Our Five Ring Circus: Christmas Morning

Friday, January 10, 2014

Christmas Morning

Christmas morning in our home is relaxing!  I'm fairly certain we're one of the few families that sleep in on Christmas.  My kids are not the type of kids that wake up in the wee hours of the morning.  They value their sleep, and I love that about them!!!

Grant and I started to wake up around 9:15, just before the kids.  Lexie was the first one awake.  She came into our room and whispered to us, "I think Santa came!"  We told her to go look, so she did, and she returned to our room, beaming with excitement!

We woke everybody up and got ready to open gifts.  Lexie ran to check the milk and cookie plate status and Lily stared in awe at the pile of presents under the tree.

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Opening gifts is calm and structured in our house.  After Lexie was born, we began to take turns opening gifts.  The youngest child begins with one gift, then the next child opens a gift, and so on.  This taught them to really appreciate what they were opening, instead of tearing into a pile of presents.  Everybody gets equal attention and their gifts are admired before moving on!

Our plan worked!  The past two years, Dylan and Lexie didn't even want to open their gifts from Santa until they gave out the gifts they bought for their family.  I think they are just as excited to hand out their gifts and watch us open them as they are to open their own gifts!  They have big hearts!

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They did a great job picking out gifts.  My Best Mom coffee mug and #1 Mom notebook for my purse are perfect!  The ornaments they made for us at school are going to hang on the tree for many years to come!

Right after we opened those presents, my dad showed up.  My mom had to work (she works at a private nursing home and offered to work so the younger women could be with their families), so my dad was all alone.  I hated that, so we invited him over.  It was the first time he watched kids opening presents on Christmas morning since I moved out.  I think it meant the world to him!  He was able to cuddle his grandkids, and I saw him wipe away a tear or two.  Later, he told Grant how special the morning was for him!

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Finally, it was time to open gifts from Santa!

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This year we told each child to choose wisely.  They were only allowed to ask for things that they really wanted that were realistic.  Lexie asked for sugar cubes, marshmallow filled Santa chocolates, and Fur real friends toy.  Lily asked for Reese's Puffs Cereal and a credit card.  Dylan really wanted an xbox one, but revised his list!

Well, Santa did not disappoint!!!

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The only toy Lexie asked for was the only thing missing.  Santa left a letter to explain that they ran out of parts and he left a special gift card for her.  She can buy one when Santa sends some to the stores!  Luckily, he left her a few other toys that he thought she might like, and he was right!

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The kids love to help each other out and they get excited over everyone's presents.  They are good kids!

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Liam was surprisingly interested in his presents!  Although he couldn't open them, he touched each present and watched as they were unwrapped.

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It took a while, but we made it to the last present for each person.  The last present is always something special that Santa thinks the kids will love.

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The kids were so excited about all their gifts, but the last ones ended up being the favorites!  The last thing to do was empty their stockings!

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Grant and I opened up one present for each child so they could play while we exchanged gifts.  I loved all the clothes and the coat Grant bought for me, and he was happy with his shirts and video games.  We decided to keep it simple, because I need a new treadmill and Grant wants to get Lily and Liam's initials tattooed onto his arms below Dylan and Lexie's initials.

Papa happily cuddled his grandbabies while Grant and I got ready to head over to Grant's mom's house. 

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Our hearts were so full this Christmas morning!

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7 comments:

  1. Sounds like the perfect morning, glad you enjoyed your Christmas.
    So happy that you had your Dad come over, brought tears to my eyes. xoxox

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  2. Sounds like you all had a wonderful morning! Such sweet pictures :)

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  3. You have such a lovely family! It always makes me smile to see their smiling faces. :)

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  4. Your kids are just so precious! How sweet that your dad got to share the morning with you! I can only imagine how special it was for you all!

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  5. Looks like you guys had a awesome christmas

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  6. That is so great that you have them wait. That is how I was raised and I love watching everyone open their gifts. My husbands family does a free for all and it drives me crazy because there is so much going on that I never get to see what everyone has gotten. Looks like Liam got a lot of the same things Cody did! We have the seahorse that we got Cole when he was 6 months, it is his favorite thing ever, he sleeps with it every night!! You guys seem to have done a wonderful job raising generous, caring, wonderful children. :)

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  7. Looks like a great Christmas!! My girls got the Bubble Guppy toy Lillie has and they love it! :)

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