On Christmas morning I woke a little early and went down to get music going and light a yummy smelling Christmas candle.
We always tell the kids they can't come wake us up until 7am. Last year we woke them up early by jumping into their rooms yelling Merry Christmas and we about scared them to death. This year we didn't want to do that. As I was walking upstairs I could hear the kids in the boys' room singing. I opened the door and they were practicing to wake us up singing We wish you a Merry Christmas. It was so sweet! They sang it for me and then went in and woke Daddy up singing it.
On the stairs ready to go down.
This year the kids wanted to open their stockings first. They ran right into the dining room to get them.
For some reason most years we end up forgetting all about our stockings. I was sure the kids were going to see their Santa gifts, but they didn't notice them at all. Ella was really excited about her unicorn headband though.
Jack got Spiderman Far From Home & Lego Movie 2.
Zeke got How to train you Dragon 2 & 3.
Owen got Avengers End Game and Angry Birds.
Ella got Captain Marvel & Justice League
After that we went back into the living room to open up the rest of our presents. I figured one of the kids would realize the Santa gifts were missing eventually!
All the kids with their pile of presents!
Zeke's first gift was from Jack. He got him a How to Train your Dragon Hatchimal! Zeke loved it and it was fun to watch hatch...even if it only took 5 minutes of holding it and shaking it for it to come out.
Ella's first gift was from Owen. He got her 4 Polly Pockets. Well I actually got them on Black Friday on a B1G1 offer. I told Owen he could give those to Ella or get her something else and I'd just give her these for her birthday present. He decided that he'd just give her these since they were such a good deal and she was getting 4 of them.
Jack's first gift was from Zeke....he got the game Jumanji....don't let the fake smile fool you! ;)
Owen's first gift was from Ella...she got him Uno Attack!
I love that they each wanted to open their sibling gifts first.
Zeke's wear gift was two long sleeve T-shirts...one with a space shuttle and one with dinosaur bones.
Ella's read gift was a box set of Owl Diaries. Logan reads these books and I knew Ella would love them.
Jackson's want gift was a BeyBlade and his launcher!
Owen's need gift was a new giant hooded towel for the bathroom. His was covered in cats!
Zeke's want gift was 2 Jurassic World Lego sets. One came from Miss Ellen...she shipped it to my mom since her grandson doesn't play with Legos anymore...it was brand new!
Part of Ella's want gift was a new doll...this is Phoebe and she has hair that grows.
I was hoping that since Ella had matching jammies with her doll that she wanted to bring her down with her to open gifts and she did. I love how she's introducing Phoebe to Chevonne!
The second part of her want gift was her bunk bed for her dolls!
Jack's wear gift was his jean jacket. This jacket was sold out in his size everywhere. I ended up having to sign up to get notices from the Target app when it was back in stock. The first time I got the notice I went on to buy it and it was already sold out again. Thankfully the second time I got notified I was able to purchase it.
For Owen's want gift he got the game Cash 'n Guns!
Oh my word...my morning hair is crazy. Here you can see my Christmas pajamas. Michael got me the wireless bluetooth speaker I'd been wanting.
The kids got Michael a fleece from Costco. It was something he had put on his list, but it's one of those things you can't tell how thick it's going to be by looking at a picture. Oh my it was SO thick. Michael runs hot normally so this was not going to get worn ever. I'm planning on returning it soon! You can see Michael's nice Christmas pajama pants. I didn't get him a top since I figured he could just wear one of his plain T-shirts.
This was right around the time Zeke pipped up and said..."Where are our Santa gifts?" I said...."Hmmm...I guess Santa doesn't deliver gifts to adult trees!" They all knew instantly that they were under the kid tree.
Off to the dining room they ran!
Zeke got a fun target he can shot at with his Nerf Guns.
Owen got the game Rubik's.
Jack got a handheld gaming system that has a bunch of old games on it.
Ella got one of those Dazzling pictures that you put the gems on.
Back to present opening in the living room...
Another gift the kids got Michael was a pair of Fila tennis shoes...he really needed these!
