Christmas Morning

Christmas morning is such an exhilarating time of the Christmas holiday. I love watching the excitement on the kids faces when they first wake up. The giddiness. The happiness. The anticipation. It's thrilling!

We don't do Santa at our house, so the kids know that everything came from us. (Hey, we want to take the credit!) And, every year, I always try to simplify a little more than the year previous. We don't want the focus of our Christmas to be lost in piles and piles of gifts! Not to mention, our bank account wouldn't like it very much. So, we told the kids a few weeks before Christmas that they would each only be getting three gifts. They were all totally fine with this. However, because of stockings that needed to be filled, and a few other little random things I thought they would love, etc. they ended up getting a little more than three gifts. Maybe next year I'll do better...
P.S. Ignore the messy entertainment center. I forgot to close the doors before taking the picture.  

I know, I get it. You are looking at all those Legos and thinking, "Simple?" Let me explain. A few days before Christmas, someone that owed us some money called and wondered if he/she could pay us in Legos. This person happened to be a collector of Legos at one point and had collected all these sets, still in great condition, with ALL the instructions to each set ever bought. Now, that's pretty impressive. And, since 50,000 Legos doesn't seem to be enough for us, we gladly took the offer. This may have doubled our supply. The boys were especially thrilled. I mean, duh!

I also helped the kids make gifts for each other this year. You can see one in the bottom left-hand corner of the collage below. The boys painted the frame, added jewels, and we arranged pictures of the girls together from when Sarah was just a baby. It's fun to see how much the kids enjoy making and giving these gifts. I want them, more than anything, to recognize the good feeling they get inside when they give. And, I think the more work and personality they put into the gift, the more rewarding it is for them.

I wish Christmas morning could just last forever. It's not often that ALL the kids are so happy, and kind, and grateful ALL at once! We were very blessed this year.

More Christmas posts to come...