Christmas '08

We had a good Christmas day. It was hard, because the kids were wired and crazy and we were out of our routine. But it was wonderful too, because we were with family and because our kids were experiencing the magic of Christmas in our very own home. And we got some really great gifts too.
We all live on the ranch and so Christmas this year was really fun as we moved from one house to another all within walking distance of each other.
We had our Christmas Eve party at my mom's house with tamales and carols and old home videos from Christmas' past. We kept the party extra small this year, but it was still really fun. The boys stayed up till eight o'clock and enjoyed being with their family and friends.
After the party we went home and sprinkled reindeer food on the lawn, put out cookies and carrots for Santa and the boys went straight to bed. Marchelle stayed with us this year and it was so fun to sit in front of the fire and anticipate Santa's arrival and open a few gifts together.
On Christmas morning we all woke before the boys and waited for them to come see what Santa had brought. Davis loved his new Lightning McQueen bike and Sam adored his new kitchen. They also enjoyed new trains with controllers.
I hosted Christmas breakfast for 16 people and had southwestern egg casseroles, little smokies, biscuits, cheese grits, scones, and fruit salad with mimosas and bloody mary's as well.
After breakfast we went over to my parents house and looked at my nephews gifts and then we all stuffed each other's stockings and then opened them. It was really fun.
Then it was present time. This was a wee bit difficult because my boys could not be restrained any longer and they quickly began opening any present they could lay their hands on. My six year old nephew was not pleased. ;)
We gave up on opening our own presents for a while and just let the kids go at it. They had a great time and really loved their presents.
Mom and Dad handed out identical boxes to my sister, brother-in-law, Michael and myself and had them open them all at once. In each box was a clue for what our present would be. I had a picture of my boys and my nephew and a little note that said "BYE!". Tiffany had a picture of my parent's condo in New Orleans. Michael had the Marti Gras parade schedule and Keith had a marti gras necklace and little toy airplane. We're all going to marti gras without our kids!!!!! So. Excited.
Then we opened all the rest of our presents- which were all amazing!- and then headed back to our house so the boys could have nap and I could make my dishes for Christmas Dinner.
After nap we went to Grandma and Gramp's house to have traditional Christmas dinner.
The food was plentiful and delicious. Turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes with homemade gravy, sweet potatoes, peas, onions, roasted broccoli, rolls, ham, three kinds of cranberry sauce, fruit salad and five pies, banana pudding, and rice crispy treats. Of course we also had several kinds of wine as well.
After lunch we headed outside to teach Davis how to ride his bike. My cousin Marcie, her partner Ann and their two boys were here for Christmas and my children ADORE their cousins. They have bikes too and two new wiggle cars so everyone was outside on various forms of transportation. Davis really learned quickly on his bike with no training wheels and is already going some distance without the trainer.
Around five, Davis just melted down with excitement. We took a pretty funny video of him refusing to open presents. We took the boys home and put them to bed as soon as we could. Then I hiked over to the hippy house and had wine with my cousins Marcie, Ann and Manie. It was really nice to spend time with them event though I was exhausted.
It was a really wonderful Chrismtas Day. I hope yours was good too. XXOO, Amber