Christmas Day

For the first time ever, we had a very quiet Christmas day at our house!! Now, no offense to our extended families, but there is just something extra cozy about it being JUST the four of us. I can't believe it's taken us so long to realize this!

The kids slept together in Nate's room on Christmas Eve night, and I told them to not come out until 7:00 am. So, around 6:15 I heard some footsteps and whispers and toys moving around in their room. Such good kiddos! Gave me time to make sure the Santa presents were set up and take one last picture of the tree with all the pretty presents under it!

Santa brought me a printer! Sounds lame but I was very excited!!

At 7:00 on the dot (thanks to Mr.-Rule-Follower-Nate), the kids were ready to go!

 Click here to view the kids' reactions to their gift from Santa. I thought I'd get a bigger reaction from Abby; oh well.

A Nintendo DS!!

 As usual, everything in the stockings was a big hit. Mrs. Claus LOVES doing stocking stuffers!!!

A Billion Dollar chocolate bar! We told him that was from the Tooth Fairy, haha.

Daddy got gift cards, wine, and some snacks in his stocking

Very excited for my printer!!

 I give the kids a Hallmark ornament each year; something that symbolizes what they did that year or what they were really "into." Nate got a Dr. Seuss ornament for the book "One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish" because that was one of the first books he read on his own.

 And of course, for Abby it was the year of Princesses. Namely, Cinderella.

 I also get a new ornament each year for Greg, and the kids thought it would be funny to wrap his ornament inside 3 larger boxes :)

For Greg, it was definitely the year of the bike!!

 One of the top things on Nate's list this year was a lego set, called the Lion Chi Temple. Well, since Santa got him a DS, Mommy decided to get the lego set! It was a big hit!!

Oh, this boy & his legos...

 And Abby got a black & white kitty cat. There used to be one that looked exactly like this across the street. But then he died :( and Abby talks about him constantly. So, she got her own Charlie the Cat! :)

 I saw this on Pinterest and thought it was really cool. I just bought the 12x12 lego mat, and then used Nate's current legos to make a marble maze. The neat thing is that he can recreate new mazes, over and over. He loved it!

 Nate picked out a "Ring Around the Rosie" doll for Abby. It sings when you hold her hands. Please, how cute!

 Abby picked out a toy for Nate that is all.the.rage this year! (From what I hear, it's not just Alabama too!). It's a Cra-Z-Loom, also known as the Rainbow Loom. It makes bracelets with lots of tiny rubberbands. He was very excited b/c a few of his friends already have this!

As soon as he opened it, he said "Mommy, it's okay that it's pink!" :)

Learning to play the DS

After opening all the presents, Greg had one last surprise. There was a new computer & fancy monitor hiding behind the chair! I was shocked!!

And, Abby finally decided her bike was pretty cool. It only took 3 hours. And then she proceeded to ride it in circles for about an hour straight!! Click here to watch our little speed demon.

 Nate tried his hand at the Crazy Loom but it was way too hard. I tried as well, and got frustrated. So guess who finally figured it out!?

 Daddy!!!!! Nate's first bracelet was black & red (his school colors). Too cute.

 We had a quick skype session with my parents who were at Becky's house in Charlotte. Then, Nate was dying to do his lego set, so he retired to his room for the rest of the day. I'm not kidding, he was up there 5+ hours.

 We had to drag Nate outside for a quick spin around the neighborhood. Abby did great on her new bike and Charlie the Cat enjoyed trying the doll seat on the back of the new bike.

If you're wondering why Greg is all suited up - he was going for a long bike ride afterwards by himself! I love that he's the only one wearing a helmet, ha!

Concentration face

 Right before dinner, Nate emerged from his room and said the Lion Chi Temple was complete. Look at this thing!!!! 1258 pieces and he did it by himself. So proud of him!

 

We chose not to have a traditional/large Christmas dinner since it was just the four of us. Instead, Greg tried out a new recipe for Cajun shrimp & grits with sausage and bacon. With some sauteed okra on the side. SO GOOD! This will definitely be a new tradition for us.

 We had a wonderful Christmas day and were looking forward to Christmas #2 in Charlotte the next day with my family. Stay tuned for that! :)