Tuesday, December 30, 2014

Christmas Day

I am learning as a mom that Christmas morning can be oh so chaotic, but in the best possible way.  I say that only to justify the fact that I took next to no pictures... #momfail.  Coming from someone who takes on average 40 pictures a day, taking under a handful on Christmas is a total fail on my part.  But I was wrapped up in the moment and that is what it's all about, right?!?!

We woke up early-- side note: I gave Cal an alarm clock and told him he was not allowed out of bed until it read 7:00 and, that was the most brilliant idea I have ever had! That little rule follower will stay put until that clock turns! He was waking up at 5:30 or 6 and that has nipped that one, thankfully!

SO, back to Christmas morning... I was up early because I can never sleep on Christmas Eve- way too much excitement! And the boys waited until 7:00 to come down.  Carrie Beth had flown in and stayed at Tricia and Tommy's house, so they all arrived at 6:50 so they could be here when the boys came down the stairs.  My parents arrived close to then too-- so we had a FULL house (plus two dogs!), but it made it even more special.  I LOVE all these people under one roof celebrating such an important day!

Here are the boys walking down the stairs... They both have adorable Christmas jammies, but Andy opted to sleep in the t-shirt my mom let him wear home from her house (see Christmas Eve post...the shirtless boy at the end...).



I wrote this exact same thing last year, but it remains true: Cal is a sprinter-- he unwraps as fast as he can and moves on the the next box.  Andy is a marathoner-- he opens a present, looks at it, wants it out of the box immediately and then just kinda hangs out.  

From my position on the floor, I could see the above picture-- he sat in a box and just took it all in.  I imagine he was sucking his fingers in the above picture too. His pile of gifts to open was growing rapidly and he didn't even care.  He was content to just open one and sit.  Cal was running around the room, distributing gifts and unwrapping his at record speed. 


After Christmas at our house, we all showered and then headed over to my parents house to celebrate over there with the cousins.  Talk about crazy.  I don't do well there, if I am being honest.  Everyone is ripping into gifts, and then the gifts are being opened and parts are being thrown about.  The control freak in my panics-- but the kids are happy, and that's all that matters!

After the initial INSANITY, I came around the corner to see Andy and Catherine have a tea party on the couch.  These two are such little buddies.  I love listening to them talk to each other.

While they were having a tea party, Cal was shooting his Nerf gun.  He was so cute taking aim...

Then Andy came out holding a Cinderella doll.  He was carrying her around an then tossed her down on the ground when he was done- haha

We came home to get this little guy and pack up some stuff....

And we were beach bound!!!! We left about 5:00 on Christmas Day and headed east-- in my car were these two, Mimi, the two boys and Hank.  
We stopped at McDonalds on the way down-- just like we did last year!

My next post will be all about the beach weekend!

Christmas day was fun and crazy and long and PERFECT!!!! The boys had a wonderful day being surrounded by people who love them.

Their big gift this year was an iPad mini for each of them.  I had each of them per-programmed so when they turned them on, their face is the home screen and all of their apps are already loaded. It was fun watching them open that gift!

Hope your families all had wonderful Christmases too!


 

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve was a fun day-- I went shopping with my mother in law and sister in law in the morning and then we came home to eat some lunch and start getting stuff ready for Christmas Eve!

We went to the 5:00 service at church, which is the kid-friendly service and it is really chaotic, but I still love it.  It is loud and hard to hear anything...but the excitement in the room is palpable!

After church, we headed over to my parents house for some fun before heading home to get ready for Santa!

Momma insisted a family picture in front of the tree...


And we got one with Mimi and Poppy too...




We always sit in the living room while Patty (my MIL) plays Christmas songs on the piano.  The kids belt out some words that may or may not be right and we all crack up.  It is a super cheesy tradition that I LOVE and we all look forward to all year.  

Then, we had a special visitor! SANTA came to visit us while making his deliveries! He had everyone sit down and he asked them who had been good....

Then he handed out some toys to everyone... 


All the cousins together with Santa...

Then....the fun really began..... Mom had some fireball chilling in the freezer.... so we started taking shots- because what else do you do on Christmas Eve???

The dads took it all in...

Trish and I bonded....

Tommy and I discussed being the outlaws of the fam.... (total joke-- we are very much a part of the family-! )

Then I tried to get a pic of me and Tricia... and failed....multiple times..

So I took a selfie right after we took a shot-- it's a winner, folks.

Next thing I knew, little people were walking into the kitchen stripped down and I knew it was time to go. 

We bathed the boys before church so it was a quick bed time when we got home... Poppy is there in the middle....

We quickly set out the presents and then went to bed.... and I set up my camera and caught Santa in our living room...!



 Here is the still of the above video, in case it isn't working.... that is my living room, with Santa himself standing right there! (the Kringl app is AMAZING, my friends....trust me)

It was a sweet Christmas Eve that ended with Mommy kissing Santa-- no mistletoe required.
 


 
 
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