Christmas!

We had such a wonderful Christmas this year! I was off of work for 3 days straight...since I'm still in training I don't have to work any holidays! That won't be the case next year so we really savored this Christmas.

On Christmas Eve, we spent the day with Bryan's parents and sister. Grandma prepared a really yummy dinner and we just relaxed all day. We sat on around and watched "The Christmas Story" as a family. My boys hadn't seen it before...there's actually some parts to that movie that I regret showing them. Connor still doesn't have a clue what a "bad word" is. In the movie, Ralphie says "FUDGE". The narrator then tells us that he didn't really say "FUDGE" it was another 4 letter word that starts with "F". Connor is still asking me what that word is and why it's "BAD". LOL! The kids were once again, completely spoiled with fun presents. The main gift was their Lego table. We have it set up in our loft, the kids have had SO much fun building. I love it because the Legos don't end up all over the place and we can keep them out in the open instead of stored in the closets where they don't get used.


On Christmas morning, the kids were SO excited to see what Santa brought! It was so much fun to see the excitement on their faces when they saw their surprises. We kind of went overboard! Gifts included the Geo Tracks Christmas in Toytown train set, Lincoln logs, Dora Couch, Pink Cozy Coupe, Fur Real S'mores the Pony, Kitchen, play food, a picnic table, Play Doh, army men, Imaginex Batman, Imaginex Submarine, art supplies, Razor scooters and Legos. I can't help but buy them toys...I think Bryan and I like buying for them as much as they like playing with them! We did all of our shopping on Black Friday so that cut down on the cost dramatically. As for Bryan and I...we exchanged gifts all through December. He bought me Sephora makeup, new boots, a new winter coat, an entire scrubs wardrobe from Scrubs and Beyond and new Danskos. Bryan got 2 pairs of jeans, 2 tshirts, 2 dress shirts, a sweatshirt, a new cell phone and he won an I-Touch from work. We spent all morning playing and then we went over to my sister's house to spend the rest of the day with my family.

At my sister's house, we did things a little differently. We decided to stop buying presents for each other's kids and only do presents for my parents and grandparents. The kids didn't even know the difference! In years past it seemed like we were just exchanging gift cards and money and that's not really what Christmas is all about. Instead we had a wonderful dinner, played at the park, made a gingerbread house, made hand made ornaments, played Bocci Ball, listened to music and spent some good, quality time with one another. They kids just like being with their cousins and I loved spending time with my sisters. Hopefully we can keep this tradition.