Zeke read was another book in the Duck series and he asked for the same Dinosaur sticker book he already has, but finished and wanted to do it again.
Ella's need was also a new hooded towel for the bathroom. I knew she'd love this unicorn.
Jack's read was a Harry Potter book that came with a wand and he got the next 4 books in the Bear Grylls series.
All of these pictures are so awesome. I love seeing this kid truly get surprised. For Owen's give we got him some merch from his favorite YouTuber...Unspeakable.
We spent way more money on him for his wear than we did for the other kids, but it was totally worth it. He was super stoked!
My other second gift from Michael was my new Air Fryer. It's huge! My old one was so small it took 3 batches to make enough French Fries for our family. I've used it twice so far and the French fries are amazing and it can hold more than we need to feed our family which is great since these boys are only going to eat more and more.
Something Michael really needed was new dress shirts and not just normal dress shirts...extra tall dress shirts. Michael's torso is so long normal dress shirts constantly come untucked. I found some great deals at Kohl's so I was able to get him 8 new shirts.
The kids got me this wonderful wrap...it's so snuggly and I wear it all the time!!!
Zeke's need was a hooded towel with all sorts of dinosaurs.
Jack's need was a hooded towel with a gorgeous white tiger.
I love these pictures of Ella even though they are blurry. There's some backstory that needs to be explained. Ella has a jean jacket...the exact same one actually, but it's gotten too small. We were at Target one day and she saw the same one in a bigger size and wanted to get it. I told her yes she could get it and then we got to the check stand and she also wanted chapstick. I gave her a choice and she chose the chapstick. Later she told me the reason she didn't chose the jacket was because it doesn't have pockets and she really wanted a jacket with pockets. A few days later I texted a friend from church who used to sew her kids clothes when they were young. I was sure that Jan could help me sew pockets into this jacket. On Monday, November 18th I went over to Jan's to help her sew the pockets. When I asked Jan if she could sew pockets in her mind she was thinking breast pockets which are easy to do...not pockets for her hands. That was actually something she had never sewed before. I was there all day...not sewing the whole day we chatted for quite a bit and I got us lunch to eat. She ended up working on it for quite a few hours and then I had to leave. She texted me later saying she just had to finish the outside stitching. When she came to church that Thursday she brought the finished product with her. I was ever so thankful to her and the time she spent on this!
My hope was actually that Ella would be disappointed when she first opened her wear gift and then to be shocked when she realized that it actually had pockets. I wouldn't say she was disappointed, but she was definitely ecstatic to find the pockets!!!
For Owen's read he got the Gregor the Overlander series. He had read all the books at school except the last one and he really enjoys them. I've started reading them, but haven't gotten very far.
The other gift the kids got me was another wrap....this one has heat and massage.
For Michael's second gift I got him some targets and a stand to attach them to so when he and the boys shoot the BB gun they have something to hit. I also got him this camping kit that had a machete, a hatchet, fire starter, a flashlight and some other man stuff! :)
In his stocking I got him a gift card to use at the Kent Golf Course. I didn't get a picture of my stocking gift...Michael got me Downton Abbey the movie.
Our family gift this year was two games....Keys to the Castle & Blank Slate. They are both fun, but Blank Slate is the best!
Of course after opening gifts you have to play with them. Zeke was trying to get his dragon to hatch.
Ella got Phoebe out to play.
After a little while Zeke's dragon started to hatch. It was a really fun experience since we've never had a Hatchimal before.
Poking out!
Here he comes! Zeke named him Toothy.
I built Ella's bunkbed.
Michael played Jumanji with the boys.
Of course Toothy joined in.
Ella got to bring out Baby Jesus and put him in the manger.
Charlie's Christmas present was a water fountain. He does not like to drink water that's been sitting there. He is always wanting to drink out of the sink so we thought he would like this. He did not know what to think of it. Mainly I think because it doesn't make noise like the faucet does.
We've only seen him drink from it a couple times, but I am having to fill it with about 2 cups of water every other day and he's not asking to drink from the sink anymore so we know he's using it.
