Plain and Precious: Christmas Magic

I am sure I am not the only one who feels this way, but children definitely bring back the magic of Christmas. As a kid, Christmas so exciting, I could hardly contain myself. As a teenager it was still pretty fun, but my favorite part was watching my little brother's reactions. Well, then my brother grew up and out of the "magical Christmas phase" and I got married and Christmas changed. It was still fun and I loved getting together with family, but it just didn't feel the same. Well, now we have kids who can hardly contain themselves at Christmas time and the magic is back! This Christmas was at the top of my list of great Christmases. I wasn't pregnant and sick like last year, I didn't feel rushed and busy like others, I felt like our plans with my brother's and their in-laws worked out well (hopefully they agree), and of course the food is always fabulous!

On Christmas Eve, we wanted to take the kids sledding, but the beautiful sun melted most of what we had, so we took the kids to see "Tangled" instead. Super cute movie by the way. I wasn't sure how Jordan would handle it, but she seemed to love it and then when she got tired, she just slept. Too bad the other babies around us didn't do the same for their tired parents. Then we came home and got ready for my dad's family to come over for dinner. We kept is simple with croissant sandwiches and a few sides. I certainly didn't want to be cooking all day and John didn't want to be doing dishes all night, so it turned out really well. Although, Sydney did help me make a wonderful Peppermint Cheesecake.

Then, we continued with a tradition we started last year where everyone brings a wrapped game and we draw numbers to see who gets what present. Then, we play games until everyone has to go home and get ready for Santa.

Then, the kids opened their Christmas jammies and they were all excited to have footie jammies (there is probably a better name for them, but that is what we call them). After the traditional "Claymation Christmas" and a quick reading of "T'was the Night Before Christmas" our kids were more than ready to go to bed and so were we.

Loved the look on Jordan's face!

Christmas morning was very relaxed. We let the kids open their stockings first things, so of course they did that before I woke up, so there isn't any pictures of that. Then we have a nice breakfast, which is a tradition passed down from John's side of the family that I quite like because it makes Christmas morning last a little bit longer. When I was a kid, we would wake up and burst through all of our presents and then it was over. As a kid I didn't mind because we didn't have to wait to open our presents, but as a parent, I want it to last as long as possible. I thought the kids would be whining, asking when they can start, but they were actually really good about it. It probably had a lot to do with dad making their new favorite breakfast, egg sunny side up!

Then, we got to the presents! Our kids are still at the age where they enjoy every present they open. It isn't a mad dash to open one, throw it to the side and hurry and open the other. Not sure how long that will last, but it is nice right now. Anyway, here is a "few" of our favorites.

They kept saying, "what is this?" Hence the fake excitement on their faces.

Don't worry, they got excited later.

I'm going to regret putting this picture up, but just had to say THANKS!

Sometimes it can be fun having a friend in Germany.

We all thought this was the coolest! They spent all morning building it.

After a long morning of playing with our toys, we headed over to my mom's house for more presents and our wonderful tradition of a crab and shrimp dinner. This year we also added a roast for my sisters-in-law because they don't like sea food all that much. What a shame :)