Robert's boss was nice enough to give him Christmas Eve off so that morning we slept in just a little bit, we each ate a bowl of Christmas Crunch cereal that my mom sent us, then we set to work cleaning up the house. I told them I wanted a clean house for Christmas so we all worked together and had it done in no time.
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| Daddy and Halie making the cake |
We spent the afternoon making our birthday cake for Jesus, and getting things ready for dinner on Christmas day so that I didn't have to be stuck in the kitchen all day.
Then, in the evening we took a drive and went out to see some Christmas lights.
When we got home we set out our cookies and milk for Santa, and put Fred the Elf nearby so he'd be ready for Santa to take him home.
We let the kids get their blankets and pillows and stretch out by the tree for awhile. They were so incredibly cute with their excited whispers and abundance of giggles. They put on quite the comedy show for us as they laid there. Then Gretchen decided she needed to join in on the fun and laid down between them. She would get really close to their faces and just stare at them....and they would stare back...and they'd sit there like that until one of them caved and giggled and then Gretchen would cover them with wet kisses. Then they'd start all over again. It was the cutest thing ever!
Halie actually fell asleep there by the tree, but not Burl. He was still wired up at 9:30 so we put him in his own bed and carried Halie to hers so that "Santa" could come.
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| The tree before Santa's visit. |
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| And after! |
Since we didn't go anywhere for Christmas this year it wasn't spread out like it normally is, going to one family's house and then the other's. Between presents from us, both sets of grandparents, and an Aunt, Uncle, and cousin, there were a LOT of gifts to be opened. :)
Stockings all stuffed and ready to go.
She still loves Alex the Lion so she was VERY excited to have Alex shampoo!
Another train for his Thomas set.
He pulled this out of his stocking and yelled, "Mater soap!!" You can tell he was excited about that. :)
And of course, Gretchen had to have a stocking, too.
A family stocking from Nana and Papaw Delamarter.
I had to get him his own Pez dispenser because I knew otherwise he'd be stealing all of the kids' candy from theirs, lol!
Cute new slippers from my Hubs.
After stockings were opened, we took a little break and I got breakfast in the oven while the kids played with their stocking stuffers. Then we read the Christmas story and finally it was time to open all those presents!
Halie bought Burl a gift with her own money and even wrapped it herself.
She got him a loader, which he loved. :)
I forgot to get a picture after she opened it, but this was a living room set for her doll house. She only asked for 2 things for Christmas and this was one of them. I figured I could just pick one up from Toys R Us no problem, but they don't sell them anymore! I had to frantically search eBay at the last minute and hope hope hope that I won it (because there was only one that had the pieces she wanted) and that they would ship it quickly. Thankfully, it all worked out and she was SO excited to have it!
Any kind of trucks/equipment gets Burl excited! He's all boy.
A funny sign from my smart alec brother-in-law. :D
You'd think I hate to dust or something.
A new princess outfit for her doll.
Halie has been wanting the Nemo movie for months and months and I thought surely I would happen across one at a yard sale this summer, or a thrift store or something. But I never did, so I ordered them each a movie from eBay. They were two very excited kids over those!
The last present they opened was the big one tucked in the back, a joint gift for the both of them from Meemaw and Papaw.
A piano that they can walk on. So much fun!
I was so busy having fun watching them unwrap gifts and just soaking in their happiness that I missed a lot of pictures. But that's ok, I think sometimes it's more important to have the memory stored away in your mind rather than missing the joy of the moment because you were trying to get the "perfect shot."
I thought it was funny that after everything was opened, Burl was playing with Halie's toys...
and Halie was playing with Burl's toys. : )
Here's our birthday cake for Jesus. I can't take much credit for this. Robert and Halie baked it (from scratch I might add!), and Robert frosted it (with homemade icing as well). All I did was make the white chocolate letters and help put the sprinkles on.
They did a great job didn't they?
We put it on one of my Granny's Cape Cod serving platters. It brings back lots of memories of her home and of staring at her large collection of these dishes when I was a child.
We each picked out a candle to add, and sang Happy Birthday to Jesus.
Then the kiddos blew out the candles and we enjoyed a slice!
Even though we very much missed being around family, we still had a great Christmas and made lots of good memories together.
