Christmas

I know I am bit behind, but we have been enjoying the two week vacation from school. I love not having a schedule, but tomorrow they go back. While putting them to bed they were all a little emotional about going back tomorrow and I must say I am a little bummed also. Maybe it is because I know that Connor will go through withdraw with them not being around and I am sure it won't be pretty! Back to Christmas...Christmas Eve is our favorite. We love spending the day getting ready for the next day, making cookies for Santa and finishing up any last minute errands. We then head out to the Christmas Eve service that ends with us lighting candles and singing Silent Night. This moment always brings tears to my eyes as I look around the church and see all the candles lit and for those couple of minutes I am able to truly focus on the meaning of Christmas. My kids sing their hearts out and Noah gets all teary eyed! This is by far my favorite moment of the entire season. After church we ate dinner and all snuggle up to watch "The Polar Express" then it is to bed. Here is a couple pictures of Christmas Eve.

Making cookies for Santa!All dressed up for church! Doesn't Chris look handsome in his new suit? Chocolate fondue for dessert. We found a way for Noah to eat bananas. Watching the movie by the fire and then the cookies are out and ready for Santa. By the way our kids do not know how to smile when we tell them to we always get some ridiculous look. Oh well! Christmas morning started early of course. They came down a little after 6am and they opened their stockings which to me is always the most fun. We then ate breakfast together, opened up all the great presents my kids got and then spent the day playing with the new toys and ending the day with a nice dinner and of course Jesus' birthday cake. We didn't have anyone down this year and we didn't go anywhere. It was different, but nice. It was nice to just hang out and enjoy the day. I didn't take a ton of pictures, because honestly pictures of opening presents is never really that exciting. Chris and I were exhausted by the end of the day, but our kids were happy. I love how excited they get over every present and especially how excited they get to give each other presents. Chris and I pray that our children will always keep this holiday in a healthy perspective. Who doesn't love getting presents, but I want them to not care that much about what they got, but why we celebrate. Our goal is for them to look back as they get older and remember the traditions and the good times we had together as a family and not what they got. Connor guarding his stocking stash. He loved opening all his presents and got excited about each one.

Here are the gifts the boys got each other. Overall it was a sports Christmas, because right now sports is the only thing that matters. More on that in a later post. Tackle buddies where a huge hit! They now can really tackle something other then each other. Connor is hysterical to watch!

Jesus' birthday cake. We think that Connor thought it was his birthday! Here is a video of them enjoying the tackle buddies.