Our Christmas

Christmas Day was great at our house this year. I've already mentioned that my parents were here -- making it really special to share it with them.

Aside from the early wakings, I really don't think we could have had a better day!

We did not put all the presents out for the kids. We saved 5 presents each back for "Boxing Day" (December 26th). We always do this and it's really nice because it makes Christmas last a bit longer. Plus, it's bringing some of Rich's traditions into our family traditions. The presents aren't big -- just books or puzzels or DVD's -- but it's still nice.

Anyway, we kept five each back for boxing day and we kept 5 each hidden downstairs for "later" in the day.

And this was still how crowded our tree was!

Santa does not wrap his presents at our house. He gives one present and leaves it out. This is another "tradition" we've carried over from England. When Rich was growing up, Father Christmas only left one present and left it out unwrapped.

It's nice because the kids can see their big Santa present and play with it!

Both boys were really excited! Sam got his "Big GeoTrax" that he's talked about over and over since Thanksgiving! He loves it! It's a fantatic toy -- he loves trains so this is perfect! It's not Thomas, but it's "Trains"!

And remember how I said Josh asked for the Pokemon Battle Dome that was $59? And got HORRIBLE reviews? And we talked him out of it? Well about a week before Christmas, Amazon had it on sale for $10.99 plus free shipping. I can handle $11 for a crappy toy to see the look of surprise on his face. And after that boy in his class told him there was no such thing as Santa, this was a great way to put that belief right back there!

And it is a very poorly made toy, but he likes it. So does Sam. And oddly enough, this is the only picture I have of Josh with it on Christmas day -- I have lots of Sam playing with it (and I have lots of Josh playing with the GeoTrax) -- I guess Josh likes his new Nintendo DS Lite better!

But he told me that night he was really happy he got the Battle Dome from Santa. And even though we'd told him that he had to think of something else to ask Santa for, this was what he really wanted. So it was worth the $11 in the end!

It took us quite a while to open the presents. The kids wanted to stop and play with the things they had already recieved, then when the tree presents ran out, we brought a few others up and they were just as excited about the DVD or PJ's or whatever the "minor" present was at that time.

In the evening, we played some games and ate more food and had a great time! We were all tired when it was time to put the boys to bed, but the adults persevered! We watched Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix on DVD (a Christmas present from the boys) and then went to bed fully content and happy!

My parents were supposed to be here through Boxing Day, but after a consultation with the Weather Channel, they decided to leave on Boxing Day and avoid the snow storms that were coming over the next few days. So, they packed up their car and left about lunch time on Boxing Day. It was sad to see them go, but it was nice to have them here for a week too!