Christmas!

My girls had a wonderful Christmas! We opened presents at Grandma and Grandpa's on Chistmas Eve, then came home to sleep and wait for Santa! My babies are not yet early risers on Christmas - I was up at 6 waiting for them to wake up! The rolled out of bed at 8:30 and we stumbled upon tons of presents! Although Molly made it through more presents than last year, she tuckered out after about 6 and just wanted those opened. Sarah played Santa and passed out the presents and, when the time came when Molly was too pooped to open any more, Sarah assisted and opened Molly's for her. I am in love with my girls and their sweet nature. Every present that they opened, either girl would say, "Look what Santa got you, isn't that nice?"

Molly's favorite gift was her swimming baby and a doctor kit, while Sarah loved her new Barbie car and her very own make-up!

After an hour of playing here, we headed to Meme and Papa's in our jammers to share presents with Cayden and the rest of the Lesjak clan. The girls were on overload there! Talk about presents! They got many cool things from aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. My girls are very blessed and were so thankful of everything they got. Sarah even mentioned later that night that her favorite gift was her princess tent from Aunt Doodie. She said, "I should really thank her for that tent!"

What I was most impressed about was that they had the most fun giving gifts out and helping Cayden open his presents. Both Sarah and Molly watched as others opened gifts and used manners all morning! It is so important to me that they realize the meaning of Christmas and don't just focus on the presents. Their behavior yesterday really showed me that they are maturing and that they really are sweet little girls.

Snip and Snap!

So, when I first started dating Donny, he told me the legend of Snip and Snap. I often wondered how some of my christmas presents had the same the wrapping paper as gifts we wrapped for our family members! Turns out, Snip and Snap are little elves who play a huge part in Christmas! How did I survive 23 years without knowing about them?? The legend is that Snip and Snap are Santa's elves who help with wrapping all the presents that Santa will deliver. The only problem is, they need to travel around the world first and gather up wrapping paper to use! So, on Christmas Eve Eve (December 23), you must leave out any wrapping paper that you can donate to Snip and Snap. They will visit while you are sleeping and leave you a surprise in return for your kindness!

This was always a fun thing to do with Donny while we were dating, Snip and Snap would leave Reese's Peanut Butter Cups or little love notes. Since we've had kids, however, the tradition has just grown! Before Snip and Snap come, we have a visitor who comes the day after Thanksgiving (stay with me here, it is a fun tradition!). This is the elf on the shelf. Our elf is named Abby. Well, Abby comes the day after Thanksgiving to hide in a new spot each day to watch over the girls. Abby then travels to the North Pole each night while the girls are sleeping to report to Santa how they've been behaving. The next morning, the girls have to hunt to find Abby's new hiding spot! This continues until Snip and Snap night- when Snip and Snap help take Abby home for the year. Abby has an important job during December, so when Christmas arrives, she gets to go to the North Pole to play, play, play!

Abby had a busy time this year, constantly watching as my girls worked diligently to be kind, use manners, and do nice things for each other and others. Although Sarah was heartbroken to say goodnight and goodbye to Abby last night, I was so proud of her for being a good girl and doing what needed to be done. She tucked Abby into a makeshift sleeping bag right next to her bed, and went to sleep, dreaming of Snip and Snap coming. When she woke up, she found a note where Abby had slept. It said "TaKE caRe Of Lulu anD trIXIe. LovE SnIP and sNap."

Well, this was so exciting! Sarah ran into our room and woke us up! After Daddy traveled downstairs to make sure that Snip and Snap were gone, we ran down to see what was left! The girls found a candycane filled with kisses and new jammers on the coffee table! They were soooo excited! It took Sarah a full five minutes before she pondered, "who is Lulu and Trixie???" Then she looked into the dining room and almost exploded! There, on the dining room table, was a brand new hampster cage filled with bedding and a new wheel. Sarah was thrilled that Snip and Snap left them a new cage for our hampster, Whiskers. Upon looking more closely, Sarah and Molly realized that this new cage was filled with not one, but TWO new hampsters! A black and white one, Lulu, and a "blonde" one, Trixie. Sarah knew immediately which one was hers, "our hair matches!"

What a wonderful day. I am more excited around Christmas time now than I EVER was as a child. It is absolutely amazing to see your children light up! God bless everyone this Christmas. I hope you have as many wonderful memories as I do this Christmas :)