more from Christmas Day

The boys woke up at 5:15am on Christmas morning and looked at their gifts under the tree. They were very excited and woke up Cody, me and Gigi.  Then they played with their new toys for the next 2 hours until the rest of the family woke up. So, sadly, I do not have a "surprise" picture of the boys, but I did get a couple of Annabelle seeing her new toys from Santa (and the boys are in there being excited with her.)
Spontaneous Thank You hugs

the aftermath: notice the rug...a  gift that morning from Cody to me and we put it down before opening the rest of the gifts (old rug is still rolled up in the corner), Casey is wrapped up in his new quilt from my mom, Cody's new Keurig is under a new grey shirt, Annabelle is in the breakfast room eating a applesauce pouch, Cody is holding his mom's new iPad from his dad and telling her all about what it can do. Stockings haven't been opened.

Right before Christmas Annabelle started saying "ho ho ho" and every time she said it she would hold her belly with both hands...Don't know where she learned this but it's too cute!

Now that we have opened our presents, my mom sent em the brainstorming list of gift ideas the boys had for what they could give to Cody and me for Christmas.  Here are their ideas:

Mom

Cookie cutters

Computer

Microphone (to yell at us)

Canvas/chalk board (easel)

Purse

Scarf

Golden ornament

Paint brush

iPad

Dad

New car

Batteries

Golf cart

Watch

Jacket. Heavy

iPad

Duh, Duh, duh, du, duh, du, duh...I'm dreaming of a White Christmas

As a kid growing up in Houston, we did a lot of dreaming and wishing for white Christmases.  We even did weird superstitious things like wear our pajamas inside and twirl around in circles chanting "snow" repeatedly.  It never worked.  I don't think we ever had a white Christmas. EVER.

Obviously, I was very excited when I looked out the window on Christmas Day this year to see sleet and rain turning into actual snow!  Then, actual snow that was sticking and accumulating...on Christmas Day!  

Christmas Eve

  

Gearing up for Christmas

I always have big plans for our family for the days before Christmas.  There's so much to do to soak up the season and spend time with the family.  I always seem to run out of time or energy or both.  Despite not starting my Christmas shopping until the 16th of December, we managed to squeeze in some good stuff too like sipping hot cocoa with marshmallows, watching Christmas movies, Advent crafts, decorating the house together, Preschool Christmas programs, shopping for the Angel tree kids, crazy elf on the shelf shenanigans, and visiting Santa.


I thought for sure that Annabelle was going to be happy to see Santa this year.  I thought she might be confused and call him Papa after our Christmas card session where Papa dressed up as Santa.  Annabelle kept saying "Aw, tute (cute) Papa!" But she wasn't fond of this Santa.

The Christmas Card picture mentioned above...Norman Rockwell inspired.

Buddy, our elf, zip lining through the house Watching the Mickey Mouse Christmas special for the hundredth time this year. This is the new ornament this year. Cody and I picked it up as a memento of Holland while we were there in April.

Annabelle had her first preschool Christmas Program this year.  Her class shook bells to Jingle Bells.  So cute!  It's always so hard to watch your child on stage looking a little scared when they can't find your face in the crowd.


Then, there's that special moment for a parent that happens during these things...Out of all the warm adoring eyes in the crowd, her eyes find yours, and she smiles and relaxes...



...then she runs so fast off the stage to give you a hug you don't have time to adjust your camera settings!

The three most difficult children in the world to photograph

Some pics from a quick session with the kids.

Breakfast at the North Pole

Barrett, Kyle and Annabelle invited some friends over for Breakfast at the North Pole. They all looked so cute dressed in their Christmas Pjs.  We had assembly lines (like the elves use for making toys) set up for making Cocoa and Reindeer Food.  Cody was a busy man dishing up Christmas tree waffles and snowman pancakes for our guests.  We had a fantastic morning and I couldn't stop smiling!

"I love smiling. Smiling is my favorite!" ~ Buddy from the movie Elf

  

After our friends left we had a Texas style snowball fight using jumbo marshmallows.