Christmas

It was fun and weird to be on our own again this year. We had a really low key Christmas Eve. We went out to lunch becuase we discovered a couple years ago it is a great day to go out to nice restaurant becuase they are empty! We took the kids to,Red Robin because it is always a good place to take the kids. That night we had our traditional shepherds dinner. We didn't do the sandwiches but I made a yummy soup. Then we did our usual puppet show of the nativity. I love that we spend a lot of time focusing on the true meaning of Christmas on Christmas Eve, because the next day always seems to get so crazy wth all the presents.

 

We got the kids new pajamas for Christmas but I didn't make them open them for their Christmas Eve present becuase they really hated when I did that in the past. I love this picture of them by the tree. I still look at these little faces and can't believe that I am their momma!!

We had to get a picture of Russy with his Spider-Man becuase it may have been his favorite present! Isn't that how it always goes though? It seems that ones that are almost afterthoughts are their favorites.

Miss Anne got this cute Minnie ride on and she didn't have many problemfiguring out how to use it. The funny thing was Russ was all into it too but Anne would freak out anytime he would get near it!

Nellie got an Our Generation doll, which is like an Americal girl doll by about 1/4 the price! Plus they come with lots more stuff! She got the doll from us and Santa brought the bed.

LIzzy got a phone from Santa this year. We made sure that it would be something that we could ave the control over, but it is nice for her to have it now that she is getting old enough to leave here and there.

Janie was super excited to get a doll this year too becuase she has been feeling a little bit left out when the big play dolls since she didn't have one, now she has one and tons of accessories to go with it. Since the girls got their dolls, they have played so much with them, I love when we get the kids something that ends up being so played with! It makes it all worth it. Lizzy got a doll too, she got an extra present from us this year since we were having shush a hard time getting the other kids to be motivated to help and Lizzy is always totally willing to. We felt like we really wanted to reward her for all she does, because I seriously don't know how I function without her!

Russy got a super cool remote control firetruck that even came with a hose to squirt water! I don't know what Santa was thinking! Maybe he didn't realize that it could do that!

 

I love this picture of Kevy with the little ones. We had a great Christmas this year. We decided to really limit the number of presents we got the kids and stay in a budget and it didn't really seem any different! The kids still loved what they got and it seemed like we got just enough without going overboard. It couldn't have been any better!