AND the FINAL days of Christmas were...

OKOK I guess I can be thankful I have so many good friends who actually read this!  THANK you.

I do have a journal of posts I wanna make, and I am going to try to organize how I do this so maybe it becomes much more steady!! 

With out further adoo, the final days of Christmas were............a shock.  And the BIGGEST blessing of all!!

With day 10 we got a note saying that dinner was coming the next night at 6...
There was only one problem with this.  we were going on the Polar Express and weren't going to be home.  So, it was so sweet, I left a note, as did Alia, saying how much she loved our named "secret Santa" and I left a cooler asking for it to be put there.  I also had mentioned we were flying out Christmas Eve.

When we got home and there was nothing there I wasn't sure what to think.  Dinner was meant for the 24?  Or they just didn't do anything.  I was stumped.

Either way, we were getting ready for bed...I had a TON to do before leaving at 8am the next morning for our flight.  The night was already looking so short for me, as it was 8pm. 

All of a sudden I heard a knock at the door.  Something we had become accustomed to lately...so I sharply told Alia and Alyssa that NO it was just our secret people and to not go look and not answer it!  I mean it!!  But Alia in a pleading tone says "No mommy it's Santa."  I responded with "yes Alia I know they have been doing this every night"

Alia throws back "NO MOMMY, it REALLY is SANTA!!!!!"

Brandon gets up from his chair and sure enough, there was SANTA at our door.  And more so, he was waiting to come in!!  So we let him in and the girls can barely contain their shrieks of excitement. 

Behind Santa, was our piping hot Pizzas.  Which proved to be a GREAT midnight snack for us that night.

Now for the best gift of all...no it wasn't the black garbage bag full of presents just waiting for us to open them....it was how Santa talked to the girls.  He KNEW Alia was in Jazz dance, and Alyssa gymnastics, and even KK was potty training...and when he mentioned it to her, she gave him full detail of how she poops in the potty and when she does she wipes the front and mommy wipes her butt and so on and so on.  Sliiiightly embarrassing!  Anyhow, when he asked Alia about her dancing, he sealed a deal.  And a very important one at that!  One that was slowly unraveling at our household.  She believed, but with skepticism since some of the kids in her class no longer believe.  But after this, that PURE and SWEET innocence that is a child and their faith.  It was ALL hers again.  And for that I will be FOREVER thankful.  If we didn't get a single one of the things we were blessed with through this journey, that would have been enough!!!


But....................we did get presents....12 for the TWELVE days...and it was TONS of fun opening them there under our tree with the girls, some that night and the rest that morning before we left. 

All from our Secret Santa

It truly was, for me, like Santa came. 

The girls got wonderful gifts, ballerina princesses, crowns, crafts, and MY favorite for Brandon and I (maybe it was the family) was Twister.  It is a game we actually don't have, and well, we played it the week we came back and Brandon and I laughed and connected like we haven't since long before the strokes. 

It was a BLAST!  And little giggling in the background was the perfect music!

Days 7, 8, 9, and 10 of my Days of Christmas

As Christmas neared things became a blur.  But one thing stood steady.  My secret Santa and delivering a surprise each morning.

Well sometimes it was at night, and two of those times they down right scared us!  But in a good way.  But we were well into our nighttime routine and then there would be this BOOM BOOM BOOM.that you woulda thought we were prepared for.  But each time it came as a new surprise. 

sometimes the girls would RUN to the window trying to "catch" him.  All but one time they never saw a thing, and even that one time it was just a blurr of a kid running away. 

And when they would ask to open the door, I would shout NO (yes admittedly maybe a little to zealously) that they had to wait till the morning.  It was so cute to see Alia wake each morning just anticipating and guessing what Secret had left us this time.

Day 7 was a neat one they still adore....7 Swans a swimming turned into the Swan Princess movie.  And they have only watched it a little under 100 times!!

Day 8 was another hit, especially with my two youngest.  8 Maids a Milking.  And for that one we got a gallon of Chocolate milk.  SCORE another "breakfastish" item I didn't have to worry about. 

Mom and Dad made sure to each have a TALL glass ourselves too!!  The pre-made kind just isn't something we buy often...see even made a fun treat for all the kids I was watching that Friday :)

And day 9.  Girls got to open a pretty black and white present.  It was 9 Ladies dancing....at the ball...

Upon opening it, they immediately started playing with it, families can always use a strong well made ball, however this one is now waiting till spring where it can show its true colors  :)

And lastly, and I think I forgot a picture of this one!!  Is 10 Lords a Leaping.  Or in this case, leapfrogging.  A game that is now our in the car travel game that can be taken anywhere.  :)


SO STAY TUNED!!  I have to tell you about our last two days,especially the last one!  There is even a story to go with it, and if it is all I got all season, this was the most precious gift of all!!

The Rest of the Days of Cristmas...

