he ate the cookies, so we knew he came.

 santa came.

AND

after 3 years of trying,

i FINALLY

got the egg casserole right.

truly,

a christmas miracle.

and brennan only got a small peek at his presents.

i made sean carry two dining room chairs to block our upstairs hall.

knowing he would have to bang the chairs on the wall to our room to get by.

therefore waking us up.

i

um,

sean 

was out of bed like the house was on fire to catch him before he made it past the landing.

my kids ate only reese's peanut butter cups and meatballs.

i ate mostly baked bri.

my mother in law helped me set and serve 8 for the first time from my very own table.

in my very own house.

with her crystal goblets,

and my very own red chipped plates.

it was wonderful.

every shocking face,

ooo,

and awe.

the hours spent entertaining one toy {nano bugs win the prize},

and the phone calls to the family we wish could have been in their jammies on our couch with us. 

and then after we said goodbye to all of our guests,

we put the kids to bed,

and

completely 

collapsed

on the couch.

in front of the glowing lit Christmas tree.

no other lights about.

surrounded by snippings of wrapping paper.

the sounds of the dishwasher running.

and piles of our loot strewn about.

declaring it THE MOST exhausting.

and MOST WONDERFUL

christmas

in our entire lives.

:)