I am not sure what time the kids got up Christmas morning, but I actually don’t think it was too early. I certainly didn’t hear much of anything before 6:30, so they were either completely silent (hard to believe) or still in bed. When I got up around 7 they were only too eager to show us all their awesome stocking loot.
I don’t know how he did it, but Santa managed to bring each a Book of Lifesavers, just like the ones I used to get in my stocking. So cool!
They also had lots of special flavored Hershey kisses, their favorite soda, chapstick and other fun goodies. Thanks Santa, you rock! He also gave them all electric toothbrushes to clean their teeth after all the sweets. 🙂
Nicholas is not a typical teenager in some respects, and for that I am grateful. But there are definitely times when he fits a stereotype exactly.
Wishing he could just sleep in on Christmas morning is one of those. He got up even later than Chris, I think. I don’t think I have ever been able to sleep in Christmas morning. I am always too excited!
We followed the usual tradition of having only one person open a present at a time, and having it be chosen for them by another person. Before the total mayhem broke out, we had a few minutes of calm enjoying the beauty of the tree and the spirit of the morning.
The kids were so excited to see the reactions of their siblings to the presents they had made them. And of course, there had been much conjecture on what could possibly be in some of the more odd-shaped presents. I think the kids are really understanding the joy of giving, because some of them even made extra presents at school for their siblings. For example, Sophie handcrafted this wooden car especially for Noah.
Which resulted in a spontaneous and heartfelt hug from him to her. Very special moment since they don’t always get along so great. We got so caught up in just enjoying the morning that we don’t have many photos. There is this snippet of video however.[youtube]http://youtu.be/CuFA-wjWfI0[/youtube]
To make a record for posterity the kids’ gifts to each other were: Nicholas sewed everyone aprons, except for Alexandra who already has one. She got a very fun chef’s hat which she wore for most of the next day while she played with her new felt food. Sarah decoupaged letters for each of the kids to display in their rooms. The boys got “N”s covered with superhero comics and the girls got an “S’ and “A” covered in their favorite colored scrapbook paper and embellished with buttons and flowers. Sophie sprayed painted wooden Lego display boxes for the boys, sewed felt doughnuts for Alexandra and something for Sarah at school, but I can’t remember what it was! Noah spray painted wooden Lego display boxes for the girls in their favorite colors and something for Nick. And Alexandra covered notebooks with different scrapbook papers she had picked out for each person based on their favorite colors.
The rest of the day was spent relaxing and playing with new toys and each other. How I love Christmas!
