Because we love spending Christmas with our extended family yet crave a quiet Christmas with just the 5 of us, we compromise most years. We have a family Christmas a few days before all the hustle & bustle begins. Last night was our family Christmas! The kids were super excited! Jacob was super Dad. And me? I was still pretty sick... But my fever was almost gone and I was starting to feel better. So we kept our plans to have a family Christmas!
Jacob ordered pizza for the kids, they ate on the back deck while I nursed a mug of warm chicken broth. And then Jacob announced what the big surprise was - early Christmas!!
The evening began by remembering what the real meaning of Christmas is.
Nathan told us the whole story! And then Jacob read it from the Bible.
Ruth was first to open a present. For someone that hasn't a clue what Christmas is, she didn't pretty great opening a gift first! It was a "walking" little people pony princess from her big brother! Yellow, of course ;)
Ruth was eager to find out what Faith got from big brother, too!
She got a princess crown!
Faith was SOO excited for the crown, that she jumped into Nathan with a giant hug and a "THANK YOU!" (Her old one broke a few months ago, she was soo excited to have a new one!)
Nathan was equally as thrilled with his gift from Faith - a toy plane. He hugged his sister right back!
And Daddy? He got a card game based off an iphone game that he's addicted to - Temple Run. So now he can feed his addiction and be sociable at the same time ;) hehe
Ruthie got a musical Dora microphone from her sister. She loves bopping to the music!
And the hugs never ceased! Our sweet girl was so thankful for knee & elbow pads (for riding her scooter), that she jumped into a hug with Daddy, too!
His first set of legos! He's thrilled!
Let's hope they're nice to bare feet in the middle of the night ;)
More hugs! I love our kiddos!
Ruthie got some color wonder finger paint!
She's been in love with coloring and painting lately. Unfortunately you'll notice that the moment you walk in our house..... a sick mommy on Monday meant a little girl got away with coloring on a lot of walls...... But with color wonder, the paint will only show on the special paper and not our couch!
Faith got a Tinkerbell bubble set from Ruth!
And Nathan got a playdoh construction truck set from Ruth!
("Just what I've always wanted!" he exclaimed... ha ha!)
Ruth got some play food for the kitchen set.
Pretending to cook is her favorite thing (well, next to tagging all our walls...)
A new dress up outfit for our princess!
Then the kids all opened one gift at the same time, since they were all very similar gifts.
Silly towels! Ruth is a giraffe, Nathan a shark, and Faith a unicorn!
Faith hasn't taken her towel off all day - in fact, it already needs to be washed, cause it went outside with her this morning!
Ruthie got more play food, and Faith got an AppleJack purse (it's a My Little Pony thing)
Nathan was thrilled to pieces to open his own Spiderman outfit!
While Ruth nibbled on some of her play food ;)
Nathan's last gift was a giant diaper box - he was confused and certain that it must have been meant for Ruth. haha! But when he opened it, it was ecstatic to find a bunch of sets of light-up legos!
And apparently the box was as big of a hit as anything else :)
What'd Mommy & Daddy get? Jacob got the card game as well as some ammo, hot sauce, a portable iphone speaker, a surround sound system and some new underwear ;) I got a pastry decorator set, some new cooking gadgets and a keychain "wireless leash" that will help me find my lost phone or lost keys - the man knows me too well on that one :)
The kids opened their stockings once the room was somewhat clean.
I didn't really get pics of the other kids with their stockings... oops. They got apples, oranges and some candy. Nathan got a lemon, a notebook, stampers and some little army men. Faith got a necklace, notebook and headband. But Ruth had zero desire to see what else was in her stocking once she saw the beloved peeps :)
Daddy persuaded her to keep digging, and once she found the light up spinning toy, that was it! Forget about peeps, play food or the giant diaper box. She was in love!
While Ruth admired her spinning light, Nathan & Faith
tried on their new dress up clothes and opened new toys.
The light eventually wasn't as cool as Daddy, as they all played with the walking princess pony toy just before heading to bed.
And there was one more BIG gift that we didn't open last night.
That's because the kids helped build it Saturday!
A HUGE sandbox from Granny, Pa, Mommy & Daddy.
The sand arrived Monday, while Mommy was dying in her bed from the worst bug ever. So I haven't gotten any other photos with all 3 kids playing yet. But I'll get more soon. And Daddy still has one more piece of hardi board to add to the roof, and a few seats to nail in (Nathan's super anxious to use his hammer and "help") But overall, it's a HIT! The kids LOVE the sandbox. They say, "THANK YOU, Granny & Pa!"
