Each year for Christmas, Chris and I choose a day before Christmas Day to celebrate with just our immediate family. We always spend major holidays with our extended family, and we both like it that way. However, that means that we have to do a little extra planning to ensure we have a special day to spend with just our immediate family, as well. Since having children, I've become pretty stingy with this day . . . I don't really want anything or anyone inferring with the entire day. It truly doesn't bother me that we don't spend December 25th at our house, as long as we have a day reserved for our "small" family Christmas. This year, that day was Saturday, December 22nd.
The big kids were in school all the way through Friday, December 21st this year. Earlier in the month, the school had hosted a fundraiser through a local Amish bakery, and we received those items on Thursday, December 20th. I ordered several pans of cinnamon rolls as well as an apple pie through the fundraiser, and we enjoyed the cinnamon rolls for breakfast on our small family Christmas day. They were super tasty, and we all agreed that eating cinnamon rolls from the Amish bakery for breakfast on our small family Christmas day should be a new tradition!
Our routine on our small family Christmas day is to get up (not too early), eat breakfast, clean up the kitchen, put lunch in the slow cooker, brush teeth, and comb hair all before we settle in to open gifts. We wrap everything, so there aren't any unwrapped things sitting out taunting the children. They are always so very excited to get the gift unwrapping portion of the day started, but they are also patient while we do all the things that need to be done first.
My sister gave me the scarf I'm wearing, so I took a pic to show her how cute it looked. Ready to get the party started!
One of my big pet peeves during Christmastime is when people say something to the effect of, "A month of preparation and it's all over in 20 minutes!" or "All this build up and Christmas is over in an hour." I hear people say things like this all the time, and it gets all over me! I would be unhappy too if my entire "Christmas" was about gifts and nothing else. Gifts are certainly a part of the holiday for us, but they aren't everything or even the biggest thing. Spending time together - real, quality time - is what it's about for us, and even our gift opening reflects that.
The kids know that Momma likes to get a family picture before we start with the gift opening. They were very cooperative so we could quickly move on, haha!
I began my Christmas shopping super early this year (like back in May), and got amazing deals on most everything I purchased. Because of this, the kids ended up with A LOT of gifts compared to how many they usually get. I think they had about a dozen apiece! Now, I know for many American families, that's not a crazy amount. We usually just don't do tons of gifts, though, so for our family it was BIG!
We didn't get to see my Granny Tiger this year (sad 😢), but we mailed her a package with several little gifts and she mailed us a package too. I let the kids open their envelopes from her before we started our gift opening. They were all thrilled with cash to spend!
After opening our envelopes from Granny T, it was time for stockings!
I always do practical things in the stockings . . . tooth brushes, tooth paste, bandaids, etc.
Sometimes, I throw some fun stuff in there, too. This year it was taco holders and a little stuffed dog for each child. Brooke and Brecklyn were excited about it!
Brianna and her stuffed dog :-)
Brenson made several "God's eyes" at school in art class. He filled his own stocking with one, haha!
After stockings, Daddy gets to open his gifts each year. Chris and I don't do much for each other for Christmas . . . just a few little things from the kids and maybe one or two other things. We've been wanting a griddle for a while, so Chris was pumped when he opened one!
After Daddy opens, it's Momma's turn!
After Chris and I finish opening our gifts, we have each of the children take turns giving their siblings gifts. We don't do big sibling gifts (we try to keep it at about $5 per gift), but they all love to give those little gifts to each other. One reason we do things the way we do is because we want our children to learn to be patient, happy for others, and gracious when giving gifts. It's not easy to wait for their turn, but they all do a great job. They also all show true joy when giving us gifts, and I love seeing that in them. I pray it is always that way as we want them to know the joy of giving! This year, Brianna made a special little ornament for each of us, and she couldn't wait to hand them out.
Brenson received a secret decoder book from Brooke and couldn't wait to dive into it!
Brooke was just thrilled with the little toy she received from Brecklyn. She said, "Thank you, Brecklyn. I love it!" Moments like this are just priceless!
Brianna is really into Shopkins right now, so two of her siblings gave her little Shopkins sets.
It takes us a good 45 minutes to get to the opening of the "big" gifts. I think a big part of the fun is the anticipation, and we all love enjoying the process.
The first big gift we had the children open this year was a Kindle Fire tablet for each of them. I scored these on Prime Day for a great price, and we had each one loaded with appropriate apps and games. We also had them all in protective cases in each child's favorite color. We thought the kids would flip out when they opened them because we are strict with screen time, and they've never had their own tablets before (Chris and I don't even have our own tablets!) However, the whole thing was a little anti-climatic. Don't get me wrong, they all LOVE having their own tablet, but I think they were just in shock. It was a HUGE surprise and something they didn't see coming at all! Even Brianna - who always has BIG reactions to gifts big and small - just didn't say much at first!
Brianna's face 😂 . . . I think it was disbelief!
Once the shock of opening the Kindle's wore off, we handed out the next round of gifts. Brenson was so happy about this water gun! It's one of the few things he asked for specifically!
And surprise! He wasn't the only one who received one!
I see some fun in our future!!!
Brooke and Brecklyn had several joint gifts because it's not often necessary for them each to receive their own of something (especially toys). They don't mind at all because it's always been this way for them. I adore these photos that show the true excitement on their faces!
Brecklyn
Brooke
Each of the big kids received a new Bible and Bible case this year. They both needed something that is easier for them to read and that will lay open without being held.
These faces :-)!
Another thing that Bren specifically asked for was a marble run. Do you think he's excited?!? Haha!
After we take turns opening about three or four rounds of gifts, we do what we call "free for all". This is where the kids just open the remainder of their gifts without stopping to see what others are opening or waiting for the group to open together. Everyone enjoys taking things slow and seeing what each other opens, but everyone also has a ball with "free for all"!
Brooke and Brecklyn both received this precious dress.
And, they both received a bicycle helmet!
This year, it took us close to two hours for the gift opening portion of our day, and I'm so thankful that we cherish the process! Everyone knows that as soon as gift opening is over, we take our annual "in the wrapping paper" pic. We've done this every year since Brianna's first Christmas, and I'm so thankful to have all these photos!
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Here are all of our "in the wrapping paper" photos from 2010 until now! Allllll the feels!!!
Once the wrapping paper pic is taken, the kids are free to play! Of course, they generally start with playing in the wrapping paper first!
Seriously, why is playing in wrapping so fun?!? We all have a great time doing this!
Chris and I helped the children open and put together a few of their gifts, then we went to make lunch while they played. Brianna and Brenson rode their new scooters around and around the house while we cooked.
And Brecklyn and Brooke went right to work in their kitchen, donning their new aprons and hats and playing with a few new kitchen toys they received.
Every year I think about taking a picture of our traditional lunch until we sit down to eat . . . then I forget! We had stew meat gravy with mashed potatoes, corn, rolls, and salad for lunch. We planned to eat the apple pie I purchased from the fundraiser for dessert, but we were all too full for that. We spent the rest of the day playing and just enjoying each other and our new things. Words cannot express how grateful I am for the tremendous blessings that have been bestowed upon us. The gifts and material things are nice and fun, but the true blessing is being together as a family enjoying one another.
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