Hooray for Christmas morning AND all agreeing that a 7:00am wake-up was in everyone's best interest! In years past, wake-up time has been as early as 6:00am - eek! It's always a topic of discussion on Christmas Eve but this year the kiddos agreed and 7:00am it was! They all sleep in the loft together on Christmas Eve (minus Chapman - she just isn't quite ready to leave her mommy's side) and as they awoke one by one, we could hear the early morning chatter amongst them. At 7:00am sharp, the squeals began and we all met on the stairs for the Christmas morning pic. Again, minus Chapman who slept in until 9:00am!
We try to keep Christmas simple - one need, one want, one surprise, and something to read - all from Santa. Santa brought lots of clothes....
a four wheeled jewel for littles....
a two-wheeled jewel for this kiddo....
Maddox has never had her very own bike - she is our child who gets everything second-hand....nothing at all wrong with that but everyone needs a new bike at some point in their lives!
Chapman finally awoke and was outside stat to try out the new car with Maryn and her mermaid....no shoes AND it was less than 30 degrees! Yikes. She didn't last too long!
Then the gift opening began....Pryce received lights for the "man cave" and he was shocked....
MK asked for all things panda so she was thrilled to see one appear in a gift....
Colin had a run in with an xbox controller so a new one was needed....
clothing AND cow calendars make for great boy gifts....food and the latest styles, that is how boys roll!
Chapman was all about tearing into gifts....no time to waste, she needed to know what was inside so if that meant tearing a box, she tore the box!
Fingerlings....admittedly so, the girls didn't even ask for these BUT I thought they were just too cute!
We like to take Christmas Day little by little....
we see Santa, we open a gift or two....
we play, we eat....
and then we repeat!
Christmas Day is the one day of the year where we are all under one roof, all happily hanging out, no one asking to go anywhere, no expectations....
it's just fun and so good to be together!
Little Chapman loved her new dolls....the hair is the best part always!
Maddox received a pair of play glasses and she honestly hasn't taken them off since! I have told her many times since this day that if she ever needs to wear glasses, she is going to be the most beautiful child in eyewear ever!
Chapman cooked for everyone all day on her new grill....
Maddox totally missed the cues for activities throughout the day because she was listening to her new Jojo headphones....
Maryn is at the perfect age....she is so excited to open gifts and no matter what is in the box, she is happy!
Pryce is always enthusiastic....always. I hope he always has this spirit about him.
Maddox could not wait to use her new pottery wheel....while I prepared the kitchen for our next meal, she happily created a jewelry holder for me.
The "man cave" lights were a hit!
Our living room for the better part of the day....a complete mess yet full of such joy! Ryan spent his day building, adding batteries, building more....
and when the building wasn't going on, the girls were playing....I love this pic, Maryn in her dress-up clothes, Maddox in her new boots and glasses!
For the grand finale, a game of Minute to Win It was in store.....
the children were each given a task....
when the task was completed in under one minute, they were given a clue.
Each clue was a puzzle piece....
the children loved this! Pryce definitely had the hardest challenge - shooting cups from the table with rubber bands. It sounded so easy yet it was a bit of a challenge....Maryn chose to serenade us with her new harmonica during this task.
Pretty sure Colin had the funniest task....
he had two plates....one plate had vaseline on it....without using his hands, he had to put vaseline on his nose...
then he had to pic up cotton balls from the bowl using only his vaselined nose and place them on the clean plate....he had to do 5 in one minute....he did 10!
The children used their clues to solve the puzzle. Once the puzzle was complete, they were able to read it and use the clues given within it to find their Christmas gift from us. Each year, they are given one gift to all of them from us....it is a list of 12 events that we will do as a family throughout the year - the idea is that we will do one event each month. This year includes everything from bowling to a trip to California and everything in between!
When all was said and done, our children could be found like this....
they were a bunch of sleepy heads when it was all said and done!
Even Finley had a great, tiring day!
Merry Christmas!
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