The Most Wonderful Day of the Year

There is nothing better than spending Christmas morning with two little boys who truly believe there is a Santa Claus. Charlie was SO excited to see what Santa brought, that at some point in the wee hours of the morning, he got out of bed (which he has never, ever done), opened the bedroom door and peeked over the railing to see if he could catch a glimpse of his presents. I know this because when I went to get Chase at 7a, I found Charlie's bedroom door and shutters wide open, his covers spread all over the place, and Charlie cuddled in a little ball on the floor. Isn't that funny? And sweet?

What a fun Christmas morning we had! Santa brought each boy the one gift they asked for - a dump truck for Chase and a car transporter for Charlie - and a few other gifts as well. (That's a bit of an understatement.) It took us all morning to open every present, and by the time we were finished, the living room was absolutely destroyed. But, it was all worth it. It truly was a very, merry Christmas!

Hope you enjoy the pictures!

Charlie, racing down the stairs and warp speed to see what Santa brought.

"I can't believe it! I can't believe it!"

Chase and Llama Llama, racing down the stairs, trying to keep up with Charlie.

And now, they both dive in!

"Whoa! A garbage truck!"
(If you're keeping count, we now have a FLEET of garbage trucks now.)

Yeah! Another piece for the train table.

I included this photo because I think it's funny. Check out the paparazzi surrounding Chase.
Video camera in the foreground, Oma cam in the background.

Chase gets his own car transporter.

I think Charlie's in heaven.

Yes, Charlie. There is a Santa Claus!

Chase, sitting on Oma's lap.
(Oma looks nice early in the morning. She brushed her hair. As usual, I forgot.)

Chase, reading to himself.

This was Charlie's big present from Santa... a ginormous car transporter!

And Chase got an excavator.

Grammy and Poppy gave Chase a tool set. He loves to drill and hammer.
(Note to self: Have Grandpa teach Chase everything he knows... STAT!)

I love this picture, because Chase and Pooh Bear are in the same position.
Super cute!

You can begin to see the destruction that is Christmas morning in the living room.

Chase was very excited about this Grandson ornament from Grammy and Poppy.

Mama playing a matching game with Charlie.
(Thankfully, you can't really see my unbrushed, nappy hair.)

Sweet Chase.

I like this picture too... both boys hanging on Dada's every word.

Sure, Chase. Just climb on the box. Why not.

Chase, playing with fire... er, uh... Charlie's car transporter.

And there it is. The total destruction of the living room.
Amazing.

We let the boys play in the mess for awhile. I think that might have been the most fun they had all morning.

And now, the catatonic, zombie, post-Christmas haze sets in.

I'm not sure if Dada is teaching Chase about the Leapster or vice versa.

Stocking time!
(Yes, there's more.)

Monster truck!

And suckers!

Awww... the family photo on Christmas.

So, I had to throw this picture in. Yes, both boys are looking toward the camera, but check out the smirk on Charlie's face. Look, buddy. You just open a veritable TON of presents for Christmas. The least you can do is appease me and smile for the camera. Am I right? Geez.
 

Twas the Night Before Christmas...

I know you'll find this hard to believe, but I took LOTS and LOTS of pictures this Christmas. I'm too embarrassed to tell you how many I actually took. And, to be fair, Mike snapped a literal BOAT LOAD of pictures of me and the boys baking cookies. He put me to shame!

Anyway, with all of that said, I've decided to break up the blog entries into two - a Christmas Eve entry and a Christmas Day entry.

So, here's a snippet of the Arning Bros Christmas Eve festivities. We had a great day baking cookies and preparing for Santa. Then, Mike, Oma and I enjoyed an evening of appetizers, wine and movie watching. What a fun Christmas Eve!

Hope yours was just as merry!

This is our elf, Scout. He left a note for the boys on his last day in town.

Charlie was so eager to help me make cookies. He did a great job!

Isn't he cute?

Awww...

First we had to roll the dough...

Chase had fun, too!

Suffice it to say, we made a bit of a mess.

This was my decorating station BEFORE the boys got their hands on it. 

Let the decorating begin! This was Chase's first cookie. He did an awesome job!

You see that Charlie has his fingers in his mouth, right? You'll see this as a common theme throughout...

He's so focused! Isn't he doing great?

Charlie was very good using the gels to draw on the cookies.

See? Fingers in the mouth.
(Still better than hands down the pants.)

And, now we're adding a little flare to our cookie decorating. Emeril's got nothin' on Chase!

I think we did more licking of the fingers than we did decorating of the cookies.

He's VERY excited about this work of art in particular.

Really, Charlie? Is there a photo where you DON'T have your fingers in your mouth?

When in doubt, just dump all of the sprinkles on the countertop.

Now we're showing off our mad spatula skills...

Oh, boy.

"Ober dere! Ober dere!"

Charlie, I think you missed a finger.

Ah, it's finally time to EAT the cookies!
Save some for Santa!

"Man, that was fun!"

The boys spent many a days staring at all of the ornaments on the tree.
Aren't they sweet?

Time to leave cookies and milk for Santa!

"No, Chase! Don't take Santa's cookies!"

Remember last year's picture where Charlie was hugging on Chase?
We tried to recreate that picture this year.
(Charlie seems a little too eager.)

Oh, man! The double hug! With the underwear poking out of the pants!
(If only we could see their cute faces...)

Here, I'm reading the final Christmas book of the year.
(In case I haven't told you yet, I wrapped 25 Christmas books and put them under the boys' Christmas tree.
Each night, we opened a different book and read it before bedtime.
I'm definitely repeating that again next year. It was lots of fun!)

Christmas Eve bath time!

Let 'em splash, let 'em splash, let 'em splash!

"Is Santa on his way?"

Matching Christmas pajamas. SUPER CUTE!

Our annual "Twas the Night Before Christmas" reading!

See you in the morning!