Christmas!

Anna woke around 6:45, but didn't come in our room until 7.  Luke was already awake and Kara came in a few minutes later, so we were left to wake for Jack. We hung out in our room for about 20 minutes until he got up (we were going to wake him at 7:30 regardless). Everyone looked cute in their matching pajamas. Me and the kids were elves and Thomas was Santa. 

Like last year, we tried to cut back a bit (eventually, we will get down to negative presents, on Christmas morning they will have to give us their toys). But, with 6 people in the house, it still adds up. 

We opened our gifts at a leisurely pace, Everybody would open something, then we'd take a break. Thomas and I aren't big on equality, so while we made sure everyone had roughly the same number of gifts (and value) we didn't exactly count. This turned out to be a bad idea, because when we got to the end and told everyone they could open all their remaining presents, Kara was left with 1, Anna had 5 and Jack had 4. This was the result of me accidentally putting Anna's name on one of Kara's gifts and wrapping all of Kara's clothes in one box and putting Anna's in two boxes. So, next year, I may be forced to count. I am okay with things being a bit off, but when you look at your sibling with a giant pile of presents and you only have one, well, that doesn't seem quite so fun. We gave her the two gifts from the Mottas to open and she was a good sport about it. 

Luke spent the morning climbing in and out of his Cozy Coupe.

Santa Daddy

We stayed in our pajamas for most of the day. The kids had some outdoor gifts, but it rained for most of the day. We had a ham dinner and that was pretty much it. Anna's favorite gifts were her roller skates and a Discovery Kids book.  Kara says her watch and the Adventure Time Everything Burrito Game. Jack picked his army men and a Great Battles of the Civil War book. Thomas liked his Tigers sweatshirt. For Luke, I would say his counting bears, or maybe his shopping cart. I got a lot of great gifts, but the first that comes to mind is a little chef chalkboard that I can use to write what's for dinner. I swear I answer that question 10x a day, so now I just write it down and point to the board.

The day after Christmas, we went to Walmart and stocked up on the clearance wrapping paper and a few outdoor decorations. I also got a case for my new iPad. Then, we finally got to play outside. The girls both got roller skates, which they spent hours practicing with. Jack got a remote control helicopter, that he immediately landed on our neighbors roof (we got it down with a ladder and golf club). I got a bike that I took for a spin around the neighborhood. Luke had both a cozy coupe and a scooter and Thomas got to help all of us try our new toys (picture him walking behind the girls and preventing numerous falls). We played all our new games. I think my favorite is Minion Life, we have played that a dozen times already and had another relaxing day at home.

Luke quickly got the hang of his scooter.

On Sunday, we invited Jennifer and Jacob for dinner and then to see the lights at Ann Marie Gardens (Chris was working). It was another day with record highs and it was nice not to have to bundle everyone up to be outside, although it definitely takes away some of the feeling of Christmas.

Since it was dark, we didn't bother taking many pictures.  

Overall, I think it was a good Christmas, not our best. As is usually the case, the gifts I thought would be hits (like Jack's video walkie talkies or Kara's LPS plane) weren't, but we all know it's not about the gifts anyway. We enjoyed our time as a family and hope we are building good memories for our kids.