Saturday, December 28, 2013

Christmas 2013

This was the first year in my entire life that I have not spent Christmas with my parents.  While it was a very different Christmas, it was absolutely perfect!

Steve took off work to stay home with us on Christmas Eve.  He made us Mickey Mouse waffles, homemade hash browns and sausage for breakfast.  Delish!IMG_1254

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After breakfast, we got dressed and then opened presents.  It took us an hour and a half to open all of our presents!  So much fun!!IMG_1266

Cale and his pile of presentsIMG_1287

Claire and her mountain of giftsIMG_1297

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My mother-in-law got me the most beautiful wedding cake topper!  (In an effort to save money, that was one of the things I did not have when Steve and I got married.  I’ve always wanted one since they make such beautiful keepsakes.  Thank you, Robin!  It’s gorgeous!)IMG_1352

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(Claire took this picture.  This is her first-ever photo on the blog.)IMG_1417

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Our blessed mess!IMG_1532

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Our kids got lots of wonderful gifts!

Claire – Whisper the Cat Stuffie, CD, dress-up Minnie Mouse, a Minnie Mouse tea set, Fisher-Price Disney princess castle, Olivia books, Frozen plate, cup and scarf, McDonald’s gift certificates, purse, jewelry, mirror and comb set, Disney scrapbook papers, Minnie Mouse dress, Minnie Mouse Finish the Scene sticker set, Bible DVD, Dora activity book, a $25 Disney gift card, InnoTab3, Disney princesses – Ariel and Aurora and Nancy Clancy Book 2

Cale – Digger the Dog Stuffie, Disney Planes t-shirt, Color Wonder markers and Planes paper, Kool Wheels racecar track, Donald and Goofy Rescue Mission play set, watch, Imaginext Air Control Tower, Gospel Bill DVDs, Monsters University plate and cup, Mex airplane, McDonalds gift certificates, winter rubber ducks, basketball hoop, Matchbox airplane, Noah DVD, $25 Disney gift card, InnoTab3, airplane jammies and Stuart Little DVD

The InnoTabs were a huge hit.IMG_1539

After opening presents, we had lunch – homemade lasagna, salad and garlic bread.  We spent the afternoon watching Christmas movies and playing with our new toys.  For dinner we had Jack’s pizza.  It was a day full of yumminess!

How sweet it is!IMG_1564

We finished off the night by reading the Christmas story.  I love that Claire said, “We don’t even need presents.  Christmas is all about Jesus, right Mom?”  I love that she gets what is most important.IMG_1572

Claire set out cookies and milk for Santa.IMG_1578

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Reindeer FoodIMG_1587

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On Christmas morning, we had evidence that Santa had visited our house during the night!IMG_1613

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Santa ate all of the cookies!  And drank the “coffee!”  (Cale was convinced that we gave Santa coffee instead of milk.  I’m guessing it was because of the mug.)IMG_1635

Looks like the reindeer ate all of their goodies too!  (The bunnies loved the reindeer food.)  They left tracks!IMG_1644

Claire got the Hello Kitty jammies she asked Santa for (which she had to put on right away!) and the Fancy Nancy doll that she’s been wanting!IMG_1662

Santa also brought a B. Symphony for our whole family to enjoy.  It’s the coolest toy ever!  We all love playing with it.IMG_1651

Steve fixed us waffles and all of the goodies that go along with it for breakfast again.  (When the kids and I find something we like, we can eat it several days in a row.  Mickey waffles with sausage and hash browns just happens to be our favorite breakfast!)

After breakfast, we opened our stockings.  The kids stockings had toothbrushes, Chapstick, socks, undies, Pez dispensers and a couple of small toys.  Cale’s stocking also had a Mickey Mouse bowtie.  Claire’s had a Little Mermaid necklace and ring.IMG_1672

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The Girls IMG_1737

For lunch I made Nanny’s dumplins.  We also had ham, stuffing, corn, rolls, mashed potatoes and gravy.IMG_1748

After lunch we took naps and then bundled up and went outside to play in the snow!!  A white Christmas is snow much fun!!

We tried building a snowman in the backyard, but the snow was too powdery and wouldn’t stick together.  We ended up with a just a pile of snow.IMG_1767

So we ditched that idea and went sledding on the hill down onto the pond.IMG_1869

My kids walked out into the middle of the pond to make snow angels.IMG_1875

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I love this man!IMG_1883

Then we moved on to a big hill for sledding.

This is one of the most fun things I have ever done!

It was the perfect Christmas!  We loved every second of it!