna and I in the other – we figured it would lessen the odds of anyone sneaking out before the rest of us. He managed to keep her contained until 6:30 at which point he turned on the Christmas lights, turned up the heat, and woke Breanna and I up at 6:40 to get started.

They knew they were getting their Fur Real kittens from Santa but everything else was a surprise. I think we did really well. Hayley loved her keyboard and Breanna was thrilled with her camera. Then the Barbie Diamond castle just about blew their heads right off. Look at Breanna’s face when they realized what was in the giant box for both of them to play with:

A little happy!

We didn’t get a chance to put it together until after lunch today but it sure is beautiful!

We left Hayley with her grandparents after opening presents over there so we could bring Breanna home for a brief nap, but then we were right back again for a delicious turkey dinner. We didn’t stay too late because the kids were wiped out, so we got them home and into bed pretty easily and George and I did our own tradition of watching a movie on Christmas night. And speaking of tradition, we did our yearly family photo on the stairs of his parents’ house before leaving.

We slept in a bit on the 26th but then we were up and moving. I tidied up while George set about cooking up two delicious pork roasts for supper and my family arrived right at 3 pm for more festivities. Once again the kids made out like bandits, and so did I to be honest. My mom surprised me with one of those massage pads that attaches to the back of your chair. Now when I work at my computer I can have a little back massage at the same time – it is SO awesome. And my dad got me a nice kitchen block with a bunch of great knives; I particularly loved that the tag said “to one cook from another”.

My family hung out until 11 pm and can I say I was VERY happy to have my sister home again after two whole years of not seeing her? VERY VERY HAPPY.

And you know, my mother would totally kill me if she knew I was posting this online, so please don’t tell her. She hates posing for pictures. If you point a camera at her she usually either pretends it’s not there and looks away or else she makes a face at you. I plopped down beside her with my camera and for some reason she smiled and let me take the picture. And because of that I think that this is one of my favorite pictures in a long time, not because it’s technically a fantastic shot but because it’s my MOM and I love it.

Today was nice and low-key. We slept in again since it was after 11 when the kids went to bed. I could get used to sleeping until after 9 am every day, let me tell you. We had a leisurely breakfast, a late lunch, set up the diamond castle and let the kids play, and not much else. It’s so nice. I had a bit of work to do but since it was Saturday I didn’t have a ton of stuff to worry about and I was done in about half an hour. I could get used to this life of leisure!

Tomorrow will be another big, fun day and I’m so excited about seeing some of my family after far too long. This is exactly what the holidays are supposed to be.

(You can see the full Christmas Flickr album here if you’d like!)