Christmas was a little strange this year. We had barely gotten started opening presents when it was time to stop, shower, eat breakfast, dress and go to church. The kids were a bit frustrated, but not too upset. No, that came later when Papa had to attend some meetings after church; interviews and stuff. I mean, seriously?!? On Christmas Morning?!?!? Even I got testy eventually. But back to the pretty happy pictures before I get all worked up again. 🙂
The kids always open their stockings while Mama and Papa sleep in a bit. But they are allowed to come wake us up at 7, if we haven’t gotten up already. Sarah was delighted that she had finally gotten a pet hamster, even if it was battery operated.
The cool white and red striped socks were also new. And guess what? Santa actually answered ALL the questions the kids left for him! They were so excited. And he left them lots of loot, as well.
All the presents wrapped in green, with Santa faces, are from the big guy. Our tree was so full, I bet he had a bit of difficulty finding room for all the stuff he brought.
By the time we got home from church, and finished taking turns unwrapping all the treasures it was well past three in the afternoon.
In fact, Aunt Ursula came over from Luzern to see us and Celina and caught the last half hour of gift opening. While I prepared linner 🙂 she and Celina had a nice chat. They hadn’t seen each other in several years! And what were the kids doing? Building and playing with all their new toys!
This is pretty much what they were doing for the next several days, actually. It was so fun to see them enjoying the toys, and each other so nicely.
I got a shiny new trinket, as well.
Chris had picked out a new charm for my bracelet all on his own. He originally wanted the one that said “together forever” but it was out of stock. He decided that this was appropriate as well. I LOVE it, and it makes me smile every time I see it. Well, all the charms have a special meaning/were given to me by special friends. So I smile every time I put the bracelet on. Thank you, Angie for this thoughtful gift!
Sarah got new books, can you tell? heehee Also, do you see the large white bowl in the middle of the table? That is Noah’s treat bowl that Sophie painted for him. I had fun with the kids deciding which gifts they would make for each other this year. They are all getting older, so they are able to do more complicated things, and do most of the work themselves. So, Sophie decorated treat bowls for everyone to hold their stocking surprises, or their Easter candy, or their Halloween candy, or whatever. They each keep them in their rooms, and everyone knows to take anything out of anyone else’s bowl.
Sarah sewed everyone bookmarks using bits of material leftover from the quilts I made them. She was so excited to use a sewing machine for the very first time, and did a fantastic job!
Nick made everyone wash mitts using terry cloth in all their favorite colors. I traced my hand and cut them out, he sewed them together, also on my machine. Each child got two, so they can use one for a couple of days, then put it in the dirty clothes and get a fresh one to wash their face every night.
Noah used Fimo to make everyone personalized necklaces. Well, Nick got a tie tack ;). He used my stamps to make an impression in the clay, and then we stamped their names in them as well. When we had finished baking them, we painted them with a light coat of paint and wiped it off, so it would get caught in the crevices, making the design and the name “pop”. They turned out really nice, and the girls are often seen sporting theirs.
Alexandra and I decorated trash cans for the kids’ rooms. They have always had to carry their trash into the bathroom or kitchen before this, which I think has contributed to the clutter in their rooms. So now they have designer receptacles to put their candy wrappers and used up pencils in. If I ever get those quilts finished they will coordinate as well, since we used leftover scraps to make the scraps we mod podged on the cans.
I had so much fun working with the kids to make these things, and they enjoyed the secrecy of it, and the one on one time with me as well. It really was a wonderful, Christ and family centered Christmas, full of happy memories. (And yes, I will take photos of the gifts and post them later. Don’t know why I didn’t think to do that earlier.)