Hi, Everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and were able to spend lots of quality time together. Our Christmas was really nice. As usual, it happened in three phases, beginning with our small family Christmas on Thursday, December 24th.
Before I jump too far into this post, I want to talk a little bit about how our holiday looked much different than we were expecting this year. My brother and his family had planned to be here with us for a chunk of time during Christmas time. However, my niece had some health problems, followed very closely by my brother having emergency back surgery. Although they are both recovering well, my brother ended up missing way too much work to be able to make a trip here. We were able to see my nephew and his finance' a few weeks ago, but it didn't work out for us to see my brother, his wife, or my niece this time :-(. Also, my sister and her husband - who initially planned to stay in town for Christmas - changed their plans and went to Arkansas to be with Russ's family instead. Christmas time generally means lots of extended family time for us, so it was sad that it didn't work out that way this year.
However, that didn't stop us from having a nice, peaceful, and relaxing holiday! We try to set aside a day for our small family celebration (and yes, I realize that our family may not qualify as "small" to most people), and this year we decided that day would be the day before Christmas. We started the morning by eating cinnamon rolls, as this has been our tradition for the last several years. Then, we all got ready for the day (some of us just changed our pjs) and started the gift exchange process!
Brianna, Brenson, Brooke, and Brecklyn were ready to dig into their stockings! The Mickey Mouse you see sticking out of each child's stocking is a little surprise I brought back from Disney World :-).
After stockings, I had a group gift for the kids to open. It's a Chronicles of Narnia box set!
Next, it was my turn to open some gifts. I got several nice things, but the gift of the year for me was this t-shirt. Chris gave me this shirt when we were dating in high school (probably in 1998). I have worn this shirt to sleep in for years, and in more recent years it has really started to show it's age. It has holes, bleach stains, and the shoulder seam is over half gone on one side. One night probably eight months ago, I was wearing my favorite sleep shirt and Chris decided to make fun of it. It hurt my feelings, so I threw the shirt in the trash. He dug that mess out of the trash and gifted it to me for Christmas! I have regretted being moody and throwing the shirt away, so I was happy to see my old friend again!
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In our house, gift opening is not a free-for-all. We take our time, open gifts one by one, watch each other, talk about our gifts, and truly make the whole operation a process. After I opened my gifts from the kids, it was Chris's turn to open his gifts from the kids.
He loved everything they got him!
Chris and I didn't get one another anything big this year since we had just taken a major vacation to Florida. The kids also knew that they would have fewer gifts to open this year, as well. I was so pleased that they all were still grateful, excited, and thoroughly content with the number of gifts they received.
Even though the kids are super excited to receive gifts, we want our focus to be more on giving. For this reason, we have each of the kids give one another a gift. They have a $5 spending limit, and it's so cute to watch how excited they get to give each other their gifts.
Brooke with the her gift from Bren
Brooke with her gift from Brecks
Brooke with her gift from Bri
Bren with his gift from Bri
Bren wearing his gift from Brooke (blue light blocking glasses)
Bren with his gift from Brecklyn
Bri with her gift from Bren
Bri with her gift from Brooke
Bri with her gift from Brecklyn
(also blue light blocking glasses)
Brecks with her gift from Bren
Brecklyn opening her gift from Brooke
Brecklyn with her gift from Bri
As you can imagine, it takes some time to open gifts this way, but we love it! Our kids are really learning how to give and receive gifts graciously, and the joy they have when giving gifts is something you can't fabricate.
After sibling gifts, we typically let the children take turns opening some gifts from Santa.
Bri was excited for her new coloring Bible
Brecklyn and Brooke had asked me several times for a "Baby Born Treehouse Surprise". They were off the chain when they realized they got one!
They were also excited for this super fun baking set.
Bren is currently alllll about The Mandalorian, so this Mandalorian Monopoly game was right up his alley!
I bought Brooke and Brecklyn both a personalized necklace. Brecklyn was particularly excited for this as she never finds her name on anything at the stores.
Santa also brought Bri a baking set. The perfect gift for my little chef!
We have a generous relative in our family that sends the kids cash for Christmas. Most of it goes in their savings accounts, but opening the envelopes with the cash never disappoints.
Brecklyn had asked me for a very specific Barbie set for Christmas. At the time she asked me, I had actually already purchased it for her. She was thrilled when she opened it!
Then, she ran up to me and sweetly and sincerely said, "Thank you so much for buying that for me, Mom!"
We pretty much repeated the same drill with Brooke. Look at that face!
Hearing them say "Thank you" means so much to me!
I had found a killer deal on a microscope back at the end of summer. I immediately thought Bren would like it, so I snatched it up. I think his face says it all!
But the gift he really loved getting was this battery powered Nerf Gun. Boy loves his Nerf Guns!
Brianna was a little harder to shop for this year because she's at the tween age. She still likes toys, but probably not enough to receive many as a gift. On the other hand, she's not really old enough to just want clothes and makeup. She had been asking for a weighted blanket for some months, so she was thrilled when she opened one!
Brecklyn and Brooke had no idea, but I had purchased two "storybook sets" at Disney World when we were there. I hid them in our stroller, then in our hotel suite, then in my suitcase to get them home. When the girls opened them, they immediately recognized that they were from Disney World and were elated!
Traditional "In the Wrapping Paper" pic . . . WHERE are my babies???
My kids have a blast opening gifts. However, I honestly think they have just as much fun after we have finished opening everything, and we let them play in the wrapping paper trash. They love this tradition!
One of my gifts this year was a tripod for my phone that has a remote. Talk about genius! Before the kids started opening and playing with their things, I made them let me play with mine first!
Lovely family, haha!
I could get used to this remote business!
Love my crew!
While Chris helped the kids get their new toys opened and put together, I got started on our traditional Christmas lunch of mashed potatoes and roast gravy, corn, salad, and rolls. It's a meal we all enjoy, but it doesn't take too much effort. Win-win!
After spending part of the afternoon playing with new things and enjoying each other, Grampy and G-Jo came to spend the evening with us. The kids were thrilled I had invited them over! They are always so thoughtful to bring things to do with the kids, and this time they brought some ornament crafts.
I guess I was kind of off my photo taking game because I didn't take pics of the completed crafts, our finger food dinner, or the BINGO games G-Jo brought for us to play. She even brought prizes, and the kids had a ball playing the game and winning prizes. As an added bonus, each child somehow won at least one time. How she does this stuff, I'll never know, haha!
Finally, before we tucked the kids all snug in their beds (and Grampy and G-Jo went home for the night), Grampy read Brooke and Brecklyn a few bedtime stories. What a perfect way to end a lovely day!
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