Our Christmas

We enjoyed Christmas Eve with my mom, stepdad, & brother. We go to church together, and then out for dinner. After dinner we come back to our house for birthday cake (my brother's) and presents. It's how we celebrate Christmas Eve, and we all look forward to it.

Tyler read the Bible story for us again this year, but insisted on reading it from his Bible app. Danielle performed her usual tasks. She amused herself with the cookies for santa this year. I came in the kitchen and found her quickly eating off the cookie's head.

I think Tyler had a touch of the flu on Christmas day. He had the flu shot, so I think he got a more mild version than he would have otherwise. His fever didn't shoot up until evening, so he was able to enjoy most of Christmas day.

The kids are allowed to open stockings and exchange their gifts before breakfast.

Tyler amused himself by putting several books from his bookshelves in everyone's boxes to make them heavier than necessary.

Tyler had diarrhea in his stocking.

 

Danielle asked for a trampoline for Christmas. It was way too big & heavy to wrap, so we bought her a small exercise trampoline and wrapped that. She was trying to be nice about it when she opened it. :) There was an envelope on the back with a picture of her "real" trampoline in it.

Christmas aftermath. These are always my favorite pictures.

A couple of my gifts from the kids. The feeder is from Tyler and the squirrel is from Danielle. There was a woodpecker working on it today.

We always have a nice, relaxing Christmas, and this year was no different. We're are blessed to be able to put presents under the tree & food on the table, and for all of us to be happy and healthy and together. Ron has the same amount of time off that the kids and I do, so we've all been hanging out in our pjs, watching movies, and playing with our new toys. It's a very nice way to usher out 2016.

Today's Pic

Where's Santa?

Candy Cane, our elf on the shelf, did not return this year. He really was a lot of work, and since the kids are older, I chose to skip the tradition this year. No one really seemed to care. As it turned out, we ended up finding something else that was a little more fun and took a lot less effort.

We have a wooden santa my dad made for us over 10 years ago that we usually put in the foyer by the front door. Our dog Hunter was scared of it, and we still joke about that every time we pull him out. This year, when Ron brought Santa up from the basement with the Christmas decorations, he decided he'd to try to scare Tyler, who was playing on the computer. He put Santa on the table right behind the computer, hoping that Santa would startle Tyler when he turned around. It didn't startle him, but it did make him laugh. Later I heard Ron chuckle as he carried Santa to Danielle's room. And the rest of December, we took turns moving Santa around, trying to startle whoever stumbled across him next. The best spot was sitting him on the toilet, and closing the bathroom door. Santa's eyes were at just the right spot when the next person opened the door and walked in. Danielle almost wet herself when she walked into her bathroom before bed and found him standing on the counter.

Waiting for Danielle to come home from school.

Waiting for Tyler to open the curtains.

A Walk in the Park (continued)

Here are some pictures Danielle took while we were out yesterday.

 

 

 

 

A Walk in the Park

Danielle got a trampoline for Christmas. Ron and I were going to put it together today, but when we opened the boxes to get started, we realized one of the three boxes they sent us was for the wrong trampoline. So, we can't put her gift together until they ship us the right parts. They were closed today, so I don't know how long it will take. She was pretty disappointed. She was also bored, so we decided to go to the park to see if we could find anything to photograph. We had record high temperatures near 70 degrees today, making it a very nice day to take a walk.

I mostly found opportunities to photograph Danielle. :)

When Your Papaw is Santa Claus

Tyler with Santa in 2004. The red suit must be like Clark Kent's glasses. Somehow he didn't realize it was Papaw.

 

Santa's closet: business formal/business casual

 

 

The Ash Video

Ron and I have made jokes referencing this video for years, but since I couldn't find it easily, the kids hadn't seen it. I found it tonight while looking for another Christmas picture, and it amused us almost as much now as it did then. This is from December 2004.

Cousin Time

While we missed the Florida cousins, it was really nice to spend some time with the Japan cousins yesterday. The kids didn't waste much time picking up where they left off...which was more than a year ago.