Christmas Eve./Christmas Day; 2014

First, a little of our decor...

I really wanted a good photo of the boys looking at the tree and attempted 
this shot several times over several days.
This is the best one I got and they were in costumes!

We have super fancy ornaments! lol

The boys "made" this at church.
I say "made" because I did most of it. ;-)

Seth took Christmas Eve. Day off and it was awesome. AWESOME. We baked and cooked and hung out. It made that day feel like a holiday too! After naps, we started getting ready to go to church (4pm service), but before we actually left, I wanted to get a photo of us in front of the tree. (I did this last year, too, and hope to have it be a new tradition.) I had the boys sit down first and pose so I could see if the camera was at the right angle, close enough, etc. I had it sitting on the couch and had a hard time looking through it without putting weight on the couch. The shot I got of them was pretty good! They're actually kinda smiling. And then the family picture, something went awry with their smiles...

I cannot explain Graham's face, but I find it hilarious!

We got ONE picture together as a family. It's not great, but has to be good enough because I never got the chance to try again. The next time I got up to set the timer, Austin kicked Graham and soon both were in hysterical tears. I did get a good picture of that, but no more of us together!

Once we were done taking some pictures, we went to Grace for Christmas Eve service. Nonnie & Gramps met us at church and then came over to our house for dinner afterwards. We had ham (thanks to Dickies!), potatoes, and brussel sprouts. Once we were done with dinner, we sang some songs together with Seth on piano. The plan was for the boys to get a few gifts that evening instead of the stockings gifts that DTI get from Nonnie & Gramps the next morning, so after we were done singing, the gifts were brought in (I'd requested they stay hidden/in the car until after songs so it wasn't "when can I open!?" all night long), and they opened a few.

Here's a video of us doing a little singing.

A soccer ornament for this, his first year in soccer.
side note: Graham is obsessed with being in costume right now

puzzles!

cars and a road rug!

When presents were done being opened, Nonnie & Gramps went home to host Spencer's family who spend the night Christmas Eve. Here, we changed the boys into pjs and Seth read the "T'was the Night Before Christmas" story and they went to bed.

Graham's face here was too funny not to post!

Once the boys were in bed, it was time for Seth and I to celebrate together! And "celebrating together" at this stage in our lives means drinking sparkling grape juice while listening to Christmas music and putting together toys and stuffing stockings!

Yes, it wasn't very cold so we have ice in our glasses.

Seth, Sena, Austin, Graham, Georgia

Our nativity. Our reason for the season.

The boys' Big Gift this year!

And before we knew it, it was Christmas morning!

Here's a video of the Big Reveal. (Which went about as well as I could have ever wanted!)

Superhero underpants!

I love the look of Hard Work on his face.

I stuff goodies all the way down to the toe of the stocking!

Austin helped Georgia get her stuff out of her stocking.

Daddy and his helpers... an ever-constant presence.

And then we started unwrapping gifts. As per our tradition, we each have three gifts to open (Jesus received three gifts, so we each receive three gifts) and we each unwrap a gift and then take a pause to actually open the gift/play with it/use the bathroom/get more coffee/etc. So, we have three rounds, starting from youngest and going up to Seth (the oldest ;-). I love that we take our time, that there's not SO MUCH to open and that each person watches while the others open. Our boys may only be 2 and 4, but the don't-help-open-his-gift lesson has been drilled in hard and they're great about it. Unless Graham needs help, Austin is hands off with his gifts, and vice versa.

Every. Single. Piece. of. Paper. Must. Come. Off. Before. Opening. The. Box.

Round One: Matching jammies and each a costume--

Graham, a police officer and Austin, a firefighter.

Austin also got a new, bigger blankie and a Ninja Turtle hoodie.

We're safe now with these guys in the house!

The second round was a cash register for Graham and 

a new version of the vintage record player for Austin.
And Bullspotting for Seth. A book our friend Loren wrote.

Round Three was books and movies and some Buck Denver DVDs 

as well as other misc., including a new piggy bank for Austin.

Both boys putting coins in slots.

Next, we open other random gifts. This includes stuff from my Grandma and Austin got an Aaron Rodgers jersey! Too bad it's a size 10-12. lol! And baby #3 got a really sweet baseball outfit!

Once we're done with gifts around here, we get ready and head to Nonnie & Gramps' for the rest of the day. We arrived about 11:30am and the big meal was ready soon after. Seth made the gravy and Cheryl carved the turkey. After we were done eating, we sang Happy Birthday to Jesus and blew out candles. The cake was a from-scratch red velvet cake that wasn't as good as I expected. I definitely won't go through the hassle of making it again next year. I think next year I'll just make a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting, because who doesn't like a chocolate cake!?

I bought this kit of "Happy Birthday" candles for all the kids to blow out.
It's not like we're really celebrating Jesus' age,
so it seemed the best way to blow something out.

All the fogginess in the picture is the smoke!

Then it was time to open Big Presents. The kids all lined up and big presents were brought out from the master bedroom which is right off the family room. Graham opened first and then Austin.

They pulled huge bags off since they were too big to actually wrap.

Ride-on toys!

And then we went outside to ride them. Here's a video of that. (It was SUPER windy that day, pardon the wind noise.)

I love his facial expression!

After awhile, it was time to go inside. Mostly because the adults were tired of all the wind! Then it was time for the Christmas story, which Turner read to us. Once the story was read, the kids started doing their rounds of opening, youngest to oldest just like we do at home (which is where we got the idea!). I didn't take a picture of every present or every time the boys were opening a gift, because there's a lot of people and a lot of gifts, which equals some craziness.

And when the kids were done with all their presents, it was time for the adults to take turns opening our gifts. The kids played and hung out while we did this and it was a very fun day overall.

Merry Christmas to you and your family! I hope yours was as full and fun as ours was.

Do you have any traditions we might want to encorporate?