Monday, December 28, 2015

Christmas!!!

Hunter and Charlotte woke up bright and early on Christmas morning and came to our doorway (sweet kids didn't even peek!) so we could head to the living room for the gift giving! I think you can guess how Charlotte felt about her American Girl bed:)...
 
Hunter loves his Sphero (what a train wreck that process was! but it arrived on time and we got a refund, so it all worked out)...


Then it was stocking time! Hunter was pretty pumped about his finger lasers...
 
Char doesn't struggle with showing emotion at all;) Inside Out! 
We've already watched it:)

Some leg warmers...
It was kind of a throwback Christmas for us. Charlotte got leg warmers and one of those pin toys where you can put your hand or face on it and it will make an imprint with the pins. I LOVED those in middle school. And Hunter got a Rubix Cube.

Some nail polish fun...

Of course, she wanted to try those leg warmers on...
I explained to her that you could bunch them around your ankles, but she was intent on wearing them like this. She certainly has her own style! (You can see the American Girl bed in the background. I think that's the only picture I got of it.)

After the kids went through their stockings, Aunt Courtney came down and then we heard Grey, so James headed up to get him. He had  Paw Patrol Christmas for sure. It's the Paw Patrol lookout!
He loves Marshall!


I bought all the kids wall calendars this year like my mom always did for us at Christmas. It's so fun to carry on old traditions...

A minion! 

James did a waaaaaaay better job on my stocking than I did on his this year. He got me a Kindle Fire and 2 bracelets from Stella and Dot plus all the normal stocking fun (bath and body works and chapstick and a gift card and candy). Once again we got each other the same movie...
Last year it was Catching Fire:)
 
Each kid got one big gift that was sitting out and got to unwrap 2 gifts, so they each got 3 gifts from us, just like Jesus. Grey's first gift to unwrap were these Thomas trains that talk. I think it may be his favorite gift! 
He also got some Mickey Mouse headphones that I'm going to try to get him to use while he plays on our phones (he always BLARES it!!!).

Hunter got the Rubix Cube...
And some fishing gear for his tackle box. I completely planned that all wrong, because my mom got him the fishing pole and tackle box and he didn't have those, yet. Oops! He said, "I guess you forgot the fishing pole. That's ok." We played along and told him we were sorry. He's such a sweet kid that he didn't even get grumpy with us about it!

Charlotte got this baking set and roller skates/outfit for her American Girl doll...
 
Soon after I finished up the cooking and we all got ready and the rest of the family was here before we knew it!

After lunch, we started with stockings from Nana...

Then we opened gifts just like we had done with my dad the day before...youngest to oldest with each one of us opening up everything we had before moving on. I didn't get any pictures of Keira this time. She got a shopping cart and I can't remember what else. I know we got her a cute dress and cardigan:)
 
 Katie got Grey this Spiderman doll because she said that every time she takes him to Walmart, he walks around with it...

And Nana got him a Fire Truck (along with several other fun toys that I can't remember right now). This was a hit for sure!
It makes several different siren noises and one of them in particular really scares him. He will run away and yell, "Not hurt you!!!!" in his most scared, sad voice after he pushes that button. It's so sad....but kind of cute:)


Charlotte got a glow pet from Aunt Katie...
She sleeps with it every night....along with her huge Elsa night light from Grandee and Poppy and the nightlight she's had for years that just plugs in her wall. I'd say she's set for a while!
 
I wonder what's in the American Girl box!!!??? 

A wheelchair!!
Charlotte wanted this so bad and was so happy that Nana bought it for her. Rich and some of the other adults laughed and thought it was weird, but Nana explained that her doll might fall with the ice skates (Nana also bought those) and would need the wheelchair for a little bit:)

She also got this Sleeping Beauty princess pet from Aunt Katie...
And lots of other stuff from Nana and Rich, but just like with Grey, I can't remember it right now. So many toys!!

Nana wrapped up a fisherman ornament and put this note in the box...
It said to go to the garage and look for something with his name on it. He was so excited walking back there and said, "I bet it's a skateboard!" (what he really wanted). But it was a fishing pole. He was happy to have it, because he had asked for that, too. And he had all that gear from earlier that morning!

Next up, though, was the skateboard!
He loves it!

And Aunt Katie got him another google play gift card...
After the one from dad and the one in his stocking, I think he's good for apps for a while!
 
I also didn't take pics of Vanesa and Zack, but I know they got the normal teen stuff. I got Zack and xbox gift card...he had a video game theme. I think all of his gifts were either related to PS2 or Xbox. We got Vanesa some cute little make up bags and a candle (the girl loves candles). And I'm at a loss for what my Mom got her, but I'm sure it was some expensive teenager clothing or accessory. No! Just remembered it was a new stereo for her car.
 
I got some new pumps and James and I got some new sunglasses from mom... 

Then mom and Rich opened up gifts...
 
And finally, Grandad and Nanny... 

 Aren't my grandparents so sweet and cute!

Dee and Frank joined us, so I made sure to get a picture of them, because I had forgotten earlier in the week when we did our gift exchange with them...

Then we played several games, but my favorite was this game called Things that Courtney had put in Nathan's stocking...

It was super fun. I laughed so much that my abs were sore! 
It was a perfect day with family!

Happy Birthday, Jesus! We love you more than we can say!

Sunday, December 27, 2015

Christmas Eve with Grandpa!

On Thursday, everyone came over so that we could celebrate with Grandpa, Jennifer and Matthew. We had a yummy pizza lunch and then it was present time! We decided to have a little more order this year so that it wasn't the storm of gift opening that we usually endure. Our plan was to go youngest to oldest, with each person opening all of their gifts before moving on to the next person.
 
Keira was up first! Grey LOVED her Elmo toy in the background. He couldn't get enough of him and just giggled and giggled. Keira liked her girts, too. Especially the Doc McStuffins ones (her favorite!)...

The big gift for my kids was a trampoline, so after Keira was finished, the guys went out front to lug it in...

After they read it...
They were pretty excited!

Then it was Grey's turn...


He got several Paw Patrol toys and some Paw Patrol bath paint and this Elmo piano...
Chase!

Char was next...

She got some jewelry and make up and my little ponies...
 
This was a gift card for Google Play for Hunter to use on his tablet... 
 
He also got some shower stuff...
 
The teenagers didn't want to be in the spotlight, so they went together... 

I can't believe how old they are!

Grey loved these Paw Patrol cars from his stocking...
Rocky and Zooma!

And Keira LOVED this baby doll. I don't think she put it down the whole time she was at our house!

Sweet cousins...
 
After Matthew opened his gifts, Court and Nathan, Me and James, and Katie and Steve went. Then it was Jennifer and Grandpa's turn...


 
After all the gifts were open, the guys went outside to put the trampoline together. We were so thankful for their help! And the kids were giddy to jump! Char couldn't get enough...

After everyone left, we freshened up and headed out to our Christmas Eve service. Courtney, Nathan and Keira came with us and Dee and Frank met us there...

Then we came home and put the kiddos to bed. James and I stayed up until about midnight setting it all up and cooking/baking for the next day. I was so tired by the time we went to bed!
 
I could hardly wait for the next morning. The best morning of the whole year!