The kids insisted they'd be up early this Christmas morning. I wanted to sleep in, and had planned to....even told the Grandparents not to show up until 9. But because the kids insisted, and because I like to be up and showered and ready to go before the kids wake up, I set my alarm for 6. So isn't it funny when, at 8, Sam and I had to go in and wake the them all up! LOL
Oh well. It was nice to spend the morning with just Sam and get all the animal chores wrapped up and breakfast going.
Before the Grandparents arrived, the kids were able to open up their larger gifts. Anthony got a chair for his computer nook, Timothy a Roblox gift card of a hefty sum, and Molly the TV she's been wanting for her room for a few years now. They were all pretty stocked with their main gifts!
Since we didn't do stockings for the Grandparents this year, because we simply can't afford to do everything all of the time, and I needed to take something off my plate, we thought it a good idea to go ahead and also let the kids do their stockings before the Grandparents arrived.
Stockings were filled with bath bombs, mints, gum, various sweet treats, hats, hair brushes, meat sticks, gift cards, Anth got scratch offs (lol), etc.
The pups got a few new toys as well!
After big gifts, Santa gifts, and stockings, we got calls from all the Grandparents letting us know they'd all be running 30-40 minutes late. HAHA
Soooooo we had more time to kill. Anthony did his scratch offs. Molly snacked (and decided she didn't like her Taki lollipops), lol. And Timothy tried out one of his hot chocolate bombs.
Finally the Grandparents arrived and we were able to serve breakfast! Every Christmas morning we make homemade blueberry muffins, a variety of different kinds of quiche, and little cheesy smokies. Unfortuantely, the stores have consistently been out of little smokies, so we had to forgo them this year. But the quiche were so delicious, I don't think anyone truly missed the smokies.
Anthony received a new hat, new headphones, a personalized headphone holder, a lamp for his gaming corner, new sheets and comforter, a canvas photo of his dog Daisy, and a few bathroom gag gifts, lol.
Timothy received popcorn bowls, a popcorn machine, popcorn seasonings, much needed new sweatpants, new headphones, and new sheets and comforter for his bed.
Molly received new Hey Dude shoes, Nike slides, Nike lunch pail, a Nike sweatshirt and sweatpants set she's been eyeballing, and some makeup sponges with accessories and other makeup and body items.
All the kids also received cards and cash from their grandparents! Which is always well received since they either like to go shopping and pick their own gifts out, or continue to save up for items they really want for the future.
They definitely all received much needed and wanted items this year, and I was happy to make them happy.
Merry Christmas!
With love,
After presents, I like to go around and get the house cleaned up and gifts put away and organized while Sam starts working on the snacks for the day. We had done a lot of the food prep the day before, so there wasn't too much to do. For snacks we had sausage star wontons, meatballs, fruit, cheesy sausage balls, and a meat, cheese, and cracker tray our neighbors Tami and Leonard when they arrived at noon!
We watched a Christmas movie, hung Molly's TV for her, got Anthony's gaming corner all set up with his new lamp, chair, and headphones holder, made popcorn with Timothy's new popcorn machine, chatted, ate tons of snacks, and just hung out. It was nice to put my feet up and relax a bit.
The fog had been pretty heavy all day, and Gma Cathy didn't want to have to drive in the dark in the fog, so she unfortunately left before dinner was ready, which was a bummer. I wish we had planned to have dinner ready earlier....but we weren't thinking of the fog. On the bright side, Tami and Leonard, who originally were only going to stay for a while and weren't intending to stay for dinner, actually decided to, so that was nice.
For Christmas dinner, we like to have either clam chowder or chicken noodle soup. This was a clam chowder year! Sam made the chowder, Gma Whitten made the biscuits, and I made the carrot cake and cookies for dessert.
Dinner and dessert were delicious! We were all sooo stuffed by the end of the evening. And pooped out too. I was literally running of fumes after such a long and busy December. I think everyone left about 6pm. After we all chipped in to get food packed up and the house cleaned up, I was more than ready to snuggle on the couch with Timothy and my sweet pup, Leo, and eat more cake and watch a little trash TV. Just like my shirt says....eating junk & watching rubbish! hahaha
The perfect ending to a great Christmas with the family.
With love,
Mama Hauck
