Christmas Morning

Jason and I weren't really sure how early the boys would be up this morning and as parents we really would love to have the first reaction when they see what all Santa left for them.  Thankfully the boys didn't wake up too early and I actually woke up before they did around 7:30 and was able to capture some of the reaction.  Trevor must have been pretty tired because it took him a little longer to wake up.

When I woke up I made monkey bread for breakfast and then it was down hill from there for me.  I was freezing and couldn't put enough clothes on and of course Jason said it wasn't cold in the house, which led to a 103.5 fever and a quick run to the bathroom.  I couldn't believe I was sick on Christmas.  

It took us about 3 hours to open our presents because all I could do was sit in the chair with a blanket on me.  The boys would bring me each of my presents to open and of course we take turns opening so we can all see what everyone received.

 So excited to see what Santa brought them.

A 3DS

Night vision goggles

A Big Wheel so he can ride like his brother.

 Stocking time - books, books and more books - this boy loves to read.

Every boy needs new big boys!!

One of the 3 things on his Santa list - Star War squinkies aka Star Wars pods.  Thanks to Stephanie for introducing him into these things.  I think after Christmas we have about 75 of these little guys.

He has been asking for a new chair because when he sat in his Everywhere chair you laid straight back - there was no support.  This is what happens when I tried to save money and bought the generic insert instead of the one from Pottery Barn.  I learned my lesson so he received the PotteryBarn insert for Christmas.

Jake and the Neverland Pirate ship that Brody and Daddy picked out for him, while shopping for me.

New slippers - Bobo Fet from Star Wars

Darth Vadar slippers.

New golf clubs which made Brody's day.

Looks like trouble - skates.

 This year Jason and I separately took the boys shopping for them to pick out a present for either me or Jason.  When I took the boys to Target to buy a present for Jason (whew what an experience, I learned a valuable lesson don't take both of them right after school), they had all sorts of ideas.  They ended up with some "underwear" aka Batman boxers, Spiderman PS3 game, and a small flashlight.

Jason took Brody shopping because Trevor didn't want to go (maybe it's because me and him go all the time) and they picked me out a new bathroom scale and a small dust buster vacuum cleaner - true love for mom!

Even Allye got a Christmas present that the boys picked out for her - she loved it.

It didn't take long for Brody to break out his new clubs.  Love how he enjoys hitting just like his daddy.

Besides the fact that I was sick all day (and it continued for a few more days) we had a great Christmas.  Thankfully we didn't have any plans to go anywhere that day because I felt awful.  We came up with something to eat for a late lunch and thankfully mom and dad were there to help.

Christmas Eve Night

Once we arrived back home after being at Nini and Papa's there was a certain present that the boys had been waiting impatiently to open for a few days.  For some reason they thought Dash brought it for them.

New pj's and a Christmas book.

One day at school they made reindeer food so of course we had to put that out for all of the reindeer.  Brody knows all of their names and wanted to put out 4 bowls so every 2 had a bowl to eat out of.  It was drizzling a little so we told him we would put the food out later once it stopped raining.

Time for Santa's cookies.

The house was all set for Santa to arrive that night.

The boys' were so excited for the next morning but thankfully they went to bed pretty good that night.

Christmas Eve at Nini and Papa's

For a couple of years now we have been having dinner and exchanging presents on Christmas Eve at my parents' house.

This has really worked out so well.  This year my uncle was in town so he joined us, which was a nice treat.  The boys have taken to him and he wants to be the cool uncle!!

We don't normally have the traditional Christmas meal - so it was steaks and potatoes for us.  Since my uncle is a chef he grilled the steaks for us.   Then it was time to open presents which the boys were so excited about.  It's a challenge to make sure they understand the true meaning of Christmas and I think Brody gets it because I overhear him telling Trevor that "Christmas is not about the presents, but it's about Jesus' birthday".  I pray that he continues to feel this way.

I'm pretty sure mom had this perfect scenario in her mind about reading the Christmas story that night - well throw that out the window because it just didn't go that way.  She used an activity book to read the story and all the boys (mostly Trevor) was worried about was putting the stickers in the book.  Oh well maybe it will get better.

Present time - As we went 1 person at a time, I'm sure my impatient children were dying inside, but oh well this is how we roll.  

A new bow and arrow

Trevor received a new scooter

Mom was so creative - this is how she did the name tags on our packages.

Just what we needed 8 new Star War figures - this isn't Jason's present but Trevor's :)

Jason received a new air compressor and of course Trevor had to help.  Jason's gift consisted of several unblown balloons with a piece of a picture of the compressor - it was a very clever way to wrap the gift.

      

Trevor helping Uncle Chris unwrap his presents.  Trevor just got tired of waiting on everyone to unwrap their presents so he decided to help everyone out.

 

Dad decided to wrap up 3 gifts that he had bought for himself - it was the funniest thing when Jason went to pass out the presents and it only said "Doc" so we all figured what he had done.

We all went in and purchased mom a new laptop.  She was in desperate need of one - now if she will just stop clicking on stuff so much.

It was a great night at mom and dad's - very relaxing and thankfully we didn't feel too rushed like we would have if we did this on Christmas Day.

Live Nativity Presentation

Once the clock hit 0:00 at the Jags game we rushed home to get ready for the Live Nativity presentation at church that night.  Jason was singing in it so I had to get the boys ready and up to the church.  There was no childcare that night so we braved them sitting in church with me.  It's always a challenge to have both boys sitting quietly in church but I am thankful and proud to say they were absolutely wonderful.  They enjoyed trying to find daddy on the stage and it's always so sweet to see them wave even though Jason can't see them.

Immediately after the presentation we headed over to our gym where it was transformed to a Winter Wonderland.  Wow at the hours of help that went into it - it was beautiful.

Brody sang a couple of songs with the children's choir at the beginning of the party.

 and then it was time to see the special "guest".  Yes, it is a blurry picture.  Earlier I had turned the focus to manual so I could video Brody singing and I totally forgot I turned it to that.  I felt pretty dumb as I am taking pictures of them with Santa and couldn't figure out what was wrong with my camera and why it wasn't focusing.  About 5 minutes after they got down I realized what was wrong - I really wanted them to go and redo it, but I felt that might be a little crazy.  Oh well.

Trevor and Tucker - they will always find each other - best buddies.

So if 1 cupcake for the day isn't enough let's try 2.  All sugared up for the day/night