Christmas!!

Today couldn't have been any more perfect.  Ryan came home and I had all my babies here for one night.  We played games last night, the usual bracketed Speed tourney and The Game of Things, and things got out of control funny and wild.  We got very little sleep because Chelsea was so excited over the prospect of what might be under the tree she woke up pretty early.  It was lovely...everyone in the living room, all crowded together, laughing together, opening our delightful surprises together...and just being together.  Danny and I decided that the kids should be forced to open all their presents with the exception of the one thing they've all been begging for for years...iPhones.  I have held out this long and have had a determined stance against spoiled teens who are addicted and owned by their million dollar gadgets.  As a matter of fact, I woke in the night last night sick in the pit of my stomach that I'd done the wrong thing by getting them these phones (bear in mind, my kids are 20, nearly-18, and 15...old enough to be responsible with an iPhone, I'm sure).  After turning it over in my mind for hours in the night, I finally decided to ask Danny again in the morning if it was the right thing to do.  So, I did and he reminded me that we can always take these puppies away if they're abusing their privileges...that's right, privileges.  That's when Dan Lloyd and I concocted the evil plan to withhold the phones, even hiding them, until after all the presents had been opened.

So, as I mentioned, we all gathered together to ooh and ahh over the spectacular items contained behind each beautifully wrapped facade.  We had a completely fabulous Christmas without the phones.  No kidding.  Everyone was satisfied and incredibly grateful...but Cam did ask "Where's the other presents? I know you have more...like when you hid my Jordans from me last year..."  We assured her there weren't anymore, and Dan Lloyd and I exchanged a secret look and laughed at her.  There was one wild moment when I actually thought about taking the phones back to the store...didn't do it, of course.  Anyhoo, we puttered around, cooked breakfast, and were sitting at the table eating when Dan Lloyd began talking to the kids about how if you don't believe in Santa, I mean really believe, then he won't bring you the thing you want more than anything.  The conversation was stimulating and hilarious, with each of the girls insisting that they believe with their whole heart but still hadn't gotten the one thing they really, truly wanted (they insisted they were very happy with what they did get and weren't disappointed).  To which Dan Lloyd responded, "Well, if you really, truly believe with your whole heart, I mean your whole heart, then your gift would be under the tree right now."  Laughing at his silliness, Chelsea happened to glance over at the tree, and that's when she noticed the three new presents stuffed clear under the tree where you could barely see them.  She exclaimed, "What the heck?!" and jumped up to go investigate, Cam racing her and nearly knocking her over trying to get there to see with her own eyes what was going on.  They both yelled out "These have our names on them!!!!!" then came tearing into the kitchen somewhat confused but wanting to open them.  It was hilarious.  They were dancing, talking animatedly, and trying desperately to open their packages.  The girls looked completely torn out of their skulls with excitement.  Cam and Chels were trying to rip their packages open (Ry, of course, being a mature adult, sat calmly at the table with a huge smile on and having no problems whatsoever getting his open).  Chels was so excited that she stopped trying to open hers and was practically on top of Cam hollering, "What is it?! What is is?!".  Chaos broke out when Cam saw what it was, turned so Chels could see, and they broke into loud, shocked screams of exuberant ecstasy.  It was so hilarious and awesome.  I think the below pictures say it all.  Yes, a perfect Christmas Day with my babies and, if I do so say myself, mission success, Santa. :)  (They also got new hair tools; hence, Cam's awesome crimped 'do).

After things calmed down a bit and we could no longer hear "Cameron! My hands are shaking. I can't believe it!!" and "Oh! My! Gosh! Chelsea!  iPhones!  WE GOT IPHONES! I can't believe it! I never thought it would happen!!  Holy crap!!"  (yes, there were that many exclamation points)...anyway, after things calmed down I headed into the kitchen to get my Shoepeg Corn Casserole ready for our family dinner.  It was several hours before I realized that the house had been quiet, I mean really quiet, for a fairly lengthy amount of time.  That's when I wandered around with the camera to see what was going on.  This is what I found:

 Dan Lloyd enjoying his new kill 'em video game....and the kids happily enthralled with their new technology.