It was all about the kids this year. I guess it has been for a couple of years now, but there was just something about it this year that I truly enjoyed. It was probably because Bennett really understood what was going on this year. We talked about Baby Jesus and the reason for the season (and this will be brought up again in a little bit). He knew that Santa Claus was coming to see him, he enjoyed singing all the Christmas songs, he helped me make goodies for our neighbors and cookies for Santa. It was just very Merry.
Christmas Eve, we went to Mama and Daddy's house and celebrated with them and Jeff and Greg. Of course we had a great meal, and then we gathered around the Christmas tree.
Cannon assumed his usual position:
And Bennett assumed his - helping unwrap every gift in sight, whether it was his or not.
As you may remember from years past, my immediate family has this little Christmas tradition of drawing names and then making your person's gift. You have to make it from things you already own or can find lying around your house or yard - no money is to be spent on your item.This is the first year Josh has gotten my name, and I have to say he did a great job! I have been wanting an apron for a while now, and I really thought I was going to have to wait until a year that Mama happened to draw my name. Well, think again! Check out this
He asked me what kind of fabric we had lying around, so I got out all the scraps and pieces I had so he could choose what he wanted. It's really funny, because I just happened to also be using the same fabric that he chose.I drew Mama's name. I wanted to draw her name, because I already knew that I wanted to make her something. She is always dropping food on her shirt. ALWAYS. Seriously, almost every single time we eat together, especially if it's out somewhere, she'll drop food right on her shirt, in the middle of her chest. She has said before that she might as well just take her first bite and put it on her shirt, just to get it over with, because it's gonna happen.
Well I decided to make her a fancy little bib. You can't tell from the picture, but it has a really nice searsucker fabric on the opposite side. It was going to be reversible until I decided to really glam it up with the flower.
What I don't get is why I haven't seen her wear it anywhere yet. It's very pretty, I don't know what the problem is.Mama drew Jeff's name. I included this first picture of him unwrapping it because that first gift is homemade dog food for his dog, Edgar. And I think Edgar must have known it.
She made Jeff a luxury desk set complete with picture holder, stationery (roll of calculator tape), tape dispenser, desk lamp (tea light and matches), magnifying glass (the lens out of an old pair of glasses), and much, much more.
Jeff drew Daddy's name. Bennett helped Poppa open his, of course. It was so big, he probably did need an extra hand with it.
After that first large box came a smaller box with a smaller box in it, with a smaller box in it, and so on and so on until Daddy unwrapped this handmade crossword puzzle. Full of physics and mathematical questions, of course.
Daddy got Greg's name. Greg got a brand new dog-repelling stick for walking his routes at work. His initials were engraved into the wood, along with custom designs and such.
Greg got Josh's name. I don't have a picture of it, but he got a CD of a DJ set that Greg made for him.Jeff, Greg and I gave Mama and Daddy this picture frame full of our favorite family photos (all taken by Greg - well, all but one, since we had to have one of Greg in there).
Bennett was one lucky little boy this year. Grandmama and Poppa decided he needed a motorized vehicle (we agreed), so here he is unwrapping his very own Arctic Cat.
Daddy took Bennett outside to ride around in circles for a while before we headed home. We've still got some learning to do on the steering.
We came home and got in bed so that Santa Claus could come visit our house. Santa Claus started working on this train table at 10:30pm and didn't get finished until 1:45am. Mrs. Claus fell asleep on the couch and woke up several times to Santa Claus cursing the thing because some parts were rather difficult to assemble. Thank goodness Bennett left him some cookies and milk, otherwise he might have left our house in a bad mood.
Anyway, I got up the next morning to nurse Cannon and enjoyed being downstairs by myself for a little while before the madness ensued. I started some coffee, turned on the Christmas music and waited. A little while later Josh texted me with "He's headed your way! I can't stop him!" Thankfully, I already had the video camera ready and was calmly waiting for him to come down.
Helping Daddy open his gifts:
Cannon loved the bows and paper.
I had THE BEST TIME buying things for Bennett's stocking. I could have filled up five of 'em. But I kept it to one, and then I did one for Josh.
It was hard to keep him interested in opening presents, 'cause all he wanted to do was this:
Here he is, showing you the rather large hole in his sock.
Later that morning, Mama, Daddy and Jeff came over and ate breakfast with us.Even though you can't see it in the video, it was just beginning to snow. It got bigger and heavier as the day went on. It was so wonderful. Can you believe it actually snowed on Christmas Day?!? I wish I had more pictures of it, but I don't. But it was so nice just to be sitting in our living room spending time with family and seeing it snow and snow and snow outside. Apparently this was the first time it had snowed in Atlanta on Christmas Day in over 100 years. Wow.
That evening, Steve and Lynn came to have dinner with us.
Unfortunately, this is what Cannon looked like as soon as they walked in the door. Up for a nap he went, and he didn't come back down until they were walking out the door. :(
Bennett got some new tools that he immediately had to try out on his work bench.
And of course Stewie was enjoying the festivities from his spot on the couch.
Bennett was still pretty glued to his train table. He did take a break to eat some of his Daddy's homemade pizza, but the trains didn't leave his side.
It was also that night that Jeff got to meet his daughter, Maria, for the first time (long story). Anyway, she's 5 months old, and he had her next door at Greg's house. I kept checking in on them throughout the evening, because Jeff was about as unfamiliar as you can be with new babies.
I asked him if I could take her back over to my house so Josh and his parents could see her, and he said yes. So here is Bennett meeting his cousin Maria for the first time.
The next day, Jeff brought her over to our house again. Jeff brought her in in her car seat and set it on the table. Bennett walked over to it and said, "Hi Baby Jesus!"Oh. My. Gosh. Jeff and I were rolling in the floor. That was about the funniest thing I have ever heard!
Let me just tell you that, embarrassingly, we have not yet started attending church regularly. We want to, but it just hasn't happened yet. But we do have some books at home that we have been reading, and I did take some time to explain to Bennett that the real reason for Christmas is the birth of Jesus Christ. So he is fairly newly familiar with baby Jesus.
So with all the talk about baby Jesus, he was quite excited to find Him on our coffee table. (I hope this isn't offensive to any of you...)
That night, Josh and I made a very last minute decision that I would go with his parents and sister to North Carolina to visit his grandmother and family there. I quickly gathered up our things and headed to Snellville so I could leave with them the next morning. Josh couldn't go because of work, but there was nothing stopping me and the boys, so off we went.
Mema was thrilled to see all of the young ones. She thought it was just going to be Steve and Lynn, but me and Lauren came with our five (total) children. She had never met Everett (Lauren's youngest, that was born 5 days before Cannon) or Cannon.
Bennett loved this gingerbread house they had in the lobby of her complex.
We had lunch there with her one day, and the big kids enjoyed touring the place and taking turns riding on Mema's walker. She was so willing to push them around; I think they all enjoyed it equally.
Bennett and Rachael are so cute together. They've always really enjoyed seeing each other and playing with each other, but I've never seen Bennett quite as sweet as he was this trip:
So cute!We had a really good time. It was a lot of fun to spend that time with Josh's family, and I kind of enjoyed being away with just my boys (my little boys). I was glad we made that last minute decision.
So that was our Christmas. Can't wait to do it all again next year. :)
2 comments:
Oh my goodness. I laughed so hard at that first video. Your family looks like they have a lot of fun together. The video of Bennett seeing his train just broke my heart with the adorableness. I loved hearing him say, "Merry Christmas to you, too!" at the end. And those pictures of him with Rachel are out of control adorable. Thanks for sharing all this!
I just loved the "Baby Jesus" comment. Sounds like something Charlie would say!!!
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