As has become the tradition--out of necessity since we nearly always seem to have a mess-maker toddling about the house--Ted and I brought out the presents and stuffed stockings after the kids were in bed on Christmas Eve (considerably later than we would have liked, due to the service we attended, but it was worth it!). I think it's probably one of their favorite things, to come downstairs Christmas morning and see how "magically" everything has appeared, even though we don't do Santa.
The littler three kiddos had plasma cars waiting for them under the tree, so of course they began to break those in immediately! We passed out stockings and opened the goodies inside first. Zaden promptly began a breakfast of chocolate--I think he mowed through every single piece that was in his stocking before we realized what was happening! We got each of the kids (minus Seanin) a new Veggie Tales DVD; it had been awhile, so there were a number that hadn't yet made it to our collection. (As an aside these didn't cost us any "real" money; we purchased them on Amazon, where we use our Discover cashback bonus for nearly everything we purchase. Woohoo for "free" stuff!)
Then, while the kids started watching one of the new DVDs, Ted and I got breakfast ready. I think we made sausage and eggs and fruit salad, but my mind is already going blank, lol.
After that, we gathered around the cleared-off table with our two copies of The Advent Book and read through all 25 pages. Then Ted led us through the Lord's Supper, since the book ends with John 3:16 and allows a great opportunity to remind ourselves why we celebrate Christmas. I loved having communion together, our first time to do so on Christmas Day, but I think we should do it every year!
The kids made their usual "cozy spots" in the family room, and once we were all settled, the girls passed out the gifts. Amazingly, we were able to take turns this year! We thought the younger boys would have a hard time waiting, but Lucan did a very good job...of course, it helped that he got engrossed in playing with each new item he unwrapped, lol. And Zaden was so excited by it all he just went along with the flow.
It was a wonderful, wonderful time! The gifts were all well-received and so special. Charis knitted teddy bears for all her siblings, socks for me and Ted (with a note to Ted that she WILL make him socks but needs to measure his feet first!), and a phone cozy for Grandma J. She also crocheted a blanket for Grandma. She has been a busy gal! The boys received a lot of books in series they both enjoy (hooray for the thrift store!) and of course Legos. One of our favorite family gifts is the What's in the Bible? DVDs that we ordered. We've been meaning to check out Phil Vischer's new project, and I'm so glad we did! They are excellent!
The kids enjoyed their gifts for awhile until we were ready for our big meal (ham, homemade macaroni and cheese, modified green bean casserole, homemade yeast rolls, and pistachio salad). We stuffed ourselves and spent the rest of the day enjoying games, reading, napping...at some point we got out Jesus's birthday cake and had that. And in the evening we watched a new movie (Despicable Me 2) and ate popcorn made with the new popper Ted and the kids got for me. At some point we finished off our advent calendar, too, but I can't remember when in the day's events that came, lol.
All in all, it was a wonderful, blessed day, and we were so grateful to be able to share it with Rhonda!
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