Christmas Morning, Day, Night! - 2013

Our entire Christmas day was peaceful and relaxing AND I must add tiresome, for me, because I was up until 3 am wrapping gifts and preparing our Christmas morning breakfast, which was a delicious egg casserole, creme brûlée french toast, and hot coffee! My children ate NONE of it, so Darren and I had two helpings for breakfast and a third helping for lunch.  YUM!  Christmas morning breakfast is my FAVORITE meal.

The night before I set out their gifts.  I barely wrapped their gifts in time, so I chose NOT to do bows and name tags.  Instead, I wrapped their gifts in themed wrapping paper. 

It's no secret who's gifts these are… JAX!

 Tyson's gifts.

 Lilah's gifts.

 Daddy's gifts...

 Mommy's gifts...

We told the kids they could NOT wake up until 7:30 am.  

I was woken up at 7:29 am.  

 Down the stairs they came, with MAJOR smiles, from ear to ear.

 I loved their facial expressions and squeals.

 Going to the bathroom wasn't the first thought…obviously.

 They were admiring the note Santa left them and how much he ate/drank!

It is our tradition to read the "Christmas Story" to the kids, before opening our stockings. We want the blessing of Jesus' birth to be in the forefront of their minds, before any material blessings.

Then it was time to open their stockings.

 Lilah is so much fun to give a gift to.  She is so appreciative.

 Tyson received a Duck Dynasty "duck call".

I swore I wouldn't buy my daughter ONE thing "1 direction", but I couldn't resist the toothpaste.  She claims it's her FAVORITE Christmas gift.  UGH…. I could have saved myself a TON of money and just bought this.  Wish I had known!

 If it's "Under Armor", it's cool, even if it's under wear and socks.

 "I'm sorry for what I said when I was hungry!"

 I got the book, "Girls gone wise, in a world gone wild."

The queen gets all of the princesses and princes.

Lucky little girl!

 He's always adding comedy to our daily lives. 

This is his "overreaction" to a boring gift. #clothes

WHEN he smiles, I smile BIGGER.  He's so handsome when he smiles.

After we opened gifts from mommy and daddy, we headed to the basement to see what Santa brought them.

 Normally, we would have put this stuff together, but we were way behind this year.

 And here they come…. AGAIN!

 She saw the doll house and instantly got mad at Santa.  

She asked him for a light up barbie.

WHICH HE brought, but she didn't know.

His face tells a story all on it's own.  It's ALL he wanted.

Ty and Daddy wasted NO TIME using his new gun.

Mommy is against hunting, so she found something to take the place of real animals.

 Jax plays with his 10 in 1 game table. Here, he pitches.

 We stayed in pjs ALL day.  But I did "dress" the dinner table.

 We had

Ham

Brocoli

Homemade Mac & Cheese

Banana Pudding for Our King 

We sang Happy Birthday to Jesus before eating.

 Party of 5

I need to figure out a better system for wrapping gifts and preparing for Christmas day, so on Christmas day I am not too wiped out to enjoy my family.  I hung in there until 4:00 pm, but then I had to take a nap from 4:00 pm - 5:45 pm, before dinner, to be worth anything the rest of the night.  If I recall correctly, the same thing happened last year.  Please offer suggestions. Ha!

Regardless, the kids were thrilled because that meant mommy allowed the house to be destroyed AND she didn't care. I hope everyone enjoyed their Christmas day and cherished their time with their families and celebrating the greatest gift of all… Jesus.