Christmas Day

It takes awhile for me to get dressed and up for the day, so our Christmas mornings never start at the crack of dawn. The kids have to stay upstairs until 8, which is asking a lot since they usually wake up at 6 (or before). As it gets closer and closer to 8 it gets increasingly more difficult to keep them upstairs and happy. Sharon took these pictures of her kids waiting the last few minutes for me to get situated in the family room.

A quick pic around the tree before starting with our stockings.

Matt opened the first present of the day; a truck book:

Rachel got a little tea set:

I found these little hollow book boxes at Hobby Lobby and knew Elizabeth and Kate would like them:

Elizabeth helping me open a present she made me at a church activity:

Kate is in the gifted art program at school and she drew a picture for a contest (and got third place). She gave it to me for Christmas. It's called "lit candle."

Elizabeth got new owl pajamas and Channie got a box to keep her crocheting stuff in, plus some yarn, a perpetual calendar (to keep birthdays/anniversaries in) and another bottle of one of her favorite perfumes.

Sharon got some flameless pillar candles. (I got some, too. They're awesome! They're battery-operated but look 100% real.) Mom got a picture.

Sarah opened "ball of whacks" (a fun little toy for young and old).

Mom bought me a new monogrammed blanket from Lands' End. It's so warm; I love it!

Emily didn't need much, so Sharon bought her one of those corn popper toys. Emi loved it!

The three oldest girls got lots of books. They're avid readers, which makes me happy because I wasn't much of a reader when I was young (although I am now).

Emi got a book, too!

Sharon modeling her sparkly scarf from Chandra, and Kate excited about a game I bought her.

Sarah and Rachel opening their little 6 inch American Girl Dolls:

Elizabeth got The Hunger Games trilogy and read all three books in just a few days. Boy, the girls read quickly!

Rachel loves to draw, so I gave her a little lap desk with a pad of paper and markers. She loved it!

My mom and I gave Sharon an ice cream bowl for her KitchenAid mixer. It's a gift that will keep on giving! Matt and his towtruck from Grammy.

My sister Miriam made these cute Christmas aprons for her sisters and she made me a cute angel ornament for my Christmas tree since I have no use for an apron.

In my family we're the kind of people that open our presents one at a time instead of having a free for all where everyone opens presents at the same time. I like the way we do it because I just like to see what everybody gets! That means it takes awhile to get through all of them, though. (I think we opened presents for a couple of hours). But that's okay with me because it just prolongs the fun! The rest of Christmas was nice and relaxing. We didn't do much beyond play and hang out, but that's just the way I like it!