Christmas Morning, 2010

Ahh, the Christmas that almost wasn't...

Latest update: our buyers have changed the closing date three times. At first, they were adamant that we move out two weeks after our contract was signed (Dec. 13th)... but lenders and lawyers and paperwork held all of that up. Our plan always was to move all of our stuff into storage and move in with my parents prior to Christmas. The house was depressing without decorations or a tree, and the boys were clearly getting antsy with so many boxes around.

After putting them to sleep on Christmas Eve, I went to the 'hiding spot' to find the 'stash'. Lo and behold, the stash was sparse-- more than half had accidentally been carried into the storage unit by mistake! You can imagine my panic-- here it is, 8:30 at night, I have three gifts for each kid, and after driving around town, all of the stores are closed. What to do other than bawl?

Hark! Is that an attic full of used toys we hear?

Jim spent an hour getting the Masters of the Universe and millions of Lego pieces out of their dark hiding places. Mom and I sorted out all the magnets, crayons, broken pieces, etc from the Legos while Jim wiped down the action figures. The bags that they had been stored in were completely disentegrated. But the toys were still perfectly functional! Mom graciously gave us all the gifts she had purchased for T's birthday in February, and suddenly, it appeared as though Santa could pull off Christmas delivery after all.

And then, they awoke. 5:58AM, to be exact. Had to physically hold Trenton back in the hallway until everyone was awake and ready with the cameras.

Christmas morning, 2010 from Sheryl Konopack on Vimeo.

Unwrapping gifts is some serious business.

The boys with their favorite gifts of the morning: Hot Poppin' Popcorn Wiggles DVD and a box full of Lego men, horses, and other animals.

The Spiderman costume was a big hit. Note to shoppers: try going to Target three days after Halloween to get the 80% off deals...

And Oliver had to taste each piece of candy until he found one he liked...