Christmas 2010 Favorites

Oh my, what a Christmas we had this year!

For one thing, we have a new person in the house and she is quite demanding of our attention. It seems the Hufford Universe revolves around her and she's completely unapologetic about it.

After what seemed like an eternity, I finally managed to get her to go to sleep and lay her down on Christmas Eve. Then I tried to pitch in with the final wrapping and stuffing of the stockings. Then I took the opportunity to take a few photos of the tree and all the presents placed just so. I knew it wouldn't last long in the morning.


A couple of my favorite gifts under (and in) the tree:

This one says, "To: Mom From: Starts with M?" Ooooh....mystery!


And one of several love letters placed throughout the branches and even wrapped up under the tree:

Morning couldn't come soon enough for me. I am not in love with the newborn nights and just assume get up and get on with the day. We did have to tell Ethan and Mathew to go back to bed around 3 am and again at 4:30. That's a little too early.

About 6 am, however, I tiptoed down to the rocker and nursed the baby by the glow of the Christmas lights in an attempt to get her down for one more round of sleep before the festivities began. I was determined to be a participant and not a stressed out, sweating, rocking, back-patting spectator. Just as she was falling asleep, the troops arrived and began exploration of the stocking fare while Dad took his shower. Mark hasn't had Christmas bed head in years. It's a form of torture, I'm convinced. All parents must find a way to make the anticipation into a form of suffering. Mine opted for the "hot breakfast in bed" method. Once all fear of toaster electrocution has passed, I plan to follow in those same footsteps. But, for now, Mark gets to take his Christmas shower.

Playing with their finger flashlights while waiting for Dad.

And sporting their Christmas Eve Jammies:


The boys have passed over into the "man jammy" stage. Black and gray athletic pants and a cool, grown up t-shirt with a little sportswear logo on it. No crazy prints. Just understated coolness.

But at least I still get to find pink silky cupcake pants for some people. It's a comfort.

Now, please note that my camera is not cutting it these days. All I get is a bunch of blurry children running around. UNacceptable!

Now for the crazy unwrapping of the Christmas wonders!

Ethan scored a Big Barn Playset, a Storm Pegasus BeyBlade, new Bakugans, a RC car, a science kit and a Semi-Automatic nerf gun.

Mathew got a Pokedex, Beyblade Battle Stadium, RC car, Science kit, Bakugans and (of course) an identical nerf gun. Let the games begin!

Megan got a bunch of new Barbies, a Barbie Princess horse, an Easy Bake Oven, and a massive dollhouse to share with her sisters. It's huge!


Laney got Barbies too, but seemed most interested in her new dinos. Can you blame her? They roar.

Mark surprised me with a brand new camera. A Nikon D90. I am not as smart as this camera, so it will take some getting used to and I will have to make a real effort to learn how to use it so that it isn't wasted on me. But I have to say that even just getting it out of the case and pushing the button....it is miles beyond what I have ever had before. Here's where I stopped using my old camera and switched to the Nikon. Good-bye blurry children.

Mark was gifted some very exciting dress socks, some equally cool man jammies, dress pants, a guitar power source thingy, a t-shirt or two and a Waterpik. sigh...I know, I think I got the better end of the deal this year.

But, he did get to do his annual burning of the wrappings *indoors* this year. Luxury!

Oh! And lest we forget...Anna made out better than us all. She got this killer stuffed Alligator. I covet it. Mark has officially dubbed her "The Annigator". (She also got a wipe warmer. What more can a 3 week old ask for? Warm wipes on the bickies make for a very happy holiday.)


For the rest of the day we avoided cleaning up this:

I did a whole lot of snuggling and rocking and bouncing and back-patting of this:


Mark spent the better part of the day out in the cold putting together the last gift.

The Christmas Trampoline.



*hmmm....a couple people seem to be missing in this last photo. Where did all the help go? Isn't there a story about a hen that wants to make some bread? I seem to remember....

Merry Christmas everybody! We hope you are safe, warm, and loved wherever you are and enjoyed your Christmas too!