Oh well that's life.
Christmas this year was awesome! I love this age with the kids. They had so much fun and really got into the Holiday Spirit.
We have an elf on the shelf; December 1st Franko (our elf) appears with his book. We read his book to remind us of the rules (can't touch the guy or he looses his magic) and to remember why he is here. To tell the big guy if we've been bad or good. He's a scout elf. The kids also like to talk to him and tell him about their day and what they want for Christmas. It's always fun to have Franko watching over us. Some families get a little crazy by having a Mischievous elf but Franko isn't like those elves, he just moves each day to a new spot so the kids can find him and watches over our family.
Gavin up until this year has been pretty scared of Santa. He kind of has issues with strangers and doesn't like them to get too close to him. Really ask the Dentist or the Doctor who neither of them has done a proper exam on him because all he does is SCREAM! So I was a little shocked to see Gavin hop right up on Santa's lap and actually talk to him. Of course as you can see from the pictures below he still isn't quite sure how he feels about it. This is Gavin nervously smiling.
By the third Santa he was actually pretty okay with it. Zack on the other hand has never had a problem with Santa! He loves strangers... LOL not sure if that's a good thing. Sometimes Zack with go talk to the adults (with kids) at the park and then tell me they aren't strangers because he asked them their name. Such a funny boy.
Christmas morning was so much fun. I purposely stayed in bed because I love listening to how excited Zack got when he saw the presents. It's so much fun. And I want them to learn that the stocking gifts they can open before Mom and Dad get up but the presents under the tree are to be opened as a family. Also we take turns opening presents. Everyone gets the respect and excitement of being watched open their presents. Zack got excited for everyone's presents. It was so cute. He just has such genuine excitement for everyone. Gavin was pretty excited too. But was excited just to open the presents... ANY presents. At one point he was trying to open my presents I told him it was my turn and the little turd said, "I'm going to buy a new mom." When we told him that wasn't nice he ran off crying. It was sad, and after a little talk he was as good as new. This was the first time that Gavin really got into Christmas, so it was fun to see him so excited about opening presents. It was almost sad when we were all done.
After we opened our presents we had breakfast, played with the toys, got ready for the day and went to my Grandparents house. We usually do buffet style (no sit down dinner) that way no one feels like they have to be there at a specific time and there isn't any stress about what time dinner is. Just easy-peasy. After we open Christmas presents. We have a mini party for Christopher. Poor brother has to share his birthday with everyone! We ended the day by visiting Bob's parent's, played UNO, then headed home.
It really was a wonderful day. As I said before this age was so much fun with the kids. Buying presents for them wasn't too hard because they like everything. (trust me every commercial that came on they were like I want that, I want that...)
And now some pictures...
Christmas Pajamas. We get to open them Christmas Eve.
I love the next few pictures because this is totally how I remember Christmas as a child. We would throw all the paper down the stairs. After presents we would play in the boxes and paper, then clean it up. It made me happy that the boys did the same thing at my Grandma's!
Merry Christmas from the Speakman Family. We hope you have a very Happy New Year!
