I blogged all “around” Christmas but apparently not ABOUT Christmas at all. And in case you don’t know, that’s Heat Miser from The Year Without a Santa Claus and Ralphie from A Christmas Story, possibly my favorite Christmas movies. And those are my fingers.

Without going into every detail, I will say I was so grateful to NOT be traveling this year, the first where Ella would understand what was going on and be able to have fun with it. We didn’t do anything exceptional, though (just as with the holiday card), we got home from Georgia and I scrambled to increase profits for Amazon.com with frantic buying for all the kids in our lives, including ours.

Before you ask, of course I have a google doc to track our Christmas lists – with a tab for Thank You notes to make sure everyone gets a Postagram thanks! But I digress…

A few weeks before Thanksgiving, my brilliant husband handed Zoe a Target circular and told her to circle the things she wanted for Christmas. So the moment I got home from GA, I grabbed that list and looked for items online with Amazon Prime. A few items got vetoed: a Hoverboard, a trampoline, a “real” baby doll with more accoutrements than we have for our own “real” children.

But most things made it on the list. Some were ridiculously expensive on Amazon (supply/demand) or not available for quick shipping, so I also ended up on Target.com buying items that were available for pickup in store. Did I mention how brilliant my husband is? On Christmas morning it was like watching a kid unwrap every gift she wanted, one at a time (thankfully, she didn’t even mention the Hoverboard), followed by an enthusiastic “I’ve ALWAYS wanted this!!”

Oh, and never agree to let your kid collect Shopkins – or god forbid tell anyone that she likes them when they ask what she might want for Christmas. We have (I kid you not) over 200 tiny rubber weird toys that are shaped like food and hair dryers and oh, anything you could shop for – ALL OVER OUR HOUSE. I don’t even know what they are, but there’s a collector’s guide and now there are characters (small dolls that are shaped like dolls not rubber weird things) and even a doll house to put them in. Yay? THAT’s what Zoe wanted.

But it wasn’t just about what SHE wanted. Our sweet sweet child insisted on leaving Santa a gift, too (plus the obligatory milk and cookies). Or Zanta, if you will:

Yes, that third note had an actual phone number on it: Daddy’s. And I almost posted it for the Internet to see (though surely the Internet knows it already). You’re welcome, Honey.

The popsicle stick reindeer had their names on the side, and while Santa may have had 8 reindeer (plus Rudolph), apparently “ZANTA” only has three – or else Zoe only has patience to make three. Yeah, that one. Also in that box were a few ornaments from our Christmas tree – likely to make up for 6 missing reindeer.

Regardless, how cute is that?

Just so you know, I’m aware that we have two children. Little Ella didn’t get to circle things or make a list, and at this point isn’t even that interested in shopping. Why shop when you can take all your sister’s toys and call them “Mine”?

She did however get lots of gifts for Christmas, many Trolls-related items, several books, some superhero dolls. But in her mind, she got all Zoe’s stuff, too. So her Christmas was HUGE! She didn’t leave a note or gift for Santa, but she also did NOT eat his cookies or drink his milk, so that’s a gift, right?

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care (well, by the bookcase and not so carefully – mine ended up with a hole in it) and Christmas morning was a success, filled with boxes and paper and smiles. Thank you, Santa!