Our Christmas was wonderful. Busy, crazy and hectic, but wonderful. We had decided beforehand to cut back on Christmas this year. We would still do gifts for people, but they would be more thoughtful and less of them. We needed to stick to a budget for obvious reasons.
Our Christmas Eve was spent over at my in-laws where Mamo visited. We had a lovely dinner and the boys got to open their present from Mamo. I do believe they were chomping at the bit because they saw the huge stack of presents under the tree and wanted to open MORE!
I have a tradition of getting the kiddos a new set of Christmas jammies every year. I buy them on sale ($5 each!) and they continue to use them after Christmas is over. They are warm and look adorable for pictures.
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A rare family shot
We rushed home around 8:30 and immediately got the boys into bed. A quick detour to leave out cookies, milk and carrots, a story and a kiss and they were out like lights. I was shocked they didn't stay up to wait for Santa.
This year, Santa brought the boys a Lego table that he made himself. I will do a separate post on the things I made this year for Santa. Making the table for $40 was cheaper than buying one for $100 or more.
I had asked the kids beforehand what they wanted Santa to bring them for Christmas. Each time I asked, their answers seemed to change. I made a guess and just bought. And thankfully, Santa was spot on! Jack requested a marble run and Cal requested a Thomas toy.
I stuffed stockings and went to bed around 10:30. However, I couldn't sleep. I was too excited for the morning. I tossed and turned pretty much all night with cat naps thrown in.
Jason went back to bed for another hour while I sipped coffee and the kiddos played with some of their stocking stuffers and new toy.
We packed up our car with the boatload of gifts and made the trek over to my in-laws' house. We ate a quick breakfast and then tackled the gifts. My boys were spoiled. Even though we cut back, I shopped smart, bought on sale and was very savvy in what I purchased. I bought equal amount of gifts for the boys, although I doubt they would have noticed.
Not only were my kids spoiled, but so was I. I got so many knitting things and money that I was just so overwhelmed!
Once presents were opened, the house tidied up as much as possible and light snacks were eaten, Cal went down for a quick nap while Jack put together one of his new Lego sets. This year was the year for Lego for Jack. He asked for "as many Legos as Daddy has" and he got almost that much. I lost count, but I think he opened about 10 packages that were Lego related.
Once Cal was rested, we drove back home to unload the car, crate the dog and make some appetizers to bring to my Aunt and Uncle's house. Every year, we go to my family and enjoy time together and a ton of food. There is something called the "Grazing table". Instead of a formal Christmas dinner, we have tons and tons of snacks.
This was about half of the food. There was more hot food in the kitchen. I brought goat cheese stuffed dates and sausage balls which were all gobbled up.
We laughed with my family and ate and the kids opened gifts. We don't do an exchange with the adults anymore, which is just fine with me! I would rather watch the kids open their gifts.
Jack and Cal played with their cousin Hazel and we just let them eat what they wanted. I had decided that I was not going to worry about nutrition, which is probably smart since Cal single-handedly ate most of the cookies. Ha!
It was a wonderful Christmas with four events over two days but I wouldn't trade it for the world. Our entire holiday seemed to be stressful but the day before Christmas Eve we received wonderful news and I was able to enjoy the rest of Christmas.
The above two pictures are probably my favorite from this season. Two happy boys playing TOGETHER with a new toy and our cute little tree surrounded by presents and kitties.
Merry Christmas everyone!
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