As our Christmas Eve traditions dictate, we made lots of finger foods and enjoyed a full day of various Christmas movies.
Poor Timothy was sick, so most of Christmas Eve for him was spent in his bed, but he did managed to crawl out long enough to play our annual Christmas Eve dice game! If you roll a double, you pick a gift from the pile! The kids look forward to this game every year. I had a lot of fun shopping for the gifts this year.
After the kiddos went off to bed, Santa worked his magic. It's true only Timothy believes in Santa still, but Anth and Mols know the meaning behind Santa, and so they don't say a word. I love our home at Christmas time! (Yes....we had a light malfunction on the tree the day before Christmas! Ugh!)
Rise and shine! The kiddos do Santa's gifts, then we eat and get cleaned up before digging under the tree. This year Anthony said, "All I want for Christmas is an apple pie and a subway gift card." sooooo Santa brought him a tasty caramel apple pie from Bake My Day (because his secret santa, aka Papa, already got him the subway gift card!) Molly requested a few new items for her American girl doll. And Timothy wanted.....a lot, haha! Santa read his list and settled on adding to his felt food collection. Sweet!!
Present time! Anthony received p.j.'s, tons of new books, a gaming headset, some clothing, cash, a blanket from The Office, and some funny inspirational posters. Molly received items for her doll, p.j.'s, new bedding, lots of wanted clothing items, sandals, and cash. Timothy received legos, p.j.'s, a light saber, picasso tiles, clothing, books, and cash. The kids also received gift cards and CD's they wanted from extended family. Thank you to everyone who sent gifts to the our family! Even Mama and Papa got some treats in the mail!
Stockings are always last on Christmas! The kiddos enjoyed lots of little treats, fun stickers, gift cards, CD's, little toys, etc. Even the pups had stockings full of toys and treats! haha!
The rest of the day was filled with much playing, eating, and relaxing. Anthony even made a fire outside for us to enjoy!
This year I decided to set a festive table. Sammy climbed up in the loft and got down some china my mom and dad gave me when I moved out of the house. I hadn't ever used it before because I guess I just kept forgetting it was stored up there! Now everything is in the house, so I won't forget to break it out for special occasions!
Christmas dinner was delicious! Sam made prime rib and loaded mashed potatoes, I made biscuits and honey glazed carrots. We had coconut clusters, double chocolate chip cookies, and brownies for dessert. Lots of leftovers of course!
Another Christmas in the books. I the the kids' only disappointment was not having any snow. We did last year, but only because we were in Sunriver for Christmas last year! I have to admit, though I'm not a huge snow fan, it is nice to have it on Christmas. Maybe next time.
With love,
Mama Hauck
