Annual Christmas Sweater Photos

 Here is our surprise snow on Christmas Day, Christmas sweater photoshoot of 2024! 

 

Sammy even took photos of Leopold and I. They turned out amazing! 
 

 

A special photoshoot to remember! 

With love,

Mama Hauck

Christmas

You know, funny story. The kids were a little annoyed that we told the Grandparents not to arrive until 9:30am. They swore they would be up bright and early and wanted to do presents right away, so didn't want the Grandparents waiting so long to get there. I was like uh, no. First, I want to be able to get some decent sleep. And second, I knew they'd sleep in like they have been sleeping in on every day off they have. 

So here's Sam and I, up and out of bed at 7am, getting photos of the living room, starting breakfast, showering and everything. I even had time to sit down with a cup of tea. And when do the kids wake up? I mean....when do I have to finally go and wake them up? 9!! So looks like I was right, haha. 

I did enjoy my quiet morning with Sam getting breakfast ready and making sure everything was just *perfect.* 

 

Anthony was the first to come out of his room after I knocked on both doors and said it was time to rise and shine! His Santa gift was a box of ammo for one of his guns, and glow in the dark stars, lol. Timothy really wanted a weight lifting set and was excited to get one. Anthony eventually had to go drag Molly out of her room. The child who begged to have everyone over super early!! Molly had been dying for Birkenstocks. What she wanted kept getting sold out everywhere. I even made a purchase, and then the order was cancelled a day later. I scoured the internet to find a site they were in stock, and thankfully was able to get them. She was SO excited!!

 

After Santa gifts, the kids did their stockings while we killed the last few minutes before the Grandparents arrived. Lots of fun little things... treats, stickers, lighters, phone cases and accessories, bubble bath, bath salts, essential oil roll ons, jewelry, gift cards, etc. 

Sam and I wound up doing ours way later at night by ourselves, so no photos of us and our stockings. 
 

 

The Grandparents arrived and we wasted no time eating breakfast. We had our traditional Christmas morning breakfast of blueberry muffins, cheesy smokies, and quiche. 
 

Then finally, the moment the kids had been waiting for, presents! Molly got a couple new sweatshirts, a pair of jeans and PJ pants she's been wanting, a new blanket, and a new lamp for her room. Anthony got some new gaming headphones, a new pair of noise canceling head phones, a new blanket, a new razor, and a diffuser for his room. Timothy got some new gaming headphones, a ton of bath bombs, some new sweatshirts, a cool hand sculpture incense holder, and a new desk and mouse pad. They all also received cash and gift cards. Sammy got some new t-shirts and I designed a sign for our front porch. I got some new slippers, some new dish towels, and two Shakey Graves vinyls! 

 

  

 
 

Aunt Sarah showed up a little later in the day after we were done with presents, so she opened hers when she got here, and then the Grandparents did their stockings. 

 

After gifts, we pick up all the trash, then threw on a few Christmas movies throughout the day. We typically eat snacks, start prep work on dinner, sit and relax, and Sammy and I usually help the kids clean up their rooms and organize and put away their new gifts. First up was the boys' room, then Molly's. Hanging out with the kids and checking out all their new swag while helping them with their rooms is actually my favorite part of the day! 

 

 

 

 

For Christmas dinner this year we had smoked ribs on the Trager, meatballs in a dairy free sauce with rice, rainbow carrots, biscuits, and stuffing. For dessert we had my cookies, and then my mom made two types of apple pie and fudge. 

 

A fun surprise Christmas day was snow! It's been in the 40's and rainy most of the month, except for two days where it dipped below freezing earlier in the month and we had our first, yet very short lived, snow. Snow definitely wasn't in the forecast. So imagine our surprise when we looked out the window during our early dinner and saw it snowing! I knew we wouldn't get a ton, but we wound up getting enough to cover the ground. And it sure did make the day feel just that much more fun and festive! 

After dinner, and after all the Grandparents left at about 4, even though I was soooo pooped out, we took advantage of the still falling snow to have our yearly mini Christmas sweater photo shoot. I'm really glad we all threw on our sweaters and rushed out to do it before it got dark, because the photos turned out great! And Sam even took a bunch of me and Leo, which I love!!  I'll post the all in a sperate post here soon. 

 

Back inside after our mini photo shoot, the kids went to their rooms to hang out, and Sam and I watched a Christmas movie. After saying goodnight to the kiddos, we hopped in bed and wrapped up Christmas with another movie. 

 

Definitely a wonderful Christmas. 

Now I'm really looking forward to the rest of the kids' Christmas break. Timothy got to fly to Alaska yesterday to visit our friends and neighbors, the Lucas's, who are currently temporarily living there. We took a trip there back in May for their son Wyatt's graduation, and ever since then, Tim has really been wanting to go back there for winter. So Sam was able to use all of his saved points to get him a ticket. He was out of his mind excited! He traveled all by himself yesterday, with flight escorts helping him out, and everything was smooth sailing. He'll spend a good chunk of time there, coming home on the 4th. Anthony and Molly plan to just hang out at home, as do Sam and I. I'm sure we'll find a few projects to do here and there. First up, taking Christmas down and packing it away. Much to everyone's sadness, lol. 

With love,

Mama Hauck