Christmas time not only brings presents, but closure to another year, and all things get wrapped up in preparing for the new year. I find it hard to believe it has come and gone....again.
This year, instead of leaving room for Santa to set things out unwrapped, we wrapped EVERYTHING...and we found the biggest boxes to wrap things in. We also sent the kids- even the big kids - on a scavenger hunt looking for small boxes filled with money.
It was probably the most entertaining, longest, drawn out morning of opening presents.
It took 2 hours of letting only one person at a time open a gift so we could all oooh and aaah at the same time!
Some of the wonderful moments we will remember:
Parker wearing his new sparing gear ALL Christmas day.
He and Caden spent almost the entire day wrestling and kick boxing.
Surprisingly...Thad and I didn't seem to have any trouble sleeping through most of it!
Erica and Jefferson spending the whole week with us before Christmas.
We shopped, wrapped, baked, ate, crafted, glued, sewed, and napped.
Thad and I are practical gift givers and they were thrilled with their new books.
What else do you give a couple of bookworms?
Having Grandma Chandler with us at 5:30am and
watching her open her presents.
After years of racing to get to family early Christmas morning when Thad lived at home, she is still anxious to arrive in time so as not to miss one moment of the special day. Our kids came downstairs and grandma was sitting in the dark--waiting for the precious expressions of excitement. We love sharing our Christmases with her!
Making homemade costumes for my shepherd and wiseman for their 5-minute debute in the primary production of the nativity scene.
In spite of them being less than a perfect fit,They were the best dressed attendees at the Nativity! They were good sports to wear them.
Letting the boys put the Christmas tree together, while Thad,
Kailey, and I sat back and watched. We joined in later to decorate.
I do miss the smell of a real tree, and some years we shell out the $50 bucks to buy one,
but this one is the perfect size for our window and our decorations.
And then we have Kailey...
Don't you just want to put a caption to that expression?
Let's see if I can try: " I've dumped out my stocking and my IPOD stereo wasn't in there."
Or maybe, "I know I was good this year. I didn't get any coal."
