Christmas Day

They all slept in. I was shocked. We had to wake them up at 7:30.


We had a great Christmas.  Santa successfully hid the dwarf hamster in our master bedroom shower Friday evening & by some miracle she wasn't found :) Christmas morning she was hidden behind all the presents {I thought for sure that Owen was going to walk down the stairs, see no hamster & loose it...but he didn't, thank goodness} When she was unveiled Owen {and the other kids} were SUPER excited & he promptly named her snowball, because when she curls up she looks like a little snowball.


We took our time with the presents this year, opening one at a time, we wanted each kid to be able to appreciate each of their gifts (especially as they get older...they get more and more expensive, and the kids get less quantity).  I would say some of the favorites were Curtis's glow-in-the-dark Hex-bug habitat set, Hailey's art desk and here mini American Girl doll/book set, Owen's hamster, of course, & his Star Wars Millennium Falcon with Chewbacca and his "owner". The boys loved their Star Wars droid RC vehicles too.  And they all loved their quilts, thankfully, I would have been heartbroken if they didn't (they were so much work).  Oliver loved all of his presents (well, he seemed interested in them) :), especially his dog that talks & sings when you squeeze him or his paw or ear.  And he loved trying to eat the paper :)


My favorite present came wrapped in a toaster box, sandwiched in-between two diaper wipe refills...it was a Nook simple-touch. I love it.  I was a little unsure about going with one, I LOVE books, how they smell & feel...but I have to say the Nook is great--especially when I only have one hand because I'm nursing or taking care of a baby.


Elias got a desk dock & car dock for his new phone, so he can use it as an alarm clock (among other things) and a GPS.  And I gave him the game Settlers of Catan--which we played about 35 times between Christmas and New Year (which Elias had off work..YAY!)


After presents we had homemade cinnamon rolls, and got ready for church.  Church was lovely with lots of musical numbers and the kids did great singing with the primary (we learned The Nativity Song).  The afternoon was spent playing with toys watching movies & playing their new Wii game Skylanders--which they are all addicted to.  It was a great day.  Here's the pics...