Christmas in January

It is not quite as exciting as Christmas in July. It is more of the Christmas posts that didn't make it into December. (I really tried. One of these years I'm going to make it. Maybe 2016 is the one.)

The girls woke us up with caroling again. There was one very grumpy parent who noticed only two children were there singing and told them to skedaddle until all children were assembled. (I don't know who would be so grumpy on Christmas morning? Surely not someone who loves her beauty sleep.)

Once all children were singing like angels outside our door, and all attitudes had been properly fixed (although really, why wake someone up when you aren't even ready?) we went downstairs to celebrate. Christmas morning is kind of magical. Tyler starts a fire first thing. (I believe this is his favorite part of Christmas.)

Our tree had some old lights on it, and during the season, strings of them had slowly been dying. It seemed like each day another section of the tree went dark. When Tyler and I went to bed on Christmas eve, the top of the tree was still lit as well as the very bottom. In the morning, not a light was left lit on the tree. I guess it held out to the very end and just didn't have any more to give. (But Santa made it. Phew.)

Stockings are always up first. The standard underwear, socks, and essentials were in there. Pearl had something special that no one else had because Jonny had sat on her last one and popped it.

We are supposed to eat breakfast after stockings, but somehow I got talked into letting the kids open Santa gifts. (See, not grumpy...I'm actually a big softy on Christmas...once I'm awake.) Daisy found a cute, soft bear on her gift. She named her several times. I think the most recent name is Savannah.

Santa knew just what Ivory needed. She changed into her new leotard right away to try it out. Seems to work.

Robyn had the largest gift, but that's what happens when you ask for a pillow. Her pillowcase is so soft. I'm going to try hard not to steal it accidentally.

June got hair stuff, which I am also trying hard not to steal. (Darn these girls that are just my size and like the same stuff I do.)

Daisy did the traditional underwear face. (Don't worry Daisy, I can't fit in your underwear, although they are super cute.)

On Christmas Eve, it snowed all evening. We woke up to a beautiful white Christmas.

Love this wreath that Grandma Cazier made for us. And love brick hooks. (Didn't know about them until this year. Maybe we can actually hang stockings by the fireplace next year.)

After breakfast (french toast) we finished opening the remaining gifts. We drew names again this year, but two people had each person, so you could help out shopping for more people. For instance, June and Pearl drew Robyn's name and shopped for her. Robyn and I shopped for Pearl, etc. I think it worked well for our family dynamic and how many people we have.

Daisy got an extra gift from her primary teachers. They made her the coolest wooden box filled with candy. It was awesome.

I know this picture is a little blurry, but it captures perfectly how excited the girls were to get their own fairy books.

My mom (who generously bought me three shoes, from Disneyland, for my shoe tree) got me three more for Christmas. I will put them all in another post since I promised Miranda. They are the coolest. Thanks mom.

Tyler is still our designated gift-giver-outer. My dad had this job when I was a kid and I always envied him. Now I am an adult and I'm not sure why I still don't get a chance to do this job. Some things are not fair. (But I tell the kids all the time that life isn't fair, so what was I expecting?)

Opening gifts was very fun this year. Everyone seemed to like their presents and no one whined. (That is a personal pet peeve of mine. No one should complain when people are giving them things.)

Even Tyler who got the turkey tie did not complain. (Sorry Mom...he may never wear this again, to be honest.)

Virginia got us a box of goodies. There were little cookie cutters with fudge inside. The kids made short work of those. I'm sure I would have tried to cut the fudge out or something, but they needed no help.

Christmas afternoon was filled with fun activities. The girls spent plenty of time outdoors playing in the snow and sledding. I wanted some pictures so I sent Tyler. I asked him later if he got some pictures and he said yes. And by pictures, he meant this one. I guess you get the idea. (Thanks neighbors for the use of your hill.)

We also spent time playing ponies. (Pearl got them for Christmas.) I am not very creative anymore, but I gave Applejack a cool southern accent and that seemed to make up for any lack in imagination.

In the evening Grandma Cazier arrived and it was Christmas all over again. (Well, technically, it was still Christmas anyway.) June got to work opening her gift. (Did she ever change out of her jammies??)

It was great to see Grandma. All the kids got a great gift.

She got each a purse with fun things hidden inside, including money. (She said Grandpa helped pick out the purses. That is pretty cool.)

Robyn found her money too.

But even lip gloss gets big grins around here.

We adults scored some sweet jackets. (Tyler and I are wearing them in the saber bottle video.) We also got something you probably don't have. Actually, I had never even seen one before. It was a cloud of toilet paper. The kids stacked it a bit high for the picture. (When we mounted it in the bathroom, it wasn't quite so large.)

Our cloud has a concrete lining. (Close to silver.)

We had a great Christmas. It was nice to be with family. We played and laughed and were blessed to be together on that day.