Christmas Day

 Now that we're two days past Christmas, I think we've finally recovered. The trash is in the garbage, and most of the toys are cleaned up and put away. Christmas at home is wonderful. We keep it super low key since it's just us, but man did we have an early start to our day.  

The girls woke up at 4:55 am. Yes. 4:55 am. 

I heard them pretty quickly and was able to jump out of bed and keep them from running downstairs. I really wanted to tell them all to stay in a bedroom until at least 7 am, but I knew that wasn't possible, so we went ahead and woke up. 

This was them just a few minutes later. I was trying to keep them from peeking.

They ran down the stairs when I let them, and started hunting for the green pickle ornament. It's a little German tradition, where the first one to find the pickle ornament gets to open the first present. Almost always, Gretchen finds it first, so she opened the first present. 

Addy was all about the unicorns this Christmas.

Gretchen received a devotion book that was recommended and Judy Blume's Are You There God, It's Me Margaret. Which was one of my favorite books when I was her age, and perfect for any pre-teen girl. 

Megan was her silly little self :) She received all of her bedding for a new bedroom makeover that she's been asking for. 

Harry Potter Legos

Dogman Books

I had never heard of Kindi Kids, but both Megan and Adalyn asked Santa for one. 

The girls with their Kindi Kids and Gretchen with her Fujifilm camera- she was so excited! This was the one gift she had been asking for. 

More babies....

More legos....

A gift from Gee.....

A gift from Nana.....

I posted this picture on Facebook and a lot of people had questions about these glasses. They're blue light filter glasses, which we all should be wearing any time we're on computers or staring at our phones. Gretchen is being exposed to more technology, so I thought a pair of kids blue light glasses would be a fun little gift. 

Addy opening a gift from Nana. 

And one of her big presents that she had asked Santa for was a LOL glamper. 

She also asked for cash, so thankfully Nana came through for that one. 

Megan digging in to her stocking.

And bless it, because every year there's always the one kid that seems to get less, and this year it was Megan- since she got all of her bedding, a lamp, and shelf for her bedroom, she had a few less gifts to actually open, and that was a little hard :( 

But she perked up..... I just love her tender heart. 

Gretchen received Harry Potter bookmarks. 

And after all of the gifts and stockings were opened, we surprised her with one last gift, and she was thrilled! I mean, completely beyond surprised, because we told her absolutely no phone for at least another year or two. 

After all the presents were opened the girls immediately went to playing with all the toys. 

She's a good mommy to her cozy dozy bear. 

Adalyn got a blume doll that blooms when you sprinkle water on the top of the pot. 

Megan asked for a lot of art supplies, so that's exactly what she got. Nana bought her a big art case with every color imaginable. 

This year Megan made gifts for everyone. Well, she actually took things we already owned and re-gifted them, but she made this beer bottle for DJ. We thought it was hilarious and creative! She found a New Year's Eve party popper, emptied it out, wrapped a "smokey beer" label around it and painted the top with nail polish. 

The girls eventually got dressed so they could play outside and DJ and I picked up the house because his Uncle came over for dinner. He was so sweet and brought the girls Aggravation, and I finally learned how to play it the right way! 

The girls also opened their last set of presents from their grandparents- Uncle Ron was in charge of bringing those to them. 

More lego sets :) 

and more books. 

We ate dinner and spent the evening playing a round of Aggravation. 

Our family had a wonderful day and we pray that yours did too. 

Christmas Eve

Wow! Christmas was wonderful. We had a rocky Christmas in 2018 and this year was exactly what we needed after having a rough go at it last year. I was telling DJ that it really feels like we're getting settled and growing roots here in Austin and it definitely didn't feel like that last year. I'm noticing though that as the girl get older, some of our traditions are beginning to shift every so slightly. This is the first year that Gretchen doesn't believe in Santa, which has kind of been fun because she's "in on it" and she get's it and it's like a little secret with just us. And on the other hand, it's sad, because maybe, she won't want to have her picture made with Santa next year, or maybe she won't want to participate in some of our little traditions. For now, this year at least, she appeased me by participating in all of it, but I can see how it's slowly starting to change. 

Anyway, just a little thought bubble that's been in my head, and despite all of the little glimpse of change, our celebration was still perfect in every way. 

Every year our elves bring the girls a "North Pole Breakfast" on Christmas Eve morning. This year, we set up twinkle lights and little toys, coloring books and crayons. I used wrapping paper and packaging paper as a tablecloth, so it can get colored on and messed up if that's what the day brings. 

The tablescape this year was just fun. 

I found reindeer peeps and candy cane marshmallows, and the girls had them with their hot chocolate. 

Each of the girls had a little table setting just for them. 

I bought the plates from Target last year, and we've had the little gingerbread plates for years, and their cocoa mugs are from Matilda Jane. I found the coloring books and trinkets at Target. 

The girls had Christmas poppers that they opened, but they were left over from last year, and there were only two, but Gretchen played along and let her sisters have them. 

Addy put on her paper crown and dug in to a marshmallow. 

We had strawberries, cinnamon rolls, and hot cocoa. I had really tried to get doughnuts this year, but we weren't able to get them the day before and I wasn't getting up at 5 am to go get them- ha! 

Sweet girls. 

We made reindeer food for Santa's reindeer on Monday evening. 

And Tuesday afternoon, we worked on some hand and foot print art for our Christmas art wall. 

This year, Adalyn made the tree, Megan made the grinch, Gretchen made the elf, and I painted a little tree and the girls each put a fingerprint light on it. 

We've made these canvases a few years, but we've also skipped the tradition for a few years. It was fun to add to our wall again this year. 

We went to church on Christmas Eve. 

And drove to downtown Round Rock to look at their lights. 

When we got home, the girls changed in to their Christmas jammies and we sprinkled reindeer food in the yard. 

Then we said good-bye to their elves. We always let the girls hug and touch the elves on Christmas Eve since they won't need their magic to get back to the North Pole- they just go home with Santa after he drops off their presents. 

The elves got lots and lots of cuddles. 

and some kisses too. 

After hanging the Christmas key outside (so Santa can get in) we read The Night Before Christmas and sent the munchkins off to bed. 

I needed them to SLEEP! So, I diffused Dream Catcher in their rooms, and rolled tranquil on their backs and feet. 

And around 11 pm, Santa was finally finished, and could go to bed! 

It was a good day.