I don't know what else to say other than Merry Christmas: I give you a bazillion pics in one post!
Christmas Day flew by it seems-and I am so glad I got to enjoy every second of it with these 5 cuties (plus a hottie who is not pictured). Flashback for a moment. Last year we were all sitting in the same room, the same Christmas tree decorated, and the same pile of presents carefully arranged around the tree. But instead of reveling in the joy of opening gifts with the kids, I was curled up on the couch with James, crying because I knew he needed to go back to the hospital. I think I took all of 5 pictures last year, try as I might to be "normal" for the kids. The difference a year can make--a year that was full of tender mercies--is amazing. All 5 of our kids are healthy and well-and I can't think of a better Christmas miracle than that.
And if you want proof that James has flipped his leaf over, its right here-trying to dig into presents early! There's a reason why we don't wrap gifts until the night before!!
As is our normal tradition, we slept in until 8ish and then started to get ready: dressed, hair done, dishes done, bedrooms cleaned, etc. By 9 we were starting to get a full spread of breakfast items cooked and ready-truly delicious and it was so cute to see the anticipation building for the kids! By 10:30 or so, we were ready to actually start opening presents. I made the kids sit for a picture and then the mayham began! We decided to actually watch each kid open the first present this year. They can never make it much farther than that, but I don't mind. It was awesome to watch Karianna open her earrings-she was kind of in shock, which is cute!
JD was beyond estatic when he saw his iron man remote control motorcycle-and I have to admit, it looked super cool!
Jordan has been DYING to have his own scooter and was ready to rip it out of the box as soon as he saw it. He said to me, "I'm going to be the fastest scooter rider because my scooter has skulls on it!!!" Glad he sees that as a plus!
Sara wouldn't even stop looking at her barbie to give me a smile!
And James! Can't get cuter than that! He loves snugglies, he has to have his face buried in one when he goes to bed. This was a perfect opener for him.
A few seconds after this picture, he threw the bear off to the side and made a beeline for the other gifts. And with that-the gift opening began. I can only title the next stream of pictures "The Many Faces of Christmas". Enjoy!
Interjection-I remember getting cereal as a kid and loving it, just because it was the type of cereal we never bought. I decided to do the same for the kids this year given that we always have Chex, Kix, Cheerios, or Rasin Bran--and that's it.
My favorite reaction!
James got to open his gifts with me after everyone was done. By the time it was his turn, he was crying and crawling through the garbage just to find me!
Once the kids were done, Jared and I opened our few gifts from the school kids. JD made this cute little sock snowman-he was so proud of himself!
Karianna wrote this AMAZING book!!! Her artwork was so beautiful and her writing just exceeds my expectations all the time!
Jared surprised me with this one-he got me a book I've been wanting by Brandon Mull, and Brandon Mull just happened to be at Barnes and Noble on the same day Jared purchased it. So I now have an autographed copy of the book!!! That is so cool!
Stockings always come last in our family.
James unfortunately needed a catnap by this point, but he got to open his stocking (much) later. It was a crazy whirlwind of a morning, and by 12 we were heading over to my mom's and then Jared's parents to give them our Christmas greetings and open presents. By the time we got to the Lautenschlagers' house, you could tell the little kids were starting to get tired of Christmas....that sounds so weird! But with so many gifts, I think they were getting overwhelmed. They were all in bed by 7:30 that night, they were so pooped! I think they had a great day though, and so did Jared and I....we just kind of sat back at the end of it all, and felt that contentment of feeling so very blessed and wanting to do more to pay it forward. We have wonderful families, and our own family is such a blessing to us. Merry Christmas to everyone!
