Christmas Day

After staying up with the older kids until 11:30 we told them we needed to sleep in until 8 am. At about 7:50 Sophie came into our room and a few minutes after that Conner and Kali came in. They had both slept on the guest bed so that we would all be on the top floor in the morning. I guess Conner woke up at 7:30 and then woke up Kali because he was so excited.

We came down and they waited on the stairs while I went to see if Santa had come. I took my camera and took pictures of each child's pile. When I got to my pile to take the picture, I realized that when Jimmy had went downstairs to "grab his phone" right before bed, he was actually setting out a crock pot and a cozy blanket for me. That was a nice surprise.

(our family pile of gifts from Santa)

(Scotty's pile)

(Sophie's piles)

(Kali's pile)

(Conner's pile)

(my pile)

(Jimmy's pile)

I had put up a gate on the stairs the night before because I was afraid Sophie would wake up in the morning and instead of coming and getting us she would go downstairs to see if Santa had come. One of my favorite parts on Christmas morning is seeing the kids faces as they see what Santa brought them. The gate worked great- no one saw before they were supposed to.

Jimmy was in charge of recording with his phone and I took pictures. Scotty slept about an hour after the rest of the kids woke up. It was fun for them all to see what Scotty got and how he reacted to his cars track.

(this is a Messi Barcelona jersey Conner really wanted and Santa brought one for all the boys with matching shorts, so cute)

This year Santa didn't set out as many gifts and Jimmy and I wrapped some from us. I also set up a little store for the kids to come and each pick out gifts for each other earlier in the week. They were things that I had gotten from either garage sales or DI so they weren't expensive gifts but things I knew each person would like. They did chores for me or actually paid me money for the stuff so it was really from them. Kali made a shirt for Jimmy to wear and Scotty to play on. It was another idea I found on Pinterest. <http://thebluebasket.blogspot.com/2011/09/tutorial-car-shirt.html#more> She drew a town with fabric Sharpies and then gave Scotty some cars to drive around on it. Jimmy gets a little back scratch/rub (which he is always asking me and the kids for) and Scotty gets to play cars. She did a great job on it!

So they each had a few gifts from Jimmy and I and 3 gifts from their siblings. Each hour or two we would let them choose a gift to open. It was so fun because it made the gift giving and getting part of Christmas last all day long.

I couldn't find a couple shirts I got for Kali while we were in St. George and a shake and go fire truck I got for Scotty there too. I bet they are somewhere together but I still need to find them- it's bugging me. Another thing that bugged me about Christmas was no snow- it just doesn't seem right. It was so nice yesterday that we opened the sliding door and the kitchen window and let the cool air in. I am not too big of a fan of cold weather and snow but there is just something about the clean white blanket of snow that makes the season feel so cozy and beautiful. Next year maybe we'll take a two week cruise during Christmas break to Hawaii and purposely get out of the snow but this year, I missed the snow.

We decided we'd just have the kids snack on some pop tarts and goldfish crackers they got in their stockings before church and then cook a big breakfast after. We had church at 11 and they had a great program filled with Christmas music and one speaker. I got released as the primary 2nd counselor and then recalled as the 1st. I've really been doing the 1st counselor responsibilities all along but since we were getting a new member of the presidency we decided to make the switch so it would be easier with the Stake presidency to know who was doing what.

We came home to make the breakfast and Jimmy told everyone it was mandatory to get back in their jammies. It was going to be a jammie day. Kali put on her new velor sweat pants and Sophie ended up in her dress the rest of the day (mainly because I never helped her change) but the rest of us went and got our comfy stuff back on.

When we went to make the traditional spam and eggs we realized we only had 4 eggs. That would just not do! Jimmy's dad always would make Bisquick muffins, spam and eggs and hash browns for Christmas morning. I still remember turning up my nose at the spam part of the eggs and picking out just the eggs to eat. But now since I've tried it, I've decided I like it. (kind of like the book Green Eggs and Ham but for this it would be called Scrambled Eggs and Spam) We brown the spam and so it is just a bit crispy and Jimmy puts in cheese with the scrambled eggs. I know, I know, not the most healthy but once a year we spurge! So since we didn't have the eggs, we decided to make Bisquick pancakes (another favorite for the kids since I usually make whole wheat blender pancakes and they never have just white flour ones) We had 6 pieces of bacon in the fridge from the salad I made for Jon & Luci's so we cooked that up and then I made the pancakes look like reindeer. I saw that idea on Pinterest. <http://kitchenfunwithmy3sons.blogspot.com/2011/12/rudolph-pancake-breakfast.html> We also had hash browns. It was a hit!

(those are plates my parents gave me a couple years ago that we used as a family the whole time growing up. Makes me think of my childhood when I see that pattern)

(this morning (26th) Jimmy went out and got some eggs and we did the spam & eggs this morning instead)

After we cleaned up, Jimmy and I went and took a nap. I used my new blanket Jimmy gave me. The kids did well without us and let us sleep! Scotty was taking a nap too.

After our naps, Jason and Kassie came over with a ham to cook, some rolls, mashed potatoes, and green salad. We also had some of the leftover stuffing casserole and frog eyed salad. It was a great meal. We played Ticket to Ride and watched a basketball game while dinner was cooking.

After they left we played Qwirkle some more and let Scotty watch some of his Cars 2 movie.

It was a great Christmas! It is so fun watching our kids get gifts that they are so excited about. I'm sad the day is over but know it will come so fast again next year and we'll make more fun memories. And next year, I'll take more pictures at our family get togethers!