A Very Merry Christmas!

I love Christmas.  I love seeing the kids faces when they come in to see the tree and the gifts that were left for them under and around the tree.  I always look forward to watching them open gifts and seeing their cute expressions and hearing their funny exclamations as they discover one surprise after another. 

 

This year, Santa brought our little Addy her very own horsey.  She loved it.  In fact, she opened most of the rest of her presents from on top of her horse because she didn't want to get off of him. 

Lainah was SO excited because she had asked Santa to bring her a "plastic snowflake."  Where does she come up with these funny little requests?  Who knows...but luckily Santa is amazing...because that was the first thing she looked for in her stocking and loved her new plastic snowflake ornament.

Along with Addy's horse "Lucky" came a little cowgirl hat.  I love this little polka-dotted cowgirl.

Brooklynn asked for a makeup kit.  She and Rachel were conspiring to go do makeovers immediately after opening gifts.

How did Santa know that Taylor really likes Axe cologne and products?  Look out ladies...he's fully stocked now.

Rachel was grinning ear to ear before she had even opened anything.

Lainah had also asked Santa for a ballet dress.  She has been dancing around the house in her new pink leotard, long white tutu and new ballet shoes ever since Christmas morning.

Santa did something fun this year...he gave mom and dad and the Tay and Rachey movie tickets.  So we got to go out on some fun dates to some great movies!

And Matthew got the helicopter he had been hoping for...I love his cute grin and bed head hair.

Every year, the kids try to leave more and more things on Santa's plate.  They each want to leave him something.  I keep trying to tell them that Santa would be happy with veggies too...but no, they just leave him lots and lots of chocolate, cookies, carmel, fudge, and hot cocoa.  And in the morning, they check his plate to see if he finished it all.  This year, Santa left them a treat in return!  A jar of "Santa's Cookies" mix, straight from the North Pole.

And another surprise this year...it looked like Santa may have had a difficult time getting back up the fireplace...because he left a little ribbon in the doors.

And there was a large boot print in the ashes.  Matthew could not believe it!  He wanted to climb onto the roof to see if he could see the sleigh and reindeer tracks too!

Happy 1st Christmas to Emma Elyse!  She had to lick everything...and was super happy to just sit with mommy and watch everyone.

Her "My First Christmas" bib passed the goober test.

Emma is such a sweet baby.  She was just happy to be in the middle of everything and everyone.  All smiles.

Lainah made a quick change and started dancing around for all of us. 

Another fun thing we did this year was instead of having each of the kids buy everyone a gift...we had them exchange names and MAKE a HOMEMADE gift for their person.  Andy and I were also included.  In years past, it has just felt like way to much stuff when we each give everyone else a gift.  So we tried to tame it down a little.  It was a LOT more work for me, because I had to help nearly all of the kids with their gift-making...but it really was worth it. 

 

This year, the kids really thought about their gift-giving more, and when it came time to open...the giver and receiver alike were much more excited.  There was a great feeling that I think we've been lacking in years past.

 

Brooklynn received a knitting loom for her birthday in August...and so she decided to make Taylor a hat and scarf in his new school's colors.  She worked for a couple of weeks to finish these.  It was awesome!

And...here they all are with their homemade gifts.  Rachel made Matthew his soccer ball blanket all by herself without help, and everyone else had me help them make their person a blanket.  Addy had Emma...so I made Emma a "snuggly."  Lainah helped me choose a soft little stuffed animal for it, and she loves it.  She sleeps with it every night now.

In 2004, I made Andy an apron with mine and the kids handprints on it.  In 2004, it was just Taylor, Rachel, and 4 month old Brooklynn.  This year, Andy surprised me by making me an apron with everyone's handprints on it.  There's a few more hands these days. 

And Andy also surprised me with a super soft cuddly blanket of my own.  But the sweetest thing of all, besides the fact that he made it himself...was the little buzz lightyear that was sewn onto one corner. 

On the bottom of Buzz's foot is the name "Andy" of course...and Andy said this blanket was to snuggle in when I was missing him.  So even if he was away I could always have my Andy close. 

This was about the sweetest Christmas present ever.

I think the reason why I love the soft magical glow of the Christmas tree on Christmas Eve night, is because it is an illustration of how I feel in my heart when my family is all gathered around giving and receiving gifts given with love. 

Merry Christmas 2014!