Christmas Morning

You know you've hit the mark with your kids when they both dive into their modest but lovingly made or picked gifts quickly and quietly. (Books are always a smash with our girls - yeee haaa! - and my first venture into sewing - little skirts for both of them - were immediately donned with much twirling.) Our morning was quiet and lovely - perfection.

And here both girls are laying dibs on where our first big adventure will be on family gift. (Stella has been adamant for months that we're going to Africa. She still insists that we take a boat, so we'll have to negotiate that part of the deal at some point, but we're in. Check back with us in about ten or fifteen years and we'll be there.... I can't wait to see where Phoebe wants to go.)

And Santa? Santa is pretty low key around here. He enjoyed the cookies while the reindeer left their carrot nibs in the yard, and they left the girls some sweet little gifts. And again, I love the balance of three year old girls: Stella requested ballet slippers and a parasaurolophus. Stella did the talking for Phoebe this year. Appropriately, she thought Phoebe might enjoy a shaker instrument ("because she likes music so much") and a pachycephalosaurus ("because she likes to slam her head against the back of her high chair after eating, silly Phoebe"). Well, Santa delivered on such thoughtfully requested gifts, and the girls were equally thrilled.