Christmas #3 (Christmas Eve)

We spent most of Christmas Eve just hanging out and enjoying the day. Well, actually I spent most of it cleaning in preparation for Christmas Day. It was very relaxing! We got ready to head to my grandmother’s house around 4 in the afternoon, but before we could go anywhere we had to exchange a few gifts. We always exchange pjs and sibling gifts on Christmas Eve. It’s a little tradition that we’ve started since the kids have gotten a little older. Always fun!

        

This year, my trusted Hannah Andersson came through with some PRECIOUS pajamas!!

      

The boys got matching Darth Vadar sets and LK got an adorable gown. (she’s really into gowns right now!! I love it!) Everyone loved their gifts!!

      

      

Next up were the sibling gifts.. Ethan got a Harry Potter wand from LK and Gray! 

He’s been wanting one for quite a while!

Gray got a Chewbacca doll! It even makes the “chewy” sound which Huck just LOVES! ;)

      

And, LK… she got a kate spade bangle. She’s been after mine since I started to get some so we figured that we’d indulge her. ha!

      

The tree looked gorgeous with all the gifts underneath! This year’s wrapping has to be one of my favorites!

After our gift exchange, it was time to head to Grams! And yes, in case you’re wondering, Chris and I exchanged pjs too! He got a Life Is Good t-shirt and pj pants set. I got a Vineyard Vines whale t-shirt. I’m always stealing Chris’ t-shirts for bed, so he got me one of my own! ;) Love that man!

      

Love my boys!!!

Ethan finally got a dream lite! Thanks, MeMaw!!

      

LK got slippers and scarves! I swear, I think we had the same Christmas list this year!

BeyBlades!!! He’s obsessed!

Racecar! He was VERY tired!!

LK got a LaLaLoopsy. She is all about LaLaLoopsy right now!

      

More BeyBlades and Little People!

      

She was so excited about her LaLaLoopsy and Aladdin dolls!

Hot Wheels!! Another big hit right now!

      

Mom and Gary got the same canvases as Nana and Papa. You can see them much better here. Aren’t they great??! The best part… I took those pics! They’re from the little “homemade” session that I did at the sunflowers earlier in the fall. Mom had actually already seen these canvases but had no idea that she was getting her own set. She was beyond happy to have them!!

      

Grams got canvases too, but she got individuals of the three kids. Again, from our sunflower session. She was almost in tears she loved them so much! Gosh, I just can’t get over how great those canvases turned out!!! Seriously, if you need a canvas, use Paper Coterie!! WONDERFUL!!!

      

This picture cracks me up… SO typical!!! LK was ridiculously happy to get the AG doll meatloaf, and you can see Ethan’s reaction! hahaha!!! Folks, this is everyday life in our house!

G and his favorite pal, Uncle Joe! Loves him, I tell you!

She was in American Girl doll heaven!

Gray was sneaking Hershey kisses all night! We found at least 12 wrappers hidden under the table!! This kid never stops eating!

Stockings!!! One of the things that Ethan kept asking for was a safe. Well, Grams found a cute little plastic one at Target when we went Black Friday shopping. She even put $1 in it for him. You would have thought it was a gold brick! It was probably his favorite gift! It’s so funny what kids love and want the most…. and it’s never the $80 toy that you just spent 3 hours putting together!! ha!

      

After opening gifts, we decorated some gingerbread cookies for Santa. We had planned to pick up some gingerbread cookies from Panera like we did last year (b/c they are precious!) but we forgot until late in the afternoon and didn’t have time. Luckily, I had a set of premade cookies that just needed decorating! It works! Each kiddo (and Mommy!) decorated one. They actually turned out pretty darn cute!!

Gray fell asleep on the way home, so he didn’t get to hear the Christmas story. After a quick story, everyone was in bed very quickly!

See.. those cookies are precious!! WAY better than anything Panera could decorate! ;)

Santa came!!! What a loot!

LK Gifts: Little Missmatched bike, helmet, Apples to Apples, antique brush/mirror/comb set, 2 Fancy Nancy books, Very Bradley Ribbons throw, Vera Bradley duffle, American Girl pajamas, and a TON of other AG items: kayak set, a McKenna outfit, a sleeping bag and sleepover accessories, tent, Bitty Baby mealtime set and blender, Bitty pea pod outfit and lady bug brush set.. and a few other small things. Seriously, it looked like AG threw up in our house! Apparently, Santa shops the AG Chicago store too! ;)

2 wee

Ethan’s gifts: DC Encyclopedia, Avengers Hawkeye crossbow, Star Wars Storm Trooper headphones (he’s too little for ear buds to stay in correctly!), a new lacrosse stick, a jackhammer (he has seriously asked for a jackhammer EVERY Christmas since he was about 2 and I finally found one!!! ha! Yes, he’s too big for it and Gray plays with it way more than he does, but I was not going be THAT parent that never gets her child the ONE thing he always wanted! haha!), Legos – Star Wars Ewok tree house, Monster Fighters Vampire Hearse, MF Wolfman set, MF Swamp Creature set, MF mummy set, Ninjago Samurai, Ninjago Green Ninja, Ninjago Red Ninja (I don’t remember their names!) He also had a battle area that Gray so lovely found in the closet and gave to him about 2 weeks early! YAY! So, needless to say that everyone got a gift early. E got to keep the battle arena and LK got a JCrew critter necklace! I was ecstatic, I assure you!

Gray’s gifts: a new PB anywhere chair, Radio Flyer tricycle, Duplo Legos set, Thomas wooden train set, Sprig dolphin and dino sets, Winnie The Pooh book, and green cord alligator! He didn’t get quite as much as LK and E, but he doesn’t know the difference yet. Next year will be MUCH different!

Our stockings were loaded to the brim!

LK – Vera Bradley coin purse and lanyard, another kate spade bangle, LaLaLoopsy ear buds, and a LaLaLoopsy DS game!

Ethan – Super Mario Bros 2 DS game, Batman DS game, Batman Apptivity iPad game, and Hot Wheels Apptivity iPad game

Gray – two wooden board picture books from Land of Nod, a set of LoN flashcards, and a wooden train car

Natalie – a few pairs of C.Wonder earrings, two of my favorite movies, and a new lightweight robe for the mornings while we’re getting ready. Chris also got me a pair of purple Hunter rain boots!! Love them!

Chris – new Memphis hat, new knife, and the first seasons of Game of Thrones and Homeland! He also got a drill bit set and a HUGE tent for camping trips with the boys! Our joint gift this year was Apple TV.. which we’re LOVING!

Huck – some deer and elk antlers and a duck lovie!

      

The tree looked gorgeous all lit up in the dark!!!

View from hallway! This is what the kiddos woke up to. Beautiful!

Santa ate his cookies!! He must have thought that they were just as great as I did! :)

With it being Christmas Eve, that meant that it was time for our elves to say goodbye! :( We had so much fun with them this year!!!

      

Loved our Christmas table this year. Although, I have several more ribbon balls to make for that other lantern next year! I was trying to duplicate the ones that I had purchased from PB and it was not as easy as it had seemed! Oh well! There’s always next year… or eBay! ;)

Also loved our Advent calendar this year! So simple and cute!!! The kids thought that it was great! Next year, I want to paint numbers on each bag. Each bag had a few pieces of candy, a scripture that told the story of Jesus’ birth, and the dates on the weekends had fun Christmas activities to do!

We had a wonderful Christmas Eve. It’s always wonderful to be surrounded by the ones you love! I was SO excited to see the kid’s faces as soon as they woke up! We were expecting to be up at 5am, but the kids had other plans….