So we left off with the fourth day of Christmas.  I bet you are waiting with baited breath wondering what happened to us....ok so even if you aren't I'm going to tell you, because this was seriously the coolest experience of my life!!

Sorry it took till now.  Traveling with a family of five across country for Christmas, and then all over the state and then getting back into the swing of life once home, including but not limited to the flu can prove to throw even the most organized mom off (which i surely am not).

And hey this blog was about life as a mom right?  And keeping it real?  Right?  So you should be smitten with me because I sure do keep it real! 

Anyhow, the FIFTH and SIXTH days of Christmas were cute.  The girls just loved trying to guess the next item since sometimes it just contained one word of the traditional song.

Day 5 was FIVE Crispy Creams...

Which was wonderful for this mom, another day of not having to find breakfast for the kiddos!!

Day 6 made me question what time of year it was  :).....I wondered if it was Easter....six geese a laying became 6 Christmas eggs...........

Ok here's to promising you...yes you Heather, that I will be back tomorrow with another days surprises and I even have a few other topics planned for later this week and early next week!!

And the mystery continues...4th day of Christmas

Ok so this sweet person has done something that NO ONE has been able to do for quite a long while now. and not for lack of trying.  My poor sweet friend Heather has tried almost weekly, slyly suggesting it here and mentioning it there.  

This person gave me a gift I hadn't realized how much I missed.  Writing.  I loved sharing here on the blog, and writing in general.  And this has sparked that once again.

But it was this person, this Secret Santa who has me going!

Man know it or not, they sure know how to take care of the love language of gifts!

This fourth day was a ton of fun.  Reminiscent of my childhood.  It was four calling birds, and we got four stockings with penguins in the top.

The memory part?  The toothbrushes and toothpaste in them.  My parents used to do that when I was little!  It has carried through with me for life.  So it was kinda of a sweet reminder of childhood.

The candy is never so bad either!  And the girls LOVED everything about theirs. 

As you can see from this picture, they all adore their little penguins.  They carry them around all the time, and each one is safely tucked in at night....

On the third day of Christmas....

Well this is where I have started to wonder how on earth my Christmas Angel(s) are going to pull this off.  There are some TOUGH days of Christmas I tell you!

How do you give one a french hen?

Well the French of course!!

Three french toast stick towers..............ahhh the creativity, AND my kids had breakfast on the morning of their church program.  Two blessings with one stone! 

Ok my dear friends and readers, who is waiting to see the next day?  I know I have at least ONE friend who anxiously anticipates what is coming the next day, she texts me first thing in the morning to see what it was.  So anyone else wanna make a venture as to what the next 9 days hold???  (yes I am a few days behind, I may be posting double tomorrow, but go ahead, make a gander!)  Post your ideas int he comments sections.  Lets see who is right!

Even my daughters anxiously try to guess what the next days blessing will be....

So until tomorrow! 

On the second day of Christmas...

I was overwhelmed with kindness and a new excitement!

"Your true friends give to you, two turtle doves"

Take a lookske........can you say GENEROUS??!!  

See, as much as my love language is gifts, I have a hard time accepting gifts that are generous from others.  But my secret Santa, no, Angel, has forced me into accepting it, and I couldn't be more excited.  This gift included not only my "doves" but some extras, that just make me feel girly and special.  Talk about a mood lifter!  

 Ps, I LOOOOVE dove chocolate covered almonds!!!

So for my second day adventure, I am grateful....

On the First Day of Christmas...

And this is where the song changes into a story...

"Your true friends gave to you, a partridge in a pine tree"

Yep, totally threw me off my rocker.  I so would of stumbled over this cute little tree had my girls not seen it.

Little did I know, this was the start of something I haven't felt in probably 20 years!  Yep I currently feel like a child at Christmas waiting for Santa!  Really.  I didn't know what to expect the next day, if it was a weird one time thing or not, however turns out, you get to tune in each day, because it was in fact NOT a one time thing.  I wake every morning giddy as a schoolgirl wondering what my "secret Santa" left for me overnight.

We have had such a hard year, that this is a welcome change for me.  I have been so consumed with change and loss I have lost myself a bit.

 I have my suspicions who it is, but I don't know as if she will ever fess up.  If she doesn't, well just know that this has made not only my day/week, but really it has made my entire year!  And I know I know, I can be the type to exaggerate, however I am NOT exaggerating this time!

And my girls.  They have gone through so much in the past few months.  Christmas is Alia's favorite time of year, and she wasn't finding the joy in it this year for some reason.  That is until our Christmas angel(s) appeared.  Now she is so excited each day and feels that magical wonder of Christmas, that only a child can. 

She is even hashing up plans of her own.........so stay tuned.  I will say however, all three girls are determined to catch the gifter in the act.  It is a "mystery that needs to be solved", and they spend countless time arguing about where these bits of smiles are coming from.


So....I guess until the next post........Thank you!