There's no place like...

home for the holidays. Don't get me wrong, we love our families. I think both Tom and I missed spending time with them this Christmas, but being home was wonderful. No airports, no hotel rooms, no time changes, no rental cars. Just the four of us in our own house. Tom and I have traveled every Christmas since we began dating, mostly to see family, but also for our honeymoon to Hawaii. Staying home was a real treat. I got to do some baking and visiting with neighbors. It's going to be hard to convince me to leave home for Christmas ever again.

I'll get to the pictures in a minute, but first I want to give my husband some major praise. This morning there was a present in my stocking that was definitely a step above the underwear and See's candy Santa put in there - a little jewelry box containing a beautiful (BEAUTIFUL) pair of diamond earrings. It was just like a cheesy commercial. I even got a little teary-eyed because it was so completely unexpected. Tom told me I deserve them for being such a great mom to my kids. I'd love to say that I don't need any gifts to do such a fulfilling job, but seriously this is damn hard work. Emotionally and physically draining; not to mention the fact I don't get vacations (or even a full night's sleep). So a pair of earrings is an awesome way to acknowledge my hard work and I appreciate it more than I can ever tell him.

Okay, on to pictures. This is from last night. I let the kids open the gifts from each other. Leo got a set of four puzzles and Tom helped him put it together.
The presents under the tree waiting for a good little boy and girl.
Billie thinks she's a gift, but really she's a pain in the butt.
Helping daddy open one of his presents.
The only thing Leo asked for from Santa was a little battery-powered train named Percy. Every time we discussed Santa, Leo would talk about how the man in red was going to bring him Percy. We even wrote a letter to Santa specifying this request. Though he was thrilled with the other presents under the tree and in his stocking, take a look at his face after he opened Percy and Tom was getting it out of the box. Pure joy.

Showing off Percy and me helping Serafina open presents. She is too big to fit into the Christmas p.j.s Leo wore two years ago. My little fatty.
Playing with his fire truck from Santa and dump truck from Ito.
The aftermath...
Checking out his power tool set complete with safety goggles.
The goggles are a little on the tight side.
Checking out daddy's favorite present (the iPhone)
Munching on a homemade biscuit wearing his new snazzy vest from the Long Island Mirriones.
Nana comes tomorrow. There will be more presents and a whole lot of fun.