'Tis the season

We had a very fun Christmas this year. It's the first year that Alex has really been aware of Christmas and presents and Santa Claus. He was so excited for Santa to come he could hardly stand it. He asked me every day if today was the day Santa was coming. I finally made a Christmas countdown chain. He got to cut it every day and I got to keep my sanity.

I promised Mom I would get pictures and video of the kids' reactions to their presents. So this post is mostly video clips.

The first thing Alex opened was the pajama set from Grandma Love. He loved it. You can see, he's saying, "Wow!" He likes fuzzy clothes. :)

Elise opening her super-sized Little Pony. She kept saying it over and over, "It's a Little Pony! It's a Little Pony!"

Alex reacts to opening a Cars Tour the Town book.

Elise opening her Cinderella doll.

Elise figured that her next present would also be a Cinderella something for some reason, so we made sure she saw the Little Pony on the bag. She was excited about it.

Alex got his very own dinosaur hand puppets (he really liked the ones we made for his cousin Alona).

Elise got some, too! She calls them "dino-whores." Haha! (That kind of reminds me of a quote from Rat Race. Anyone care to venture a guess?)

Alex's "big" present from Santa this year was a 12" Iron Man action figure (complete with 3 plastic repulsor blasts you shoot from his right hand with the push of a button!!...I secreted those away and they're now residing in a baggie in the kitchen "junk drawer"). This is my favorite video from Christmas. His reaction was too hilarious. I love how his breathing accelerated as he began to see what it was, and yet, he paused to pull the bits of tape off. Ha! Notwithstanding, he gets the Best Reaction of 2008 award.

Here is a clip of Alex's reaction when he opens another gift from Grandma Love.

Elise loves books, so she was excited when her next gift from Grandma Love was several board books.

The final gift was for both of the kids from Santa. They got a rocking horse (and I managed to get a shot of both of them riding it!--every time I tried, Elise would climb off to see the picture I hadn't taken yet!) and they love to play with it. They've done a very good job of sharing, considering they're 2 and 4. :)

The kids had a very lovely holiday and I'm glad we have these videos and pictures so we can forward the fun on to our friends and family!