Christmas Eve
After church, the kids got to open one present. We had an appetizer meal for supper (bbq meatballs, vegetable pizza, crab dip with crackers, and pumpkin dip (Michelle's recipe!) with apple slices). It was so, so good! Matt had forgotten how much he likes crab dip. I had forgotten how awesome it is to have a meal of all appetizers. :) Pre-dinner gifts: Molly opened a recordable storybook, Alanna opened three puzzles, and Charlie opened some sea animals. Exciting!
Appetizer meal with the candle lit. The kids were maybe more interested in the candle than in the food.
Charlie wasn't excited at all. Not one single bit. :) The gift with the colored candle picture on the front was a gift to us from Charlie. It was a painted handprint wreath on laminated paper. It's adorable! I was secretly hoping that his kinder teacher would have the kids make some kind of ornament or keepsake like that. Charlie was so excited for us to open the gift! He did a great job at keeping the gift a secret.
Oh, these girlies!
Presents = big cheeky grins from darling toddlers!
Alanna and Charlie paused for a sibling squeeze after Alanna opened her gift from Charlie. His school participated in a fundraiser where the kids could bring in money to buy gifts for family members. I sent $2 in an envelope and instructed him to buy something for Alanna for Christmas. He said he would buy her one thing and then buy himself something, too. After a few minutes, we got him to understand the concept of buying a gift for someone else. He picked out a dinosaur eraser with moveable legs and a little cheap ring with a gem in it. Alanna was thrilled. THRILLED! She put the ring on right away. A while later, after the ring had already fallen off several times (but she kept finding it), the gem fell out of the ring. Alanna was heartbroken. Like, over-the-top heartbroken. Like, refused to smile about the next three gifts because she was so distraught about the ring. We paused and looked for the gem but couldn't find it. I did end up finding it on the couch later that evening. Apparently Charlie totally nailed is in his Christmas shopping for Alanna. :)
Little Hattie spent most of Christmas Eve fussing and cat-napping. She didn't want to be put down for any length of time, and didn't take a nap longer than 25 minutes. I ended up holding her for a bit during our gift opening just so she could sleep a bit longer. I'm not sure what was going on, but she just had an off day. Actually, the longest nap she took was during church, so at least we had that going for us! We ended up opening her gifts on Christmas day evening. Charlie, Alanna, and Molly kept us hopping all evening so it worked out ok to hold off. Poor little thing! Maybe her gift to us was some extra Christmas snuggles. :) I guess I can't say no to that!!
We tried to pause and open a few things as we went so it wasn't just a mad gift-opening frenzy. It still was a frenzy though! Play-Doh tools for our little creative and crafty girl.
Charlie got a wristwatch and was over the moon about it! He then announced nearly every minute for the rest of the evening. Thankyouverymuch.
Molly opened a series of battery operated gears that have magnetic backing so they are played with on the fridge. They're pretty neat! Score on the Target clearance find from over a year ago!
Alanna picked out a gift for Charlie one day at Walmart. She chose a TMNT ice pack.
A new book! And a ripped-out ponytail. :( (Any tips on encouraging her to leave her hair alone?)
I thought this picture was funny simply because the book is taking up her entire lap with only her little piggies sticking out the end!
Nothing says little boy shirt like a fire truck. He was pretty excited about it. Finding 'Julie-approved' shirts for Charlie is increasingly difficult, but this one was a great one!
We got Molly this kitty keyboard "Meowsic" toy from Target as her big gift. It is hilarious! She was a bit intimidated at first when Charlie and Alanna started pushing buttons and making music. Sorry - meowsic. But Molly was clapping along with the music! She warmed up to the toy very quickly.
I put Hattie on her belly on my lap for a bit and she seemed to like that. I just noticed that the Christmas tree is giving her bunny ears.
Alanna's big gift was a kids digital camera. She squealed with delight when she got enough wrapping paper off to know what it was. I'm not sure who smiles more when out kids open gifts - the kids themselves or Matt and me! It's so fun!
Figuring out the new camera wearing her new Frozen slippers with her siblings and Daddy crowded around.
I did not get a picture of Charlie's big toy gift from us because I opted for a video instead. He received a Seattle Seahawks helmet and jersey and was over the moon about it!! Obviously he put it on immediately. He said he wanted to sleep in his helmet, too. :)
Christmas Eve was also Hattie's 9 week picture day. So not happy.
The last thing we did on Christmas Eve was put out cookies for Santa. Charlie quickly wrote a note and we left them on the table. Santa does like ginger creams, peanut butter doodles, and peppermints!!
