We woke up to snow Christmas morning and it snowed all day. The kids were quite excited--Zane and Callum woke up at 4:45, but they were really good and just looked at the presents and dreamed of what they might be receiving from Santa. Hubby got up to get our traditional breakfast/brunch ready (Christmas omelets), and in doing so made a big crash as a glass dish fell and shattered on the kitchen floor.
Needless to say, we all were awake by the crashing of dish at 7:20 (so that really is late for Christmas morning for little ones). All of us went to wake our teenager who thinks sleeping is more important--"the presents aren't going anywhere!"
He finally rolled out of bed with the threat of being dragged out into the snow storm and we all settled down to watch "The Nativity" 3 minute movie by the LDS church. After watching about Christ's birth, we opened our Santa gifts and looked in our stockings. Hubby suggested that we take a break and eat our omelette's (since 2 of the children had been up for hours, and the kids all wanted to eat their candy from the stockings). Surprisingly, they all agreed to stop opening the gifts and eat breakfast. My husband makes a mean omelet--anyway you like it! Plus, this morning he decided to make biscuits and gravy to go with them. YUM, yum!!
With full tummies, we turned to the mountain of presents still under & around the tree. Emmalee (3) excitedly inquired, "We get to open ALL the presents?!" The children opened the gifts and helped our baby open his (not that he was a bit interested in any of them being only 1 1/2 mo. old). When there were only a few presents left, our special-needs 8 year old, Callum, asked, "Mom, are we going to get the Wii?"
That was one gift the whole family wanted. I told them again what we told them before Christmas: that the salesman at Circuit City told us there were no Wiis at their store, and we probably would not be able to find a Wii in town! (I didn't say yes or no, and by now the older children were pestering me to answer yes or no--not to dance around it.)
After truthfully answering their questions, (no, Dad did not buy the Wii; Mom & Dad are not giving you a Wii; etc), Dad found 1 more present from the grandparents (they give us $ to buy presents--so this year=Wii) and the kids were extremely excited about receiving the Wii.
To be continued--my baby needs to eat.
Friday, December 26, 2008
Getting ready for Christmas
What a wonderful Christmas our family had. We had a great week--the children got along (only a few bickering moments which is tolerable since they are not in school).
The children and I baked sugar and gingerbread cookies. Then I made cookie dough balls and a double batch of banana bread/muffins. That was on Tuesday. We decided not to rush things so we waited until Wednesday morning (Christmas Eve day) to frost the sugar cookies and deliver them to our friends. We narrowed our list down to 15 families and Ethan drove me and the older children to deliver the treats.
We participated in a Stewart family tradition (that doesn't occur every year) of eating chili and clam chowder at my husband's dad's house. This year it was a small gathering--most of Hubby's siblings have grandchildren now and stay with their families--so it was our family of 8, grandma & grandpa Stewart, 1 uncle and a brother and sister-in-law. The food was yummy--especially since I didn't have to cook! I love it on the days that I don't have to cook for my family only because then I am not as tired from the cooking and the clean up!!
After dinner and a nice visit, we were off to drive around our small town to enjoy the Christmas lights. That took us a whopping 20 minutes--and it was that long because we had to back-track on a street to enjoy an outstanding display of lights. The children were excited about opening one present (our tradition) and wanted to change into their jammies and open their gift.
But we told them they would be opening 2 gifts this year--one from us and then the gift from their sibling (we drew names this year). We got them new jammies and we wanted them to appreciate and enjoy the gift from their sibling without getting lost in all the emotions and whirlwind opening of presents that occurs on Christmas morning. The children all loved what they received from their sibling and all wore new jammies to bed.
I will write more tomorrow since baby boy just fell asleep and I am going to get my beauty sleep now.
The children and I baked sugar and gingerbread cookies. Then I made cookie dough balls and a double batch of banana bread/muffins. That was on Tuesday. We decided not to rush things so we waited until Wednesday morning (Christmas Eve day) to frost the sugar cookies and deliver them to our friends. We narrowed our list down to 15 families and Ethan drove me and the older children to deliver the treats.
We participated in a Stewart family tradition (that doesn't occur every year) of eating chili and clam chowder at my husband's dad's house. This year it was a small gathering--most of Hubby's siblings have grandchildren now and stay with their families--so it was our family of 8, grandma & grandpa Stewart, 1 uncle and a brother and sister-in-law. The food was yummy--especially since I didn't have to cook! I love it on the days that I don't have to cook for my family only because then I am not as tired from the cooking and the clean up!!
After dinner and a nice visit, we were off to drive around our small town to enjoy the Christmas lights. That took us a whopping 20 minutes--and it was that long because we had to back-track on a street to enjoy an outstanding display of lights. The children were excited about opening one present (our tradition) and wanted to change into their jammies and open their gift.
But we told them they would be opening 2 gifts this year--one from us and then the gift from their sibling (we drew names this year). We got them new jammies and we wanted them to appreciate and enjoy the gift from their sibling without getting lost in all the emotions and whirlwind opening of presents that occurs on Christmas morning. The children all loved what they received from their sibling and all wore new jammies to bed.
I will write more tomorrow since baby boy just fell asleep and I am going to get my beauty sleep now.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)