(...and Christmas...)

S had to work Christmas Eve this year, which was kind of a bummer, but we still had a fun day.  As mentioned in my previous post, I baked bread that morning.  That was pretty much it for the day.  I was still pretty weak so I rested while the kids played.

I almost forgot to bake cookies for Santa, but luckily we had some leftover cookie dough in our freezer.  We laid the cookies out for Santa, along with some celery for his reindeer.

Bean thought it was of utmost importance that we let Santa know that we have a chimney that he can use now.  She also thought it was important to leave the key, just in case he wanted to use the door instead.  Santa must have decided to use the chimney because there was all sorts of evidence the next morning that someone had been in our basement.

We don't have a place to hang our stockings by the chimney yet, so it was by the TV that they were once again hung with care.

The kiddos went to bed in their new jammies and Santa showed up...about 930 or so.

And then again the following morning about 8 to bring in the heavy stuff.

For the first year ever Bean found her way into my room before 9, dressed and ready to go.   She's wearing her reindeer hat that she made, along with her new custom-designed sweater.

Boy took a little more convincing to get out of bed but once he was up, he was ready to go.  Of course I made them stop every 10 feet for pictures...

The picture quality of this picture is horrible, but I LOVE it because it is Bean realizing that Santa brought her the one and only gift she asked for--a nerf Rebelle (a.k.a. Bow and Arrow.)  Pure Joy!

My kids were pretty easy to please.  All Boy wanted was a dump truck he'd seen at Smith's a month earlier.  I think he's processing his emotions in this following picture...

Bean just kept saying over and over again how good they must have been this year because they had never gotten so many presents before (which was probably not true because I think we scaled back from last year...but maybe it's because she only asked for one thing and got more than just one thing?)  They totally deserved it too--they were so good and helpful that whole week.  Bean literally took care of Boy one morning while I laid on the couch.  Breakfast and all.  She's pretty awesome.

We hung out at home for awhile and then headed to my parents' for a late breakfast.  It was time for presents again.  My mom could hardly get around to do Christmas shopping this year but she did her best to make sure the kids had presents to open.  It was so sweet.  It makes me love this picture even more.

S unfortunately had hardly slept while on shift the night before so after our festivities, he went and slept for the afternoon in my parents' basement (which is fantastic for napping.)  I played marbles with the kids for a few hours.  It was such a laid-back afternoon.

After S woke up we headed to his parents.  We opened more presents, had a light dinner, and the kids decorated gingerbread men.  Bean has artistic flair.

And Boy is really good at using all of his resources.

I was so frustrated last Christmas with how busy everything was.  This year was completely the opposite,  It was so laid back and relaxed and I thoroughly enjoyed spending time with all of my family.

The day after Christmas proved to be great once again as the kiddos entertained themselves all day with all of their new things...