Christmas 2015

Christmas this year was a little off. And, it made me sad (it still makes me sad). We were a little stressed leading up to Christmas, and then come to find out Lilly found some pictures on my phone of the presents after I asked her not to play on my phone. I was devastated & so angry. After we opened presents and were headed upstairs to get dressed, she asked me where the American Girl doll named MaryEllen was. I asked her what she was talking about, and then it all came out. She saw a doll (and other toys) on my phone and thought it was MaryEllen. Well, it was Claire's doll Julie. Long story short, I was furious and yelled and cried at Lilly. Therefore, she cried. It was a mess. But, I was able to come up with a good story & after all is said and done she is still a huge Santa believer. That was what I was so sad about it. She is only 7...and I felt so guilty for possibly ruining the magic of Santa. I asked her if she ever wondered why some kids get 10 presents from Santa, and other kids get one or two...that lead into telling her that Santa brings the stockings & one or two big presents and the rest come from Mom & Dad. She totally bought it and I felt good about it afterward. When I was telling my brother about it, he said "oh man, yeah, you guys need to give yourself more credit. Santa brings one huge present & the rest are from us"...and Christmas is still magical for them. So, anyway, it was a rough morning. But, we are all good now. I also had major guilt because I was stressed, and felt like I ruined it for Anton. He made the comment that he works hard all year so he can spoil us on Christmas, and to have it be like it was was hard for him. Major guilt over here. When I woke up the day after Christmas I broke into tears (again!)...it was over. And, it was stressful. It made me so sad. Ugh. Oh well, we will try again next year! 

Sleepy heads getting ready to head downstairs and see all of the presents! They got what they asked for & a few they didn't ask for. I love that my kids are still asking for toys instead of electronics. We will drag that on for as long as we can. We did end up getting them a Kindle, because the tablet we had for like 9 years, finally broke. We figured Lilly loves reading so much, that this would be a perfect gift. It was a fun surprise for them! We also got a telescope for the whole family. Lilly loves space (so do we), so we thought that would be a fun thing for us for years to come. I can't wait to use it! Anton spoiled me this year. He got me the things I asked for, and a few things I didn't ask for. My favorites...my laminating machine, my gel nail polish kit, new sunglasses and my new purse. But seriously, Anton gets every present right. I love everything he picks out! I gave him a subscription to Audible, a Bose speaker & a really nice sweater for work. We don't hardly buy anything for each other (including the girls) throughout the year, so Christmas is always so fun to spoil each other. Christmas is definitely our favorite holiday!