Even with setting my alarm early, Ray told me that Connor took at peek at about 4 AM.
Found his pile!
It's not Christmas without pullaparts!
I think the older kids were more excited about Harrison's jumperoo than anything!
Little one was in a daze when she came down.
Those eyes!
Our three kids on Christmas morning
Nana was a trooper after getting absolutely no sleep, caffeinated herself with a 5 hour, and kept on going.
First gift of the year goes to the youngest - Harrison!
Everyone getting in on the action since he can't protest!
Alaina had told me earlier in the year that she wanted an Easy Bake Oven for Christmas, but then didn't mention it much. I had read the reviews and they were pretty terrible, so we decided against it. We got her some other things that she had written in her letter to Santa and explained that you don't always get what's on your list, and sometimes Santa has a better idea for you and brings that. She seemed satisfied with that, but then at the Christmas Party, she went around telling people that she was for sure going to get an Easy Bake Oven from Santa because she had been so good this year. You really can't argue that this girl is darn near angelic, so we had to run out and get one on the 22nd. It was a hard $40 to swallow, as the Walmart employees leading me to it were saying that they had bought them last year for their girls and they were awful, but the look on her face on Christmas morning was worth it. Funny enough, it had been strategically buried so that it wouldn't be her first opened gift, but something drew her to it, and it was the first one she chose to open.
Santa had the grand idea to assemble craft kits for the kids. They're definitely being played with, but I am cursing Santa now that our carpet is embedded with hundreds of googly-eyes.
Connor's big gift was a Snap Circuits set with a battery adapter. He didn't know much about them other than that Kimball has them, but Santa DEFINITELY did well by bringing this! He loves them!
Anthony looking how we all felt. Harrison ADORES his Sophie - thanks, Carliles!
Harrison, about to open a big one...
For the second year in a row, a remote control helicopter has been at the top of Connor's list. We have the perfect house for one now, since our ceilings are so high!
Alaina was really excited to show Amanda her new makeup kit.
Ryan had to resort to feeding Daynarae chocolates again to get her to wake up and look alive on Christmas morning.
Alaina got zillions of beads this year. I've at least quarantined them to the dining room, but that doesn't mean they're not covering the floor in there.
Is this all?
All the kids on Christmas morning!
Putting together their My Little Pony friendship necklace.
Alaina's first batch of cookies with her Easy Bake.
It was a new experience to open the grown up gifts after things had wound down a bit. By the time we were ready, it was 7 pm!
Cute couple!
Don't let all those gifts deceive you...you may open up ones that have nothing...
...or open up a package of kettle corn to disguise the weight of a giftcard...
...or get a smelly sandal in a huge box so you'll never guess when you pick up and shake your gifts! :)
Nana gave Papa the very practical gift of their first car payment on their new car, but as Papa "read" the card, it somehow transformed into a love note and twice the money. :)
Nana was cracking up! It was hilarious!
After two years of envying mine, Anthony's parents got him some Bogs of his own! Best boots ever!
6 years after I started it, I was finally able to give Nana her cross stitch.
This holiday season felt extremely busy and some things just fell through the cracks, like taking the kids Christmas present shopping at Dollar Tree. I didn't realize how much that tradition meant to Alaina until she cried, twice, apologizing to Nana that she hadn't gotten her anything. My heart broke hearing that, and I don't think we'll ever let that slide again!
Just what we all needed - more caffeine!
Everyone bought Anthony Guitar Center giftcards since we knew he wanted recording equipment, but if he received Amazon cards, he'd probably spend it on something for the household. He got to go and have a shopping spree and he loved every second of it.
No pictures of me, but Anthony got me two canvases for our blank walls, a stand mixer that totally intimidates me, an awesome water bottle, and we printed our 2012 photo book. I got lots of giftcards from the rest of the fam, so I'm excited to go shopping! Merry Christmas!
1 comment:
First of all, couldn't the dogs have waited to have puppies all night on Christmas?! How rude;) All of your Christmas pj's are so cute! And your pull-a parts turned out a million times better than ours! (I've decided that we just keep our heat turned down way too low...) You always get your kids the coolest jumparooes around. I just love the easy bake oven story! (and I'm now secretly glad my kids have never asked for one...I guess it's not too late though) I love your craft kit idea - totally want to do that for my girls! Snap circuits are awesome! I remember playing with Dave's all the time. The Dietrich Christmases are so extravagant! The pictures are very pretty. You can almost hear Angela cracking up in that picture - I love it! And I'm still super impressed by your cross stitch! What a sweet heart that little Alaina has to feel so bad about not getting people gifts...I guess you learned your lesson, huh? Can I come and go shopping with you to help you get rid of all your gift cards?!
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