first miracle of this Christmas season

We got our tree up over the weekend. As the kids have gotten older we have morphed this into a family event...and this year was the most peaceful ordeal ever. I told them to keep Sat from 1-3 free AND they did! that is this seasons first miracle of Christmas! Ara and I stopped at the grocery that morning and stocked up on party food--chocolates, cookies, salami & cheeses, chips and dip, popcorn chicken and soda--we spared no expense. So as soon as Jake got back from his SAT testing we dug in. He orchestrated by telling us we were incorporating a 5 minute break every 25 minutes. This turned in to Ara and Andi and Jake watching Elf (Ara napping-creating the peaceful part of the day). The kids ended up hanging out until 6 which totally surprised us. A few years ago we could hardly keep them in long enough to hang a bulb.