We had a nice and relaxed Christmas morning. The kids slept until normal times and we made our way downstairs to check things out around 7:30. I must admit that I am so glad that our kids are okay with not getting up at the crack of dawn! Santa left some fun stuff out for the kids and I really enjoyed Lillie's reaction this year.
She was so excited for the Sophia the First dressing table. She has spent a lot of time sitting at the table since Thursday morning.
Paul was a little disappointed he didn't get a WiiU this year but Santa was pretty practical and said we had enough electronic equipment in this house already. He was pretty excited for his new remote controlled monster trucks. Santa/Daddy *might* have installed the batteries in the wrong way so they didn't work right off the bat. Once we got that rectified, he was happy as a clam.
Lots of Star Wars stuff this year which made both kids pretty happy. Both received light sabers and Star Wars dress up clothes......including Princess Leia buns for Lillie!
Paul has been obsessing about Snap Circuits for quite some time. We floated the idea to Mimi and it was a huge hit. It was one of the very first things he wanted to play with when we were done opening presents. A fun kit that lets kids learn about electricity and the making of circuits. He has built many of the projects already.
One of the projects we made......
Cousin Amanda was so sweet to send these cool placemats that can be colored on with special markers and then wiped clean. She lives in San Francisco so it was cool that Lillie got a Golden Gate bridge!
Paul got to work on his animal themed placemat.
Every year Jason and I give the kids 3 presents. A pair of pajamas, a book and a toy. I was super excited about the book choice for Paul this year since he has become such a great reader. I found a series called Stink which are chapter books (very cool for a 1st grader) and just slightly above Paul's reading level so it is a stretch for him. He was super excited and we are already on book 2 of the series.
Paul picked out a new wallet for Jason and was very proud of his choice.
Sock monkey headphones from Aunt Jean....cool!
Jeez mom, how many more presents can we possibly open? Good question Lillie. It was all just a little too much.
Lillie is in love with Scooby Doo so we found a great plush Scooby for her. Needless to say, she was thrilled.
But when Scooby gets out of line, the light saber keeps him under control.
More science stuff - this was Paul's toy from us this year. We have already done one of the experiments.
A special signed book from one of Mimi's friends.....signed by the author and the illustrator!
Pajama selfie with the kids!
After a solid 90 minutes of present opening, we were done and we were all famished. Time for a big breakfast - homemade blueberry and banana pancakes with REAL bacon and hot cocoa.
Huge breakfast meant snacks for "lunch".....some hot dips and a meat/cheese tray.
A huge ham for dinner....along with some yummy vegetables.
We usually sing and eat our birthday cake at breakfast but everyone was so full from all of the pancakes that they ate.....so we had it after dinner. Lots of singing to Baby Jesus and then it was quiet as everyone was eating their cake!
Paul picked the flavor again this year - red velvet with cream cheese frosting. It was pretty tasty!
As usual, we spent the entire day in our pajamas. We played with new toys, read books, watched movies and ate a lot of food. The best part is that we spent the entire day together. That is my very favorite part of our holiday tradition. We talked a lot about Peter on Christmas. Santa brought him a big yellow truck that we know he will love when he gets home. We all agree that we want Peter home for next year's Christmas celebration and I pray that our wish comes true.
We had a busy Christmas Eve with an eye appointment for Paul, LOTS of baking, finishing up wrapping presents, Christmas Eve Mass, dinner and getting ready for Santa and his reindeer. The kids had fun picking the treats to put on Santa's plate. Lillie had to taste test the mint meringue.
Lots of reaching and grabbing going on.
And we couldn't forget the reindeer.
The finished plate of cookies.....
And the finished plate of carrots......
Carefully setting out the plate of carrots.
Love their Christmas jammies from Mimi.
My favorite goofballs in the whole wide world.
Every year we take photos of Jason in a Santa suit hanging by our tree and playing with the kids' Santa gifts. We print them out and leave them on the hearth to help solidify the magic of Santa. Checking out Paul's Minion ornament and Lillie's Minnie Mouse ornament.
Playing with Paul's new remote controlled monster trucks.
And checking out Lillie's Sophia the First dressing table.
All setup and ready for Christmas morning.....with a dump truck for Peter too!
We spent the Sunday before Christmas celebrating with Gram and Pa! We headed to morning Mass and were blessed with great behavior from the kids. Home for some lunch and then the opening of presents! As if we needed more presents.....but the kids were excited for a second day of opening fun stuff. First up though was a game of Uno with Pa.
Our Naughty/Nice kids.....looking like complete angels.
Some added festiveness.
Loving on Pa while they get ready to pass our presents.
A new Lego set! SCORE!
Hugs for Daddy.
A new Hawkeyes hat and a handmade scarf from Gram.
We spent the rest of the afternoon playing with toys and then got ready for a yummy dinner. The kids got to drink cranberry juice out of special stemware.
After dinner we broke out one of Paul's new games.....you have to fish out plastic dino eggs without getting chomped by the T-Rex. Too funny that it surprised us every single time.
Another fun Christmas celebration. A low key day filled with lots of laughter.
We spent the Saturday before Christmas celebrating with my family at GranJo's house. We were lucky to spend the day with GranJo, Auntie Jen and Uncle Chris. It was so darn cute that Lillie kept calling him Uncle Kiss. A little reading with Auntie Jen before the opening of gifts.
Paul was up first and opened his very own, fully stocked tool box. Complete with a measuring tape, saw, hand drill and safety glasses (and a bunch of other cool stuff too).
Looking sharp Paul!
Some cuddles with Auntie Jen!
And then some more with Uncle Kiss!
Checking out the birds and squirrels.....lots of fun stuff to watch out that front window.
Keeping himself entertained by writing a letter to his pal Joseph with his new letter writing kit.
Glow in the dark bracelets rule.
We had a lot of fun and spent far too long opening presents (soooo many more than pictured above)! A yummy dinner and dessert and then we headed back to Gram and Pa's to hit the hay. The kids were super well behaved and we have a lovely day.
