Christmas Day 2014

Merry Christmas!!! 

Yes, the girls and I are veiling at Mass now and I have been meaning to do a post on the reasons why, but haven't gotten around to it yet.  

 We got up on Christmas day and headed straight to 8am Mass.  Brian prefers the midnight Mass or even just a Christmas Eve Mass over this, but it is so nice to get a seat and not have to be more than an hour early to do so that I asked that we go to the morning service this year.  Plus, I always feel like it starts our day off with the right focus instead of kids waking up early only thinking of the gifts they get to open.

 We came home and got Judah tucked into bed for his morning nap before letting the kids open one gift each.  Then we took a break so they could play with their gifts while Brian made waffles.  I had some cooking to do for dinner, so I worked on my deviled eggs during this time.  Then we ate our bacon and waffles.  By this time Judah was up and ready to join us opening gifts.  The girls made gifts for everybody which was sweet.  Isaac had bought gifts for each of the girls when at Sea World with his own money.

The children are opening their first gifts after Mass and before breakfast.  Judah was napping away.

I am opening the gift Hannah got her dad and I.

 For the most part, each of the children get only one gift from us on Christmas since we give them a good amount on Saint Nicholas Day.  We don't do the Santa thing on Christmas day because we want to focus more on waiting for the Christ Child than for a man to bring you all your heart's desires on the day of Christmas.  That was a hard tradition for me to let go of when Brian first mentioned not doing Santa with our kids, however, it has proved to be a good one for our family.  I figured opening gifts would be just as exciting as Santa coming and it would not help the kids focus more on Jesus, but I was wrong.  They really seem to be a lot less focused on presents on Christmas morning than I was when I was little.  An added bonus has been that traveling for Christmas is easier and when Brian had to leave right before Christmas for work one year, he didn't miss out on Saint Nicholas' Day and seeing the kids getting gifts from us.

This is the lunch box that I turned into a Lego box for Drew.

I glued a Lego plate to the inside lid and slid one in (removable) to hold his Legos.

We got Judah a mini four square ball, Drew a lunch box of Legos and a couple extra Hero Factory pieces, Isaac a new Hero Factory guy and a Lego Batman clock, Hannah a Crochet book, and Genna a Playmobile mother/baby set.  We did get them all the new Rush Revere book and a big four square ball to share as well.  Of course, they received many other gifts from grandparents, aunts and uncles, and cousins in the mail that they were able to open that morning.  They were all so grateful for all the gifts.

Judah also got Grumpy Cat from his aunt and uncle because he loves kitties, but real ones rarely let him get close enough to pet them.  He has started cuddling with it when I lay him in his crib.

I got Brian a cribbage set because we just learned to play that this year, a C.S. Lewis book that he had lost and we plan to read together, and this frame for his Belgian Beer poster he got ages ago in Europe.

He was even more thrilled when I suggest he hang it in the dinning room next to our Belgian wine bar.

Brian got me some earrings and made me these amazing laundry basket holders to go in my almost finished new craft and laundry room!

I labeled each basket with what goes in them and with how they get washed for the children's benefit.  I have it all in a chart for them, but this seemed so much easier.

The "whites" basket is missing because it was service when I took this picture.

We had a good nap and then headed to our neighbor and good friend's house for Christmas dinner.  We had 16 kids and 7 adults and a full house.  It was a lovely day!