Christmas

Christmas this year was fairly difficult for me. I'm normally pretty enthusiastic all during the month of December, going all out to decorate and doing a bunch of fun things with the kids. This year I just didn't have it in me. We decorated a little, but definitely not anywhere near what we usually do. As we approached Christmas, it seemed to bother me more than normal to have the kids start talking more and more about what they were going to get. Every time Jason asked me what I wanted for Christmas morning (since I'd already gotten my big gift), I would get irritated at the thought of him buying me anything else. Finally I came to the conclusion that what I wanted most for Christmas was for him and the kids to make something for me; I wanted them to really put some thought and effort into it. At some point I will have to photograph what he came up with because it was really great, and I'm really lucky to have such a wonderful husband. The kids attitudes got much better and so Christmas morning was really enjoyable. As we were going to bed the night before, I told the younger kids that I didn't want to be woken up until 7 am at the earliest. Well, my alarm went off at 7 and right behind it I could hear my door banging open and Lindsay telling me it was time to get up. Jason and I got up a few minutes later but Bailey was a little harder to persuade. The kids had a really tough time entertaining themselves while waiting for their pre-teen sister to rouse herself out of bed.

 
 
In our family, the kids aren't even allowed to go downstairs to see what Santa left them until they're all together and mom and dad are ready so they're always pretty anxious before then. Finally they got to come down and open their stocking gifts and I popped our traditional Christmas breakfast into the oven--cinnamon rolls. After we ate, we had to hurry up and get ready for church were I really enjoyed the program that morning. I've always been inspired by music so hearing our wonderful choir sing Christmas morning was a great treat. After sacrament meeting, we were heading out the door when the relief society president pulled me aside to inquire about my mother, and poor Lindsay had just about had it. She was just beside herself in her desire to get home and open her gifts she was literally pulling me away from the conversation.


I think when it came down to opening gifts, she was not disappointed as our kids each received some pretty cool gifts.

 
 
Jason had also received his Christmas gift before Christmas, but I had a few little things for him to open and then had each child make something for him that I framed so that he could have things from the kids on his desk at work. Lindsay illustrated a picture of our dog, Charlie, begging for food. Cole made Jason a Star Wars comic that was short but funny. And Bailey took a photo of her dad and put a troll over his face which had him almost in tears he was laughing so hard.

 I think my favorite part of Christmas is getting to spend the time with my family goofing around with each other. Another of our traditions is that we put silly names on the gift tags, so before someone opens a gift, they have to read the names on the tag out loud. This is the first year that I had the kids come up with the names on their own and it was pretty entertaining. One year I really should write down the silly names we've come up with because it is pretty hilarious sometimes. We also try to be funny with our gifts. For instance, the last few months, Bailey and her friends have begun watching a "My Little Pony" cartoon on television, so of course we've been teasing her mercilessly about it. As I began wrapping gifts, I found some old "My Little Pony" Christmas wrapping paper that I had bought years ago for Lindsay and wrapped all of Bailey's presents in it. And of course I gave her Pinkie Pie, her favorite pony from the show. I know that all too soon my kids are going to be grown and won't be with us each year on Christmas, which makes me enjoy these days so much more to just laugh and be goofy with my little family.