Christmas

This year we celebrated Christmas with Jason's side of the family on the 23rd.  Things are always a little crazy over there with 6 kids under the age of 6.  There is paper flying, kids squealing (and sometimes screaming), toys piling up all over the room, and lots of excitement!  It is hard to tell what is going on and who is getting what amidst all the chaos, lol.  The kids had a blast though, and we all got a lot of nice things.

On Christmas day, we spent the morning and afternoon just as a little family opening and enjoying gifts.  It was really simple, and we just kind of relaxed most of the day.  Jason and I try to only get our kids a few things each Christmas because we know they will be blessed with many other things from family, and we don't want to true meaning of Christmas getting lost in all the presents. One nice gift from Santa (plus little stocking gifts), one or two nice gifts from Mommy and Daddy, and a gift from each other.  We might modify this tactic down the road, but for right now it seems to work pretty well.  Later that day, my side of the family came over for dinner and gifts.  They brought Panda Express for dinner, Jason got some Pho for himself and a boba smoothie for me.  We opened gifts, and after dinner we decorated sugar cookies. Simple, easy, and fun.  Every year Wesley normally is happy with one gift, and only wants to play with that one.  This year, he was in the "More more more!!!" phase.  He would open one, put it down and ask for another gift.  He didn't understand that we all wanted to take it nice and slow and open one gift at a time.  It was a good time to teach about gratitude and appreciating each gift we receive.  Chase was just happy to be there and have gifts, and is still in the phase where he is happy with each one.  His eyes would get all big each time we would hand him a new gift and he would say all cute and excitedly, "Mine? Open it?"  He was so sweet, and it was fun to watch him enjoy Christmas this year.   Wesley didn't really want a lot of toys, so he was a little harder to shop for.  He wanted a big boy bike from Santa, and Mommy and Daddy got him a box full of treasures from Michaels just like he wanted.  He also got lots of rocks from family, including some kits where you have to "mine" and dig the gems out of plaster, as well as a big collection of geodes from Grandma Burnell.  Daddy has been breaking one open each day for him, and we all have a lot of fun seeing what color the crystals will be.  He is so excited each morning and asks to open one almost immediately after waking up.  He also got some books about rocks and minerals.  Santa had a hard time figuring out what to get for his stocking that wasn't a toy, so he got a cute personalized Jack Skelington t-shirt for him with his name on it.  It was really cute, and Wesley wore it on Christmas. It is funny to think that this four year old really didn't get a lot of toys for Christmas, but a lot of rocks.  It is all he wanted! He also bought a stomp rocket from a gift card given to him from one of Jason's co workers.  Chase really, really wanted "choo choo trains" from Santa.  He LOVES trains, and only had a few little straight pieces of train track that he would roll the trains back and forth and back and forth on.  Santa got him some nice wooden tracks, and Mommy and Daddy got him a nice Thomas the train bag full of new Thomas trains.  There were probably almost 30 in there.  We got the trains off craigs list because just one brand new train is really expensive - like $15, and this way we were able to get him a whole bunch of trains and a nice carrying bag for the same price a handful of trains would have cost.  Chase also got a rocket that uses vinegar and baking soda to launch it in the air, some train books, some new cars, and a hot wheel big rig to put all the smaller hot wheels on.  Chase is pretty easy to shop for - if it has wheels or wings, he will love it.  He also got a remote control fire truck from Great Grandma Pheysey that he has been having fun with, a Dusty the crop hopper plane he bought with a gift card given to him from Jason's co worker, a ferry boat with two cars and an ambulance and books from Grandma, a new big boy bedding set from Grandma Burnell for when he starts to use his big boy bed,  a Thomas the train electronic train that talks and moves on its own from Jennifer, and some other little things.  Jason and I were blessed with some nice gifts as well.  We tend to buy our big gift ourselves, because we know what we want, and don't want the other one spending a lot of money on something we don't want or don't need.  Jason bought himself a driver/drill set and I printed out two years of this blog for our family "yearbooks."  This year I also got sephora gift cards, cricut stuff, smoothie recipe books, burts bees stuff from the boys, marshmallow fluff that Chase picked out for me on his own (so cute), jewelry, Big Bang Theory "soft kitty" t-shirt, and a few other little things.  We had a good Christmas, and I am so grateful no one was sick, and that we were all able to enjoy the special day of not only openeing and enjoying gifts, but remembering the birth of Jesus and the true meaning behind Christmas.

 Now, all the Christmas decorations are put away, the toys are somewhat organized, the wrapping paper is all neatly stored in the closet, and now I can focus on this sweet new spirit that will be joining our family really soon.  :-)  It is one gift I am still waiting to open!  :-)




I didn't take a lot of pictures this year.  I am trying to enjoy events as they are happening instead of always being worried about being behind the camera.  I have so many pictures as it is, and sometimes it is nice to just get a few good ones instead of hundreds of random ones.  I took some pictures that morning, but I didn't take any the rest of the day. 

After Santa came

He hasn't figured out the natural smile just yet, and his huge smile looks a little goofy, but I wanted to post it because I LOVE his excitement! 

Wesley was THRILLED to get this box full of "treasures."  To this day he tells me "Thank you Mommy for my treasures!  They are beautiful and I LOVE them!!" 

At Jason's family party

Christmas Eve night - we even had a cute little stocking for baby :-) We put out some carrots for Santa's reindeer, and Wesley was so excited in the morning to see that they were mostly eaten up!