Christmas

There is nothing better in the world than Christmas with little kids.  This year, it was just what we needed after all the sickness we had the previous week.  On Christmas eve we like to do a small gift exchange with just the five of us.  The kids could hardly wait to get to it.  They each received Christmas PJ's and a small toy.  This year we also drew names for each other and exchanged those gifts.

  
Brian's sister hosted Christmas eve and we enjoyed a delicious dinner and a really fun version of a white elephant exchange.  We also read the Christmas story from The Bible and sang carols.  Lily was so happy we sang Jingle Bells.  She talked about it for days after.  The kids kept track of Santa on the phone and when he started to get close we set off for bed.  
We spend the night at my sisters house every year.  So we hurried to bed so we could get up bright and early for Santa.  This is my favorite moment of the entire year.  Anyone who knows me, knows I am a believer in all things Christmas.  Parenting is hard but I feel this one moment was made to make it all worth it.  Listening to the kids quietly chatter about where Santa is and what he will be bringing.  Their excitement for the morning making it hard to fall asleep.  It takes me right back to those moments with my siblings when we were small.  It makes my heart so full I can hardly stand it.  
We all finally did make it to sleep and the kids actually slept to a somewhat decent hour in the morning.  
Side note: My family is a bit freakishly close.  We don't like to miss even one second of anything that any of the children do.  So you can imagine the paparazzi frenzy of Christmas morning.
So of course when the kids wake up, we stop them on the stairs and make them wait until all adults are up and cameras are at the ready.  It's a little like torture for the kids but totally worth it for the grown ups. 
Santa had left their presents in a bag this year.  This worked nicely to keep them at a steady pace in seeing their presents.  They were beyond excited and there was a lot of squealing and laughter, even from the kids.

This is my favorite picture from all of Christmas. It has my cute niece in the back smiling so big about her cute bracelet she now shares with her puppy, and Lily sticking her head all the way into her sack to see what Santa brought.  Charlie is happy here.  I just caught him mid explanation about his Pokemon cards.

  After the excitement of Santa we took a breather and my dad and I headed out to get my best friend from Florida.  More about her in my next post.  
This year instead of a big dinner, we opted for a fancy brunch.  I liked this way better since breakfast foods are my favorite. We did our family gift exchange and there were more delightful sounds of joy.  I love Christmas day so much.  I love that everyone lounges around in PJ's all day and that the kids happily play and share their toys with excitement. 
A few favorite things the kids got this year:  
Charlie got Cozmo the robot.  When he saw it he said "I got a new friend for Christmas!"  Charlie asked for him last year too.  Since he didn't get it, this year it was the only thing he asked for from Santa.
Kya got lots of L.O.L. dolls.  Pretty much all she asked for also.  Another favorite was her makeup kits.  She is obsessed.  She got one from both her Nana and her aunt Stephanie.  
Lily also got lots of L.O.L. dolls but her favorite toys she got were her new Anna and Elsa barbies with matching little Anna and Elsa's.  She is obsessed with barbies.
Now back to real life.  

Miles of Love,
Stacey

Decorating for Christmas

All of our Christmas decor is in storage.  Not that we have a lot, I gave away almost all of it.  However, even the stuff we do have isn't really worth getting into.  So I decided to take the kids to the dollar store and we just bought a few things to brighten up the place.  The kids had fun loading the cart up and picking out treats.  The dollar store is one of their favorite places. 😄

The kids were excited to get started hanging the decorations.  We did a little tinsel and some cute hanging decorations.  

Next we put a few little statues on the steps.

Then Charlie and I decided to hang some lights around the door.  There were a lot of lights left over so we zig-zagged them next to the door.  We both stood back and at the same time said, "that looks terrible".  We laughed about it and then went back inside, leaving the terrible looking lights up in place.  Oh well, it was freezing out there, so maybe on a nicer day we will try to fix them.  Or maybe not.  Sometimes the stuff that doesn't turn out is the stuff we remember the most.  

                                  They look even worse turned on at night  😂😂😂

The kids made some cute decorations at my mom's house this past weekend so we taped them to the mirror.  There isn't a lot of wall space so we have to get creative.  

The one thing I really miss is our manger.  Every year we have a wooden manger and when the kids do an act of kindness we put in a piece of hay.  We try to get it all filled up so that on Christmas morning baby Jesus comes and sleeps in the manger.  The kids love it so much.  I'm trying to figure out how to make it work, but getting the baby out of storage may be impossible.  My mom made this nativity scene out of rocks and put magnets on the back, so we are using this since all of our nativity scenes are also out of reach.  I love this one though so much.  I think it is by far my favorite one we own.  

And last, we made a tree.  There isn't any room for even a very small tree.  My sister, who is the best, let the kids decorate a tree of their very own at her house.  We spend Christmas at her house so this works out great.  However, I still wanted them to feel like we had a tree they could see everyday.  So we made a flat one on the wall.  I just used construction paper and then the kids made ornaments for it.  They said it was better than a real one because they could make it however they wanted.  I love children and how they look at the world with such simple innocence.  Even in our big house, I tried to let them be part of the decorating and let them make most of what we did.  Someday when they are grown and it's just Brian and I decorating, then we'll make it all look perfect.  And I will miss the miss matched Christmas that I love so much. 

I really miss our stockings.  They are at my sisters, all ready for Santa, but they are one of my favorite things we own.  When I was little my mom made all of us stockings.  The year I got married mine went missing.  I was so heartbroken.  I still am.  Brian didn't have a stocking so it gave me the opportunity to make us both stockings.  We had Charlie that year also, so he got one too. Which meant both girls got one when they were born.  I am in no way a seamstress.  I wish.  My aunt is and I idolize her for it.  Anyways, they are not perfect, but they are made with so much of my love.  I loved seeing them hanging on the mantle all season.  I certainly miss them this year. 

Here they are at my sister's house
Waiting patiently for us.

Miles of love,

Stacey