Was Santa Even Watching?

Finally! Christmas Eve came. That has to be the longest countdown of all time.
We prepped for the big night by making a certain chubby guy some tasty cookies.

And we had some friends come join in the fun...

Pops stoked the fire...
This made Superkid a little nervous for our midnight guest. Pops promised to have everything cooled off and cleaned up before the zero hour, although I'm sure Santa knows how to work around such obstructions.
Next we slipped into our cozy matchy jams and swapped gifts we bought for each other. It was super fun to have a little something to tie us over until the major avalanche of gifts arrived.
As you can see, the kids were way too goofy for sleeping. But they gave it their best effort.
Hey, you don't want Santa to pass you by because you are still awake!

I tiptoed in after I heard Santa whisk up the chimney and snapped a pic of the major haul...
It was a confusing and overwhelming morning for Little Chief, but once we FINALLY got some toys unpackaged he was pretty pleased with the holiday.
Tadpole was in 7th Heaven.
At the peak of ripping it up, amidst mounds of paper and toys, Superkid exclaimed,
"Tadpole! You must have been REALLY good this year!"
Tadpole stopped, became pensive and said, "I don't think Santa must have been watching."
Abizella has been talking non-stop about the doll she was going to get for Christmas. Who knew that it would come with a PURPLE triple bunk bed and PURPLE armoir to boot?!
She was so unsuspecting that she walked past it about 7 times before she noticed them. She was very complimentary to Mrs. Claus, who she recognized spent a long time sewing blankets for her dolls (I'm guessing 12 hours between the blankets and painting, but it is just a guess).
She quickly assigned everyone a place on the bunks
(Mindy Lee gets the bottom, because she is afraid of heights).
Superkid made out like a bandit. He loves it all, but I have to say that the bear shirt is a major fav. I know because he wore it for 5 days straight. Probably would still be wearing it too if it weren't for that cheap trick I played by throwing it down the laundry shoot after coaxing him into the shower.
Pops loves the shirt too... he's taken up bear hunting!