A Blessed Christmas Morning

On Christmas morning we woke up (once again) to the realization that we are incredibly blessed.  Not only were there presents filling the void beneath our tree and goodies sticking out of the tops of our stockings, but our home was warm, our family was healthy and safe and most importantly Jesus Christ has paved the way for our salvation and eternity with him.  We truly are Blessed Beyond Measure.

I woke up early that morning, unable to fall back asleep after I had heard Asher getting up, use the bathroom and go back to bed without making a peep (we were both shocked and figured he must have not remembered it was Christmas morning).  I silently laid in bed for over an hour trying to get whatever rest I could and then headed down stairs as I heard Asher stirring in his room to turn on the tree lights, light the "fire" and wait for him to come out of his room.

Video: Asher's 1st Glimpse of the Tree

I watched our boy quite amused as he soaked in the excitement of Christmas and surveyed the gifts beneath the tree.  I smiled when he saw one of the sleds that Santa brought and excitedly told me that he "found something Momma!"  He continued to scope out everything and again I chucked when he found his stocking and the "tooth pickers" (aka flossing sticks) that Santa brought that he'd been wanting for a while.  Not long after, we heard Eric and Avery stirring upstairs and Asher enthusiastically ran upstairs with the Minion bubble bath from Avery's stocking to show him.  A few minutes later, all three of them came down the stairs together so that the Christmas morning activities could officially begin.

Video: Avery's 1st Glimpse of the Tree

Once Avery had had his chance to check everything out, Asher was eager to open up the presents so I had to remind him what we do before opening presents on Christmas: Pray.  We pray to thank God for sending Jesus to earth, and we pray to thank Him for all of the wonderful provisions and blessings He has given us.

Before we prayed, the boys checked to see if Santa had consumed his cookies and milk and shared the carrots with his reindeer.  The boys were thrilled to see that there was nothing but an empty glass of milk and a crumb covered plate.  Outside, the reindeer food was gone and once again there was a mess in the yard from the impatient reindeer waiting for Santa to do his work.

Video: The Evidence of Santa's Visit

Once we'd checked out the evidence of Santa and read the letter he left behind for the boys, we all headed back to the living room were we prayed as a family.  Then, once we'd forced the boys to take a few pre-present opening pictures, we began to tear the paper off the packages under the tree and shared a wonderful gift-giving time together.

The first thing the boys received was their new sleds that Santa had brought for them.  As they checked them out, we quickly realized that Asher was going to have an emotional morning.  He began to cry and for the life of me I cannot remember the reason (I'm guessing that Avery touched his sled or something).  Nevertheless we pressed on and opened all the gifts from each other and Santa beneath the tree, with only a few other episodes from Asher.

Asher opening his first gift.  He received a new winter hat and real big boy ski gloves, but was disappointed that the gloves were too big.

The boys gave me a gift.  They had each decorated an ornament for me with Daddy...complete with glitter paint!

Avery finding a place for my new ornament on the tree.

<3

For at least 6 months now, Asher has been telling me that he wants me to put a new bathrobe on his Christmas list.  I wear one almost all the time when I'm home as a traveling blanket and Asher wanted one too.  He had gotten one a few years ago but it no longer fits, so when I had some Kohl's Cash and coupons to spend, I headed there to get him a new robe...

...he was very excited!  :)

Asher showing off his new superhero robe.

Many of the gifts I'd wrapped for the boys I put in boxes due to their odd shapes or squishiness.  Avery was quite confused by this and every time he would open a present that was in a box he would exclaim, "More Box!," like that was the gift itself.  :)

Avery was also very careful to make sure that he got Every.Last.Piece of wrapping paper off his gifts.

The boys each got their traditional new ornament for the year.  Asher got an elf with tape and scissors, while Avery got a Tonka truck.

Avery really wanted to play with his new ornament.

Eric thoughtfully (or sassily) purchased me a very practical gift including 6 new pairs of gloves and 3 new chapsticks, because I loose mine All.The.Time.

Most of the presents under the tree were from Eric and I, but they boys did each get a few presents from Santa along with their stockings.  His elves wrapped them beautifully with shiny paper, ribbon and a special tag to let us know who it was from!

Avery is pretty excited about his "tooth pickers" in his stocking too!

Asher checking out the contents of his stocking.

Avery found the fruit snacks Santa put in the stockings.

Eric and his mini-me.

This Christmas was an Usborne Christmas for us.  The boys got several books due to the Usborne book party I had had at the beginning of November.  I've never thrown a party like that before and had no idea what to expect, but my friends and family ended up purchasing so many books that I received about 15 books for free (just paying for shipping) in addition to the ones I had already purchased!  It was pretty awesome.  I didn't want to just spoil the boys randomly with all the new books though, so I saved several of them for their Valentines books and Easter baskets, along with a few for when they are older and wrapped the rest of them for Christmas.

Asher's letter to Santa included three items that he said he wanted: A Hot Wheels Track, a Paw Patrol Truck and a Fishing Game.  He was very excited when he found the fishing game under the tree.

Avery found a fire truck from Santa under the tree.

As we were opening our presents, Eric spotted our adorable neighbor Marge walking to church, so we all made sure to stop and say Hi to our favorite neighbor.

Marge walking to church.

The boys saying Hi.

Shortly after we said Hi to Marge, Eric looked out the window and said, "A fox is running by."  I must have given him a look to tell him he was crazy, so he said, "No really, look."  We all looked out the window again and sure enough, a red fox was running down the sidewalk across the street from us.

Our little dinosaur lover got some roaring "Dino"s for Christmas.

Emma opening her gift.  The boys were amazed that she could open it on her own and desperately wanted to help her.

Begging for her new treats.

I got a new (very soft) blanket towel.  (If you've never heard of a blanket towel, look them up, they are A-Mazing!).

My new owl mug that I wanted! <3 ...now I just need to find a closet to hide in and drink my hot cocoa so I don't have to share!

Christmas hugs and kisses from my little loves.

A big T-Rex!!  Roarrrrr!!

Avery loves his "Dino"s, but he is also a little afraid of them.  His new word lately is "pooky", and he frequently tells us "dino pooky".  All week between Christmas and New Years he couldn't decide if he wanted the dinosaurs to roar and light their eyes or not.  They would roar and scare him and then he'd ask Daddy to talk the "bawry" out to keep them from scaring.  Then he would get frustrated that they were not working and want the batteries back in.  The toys said they were for ages 3 and up so maybe he just has to grow into them a bit. :)

Video: Avery Opens His T-Rex

Besides the Fishing Game and the Bathrobe the one other thing that Asher REALLY wanted for Christmas was tools.  His favorite thing to do is to build and create things with his tools, legos or craft stuff.  Avery had already received several tools for his birthday, so we really didn't need any more, but Asher wanted his own new ones because the ones he'd previously had broke.  About a week before Christmas I went to Toys R Us to see if they had anything interesting and found some awesome toy power tools and knew that he would love them.  I put them in my cart along with the dinosaurs for Avery and some foam wood-looking pieces that you can build with for Asher, but when I got to the checkout they rang up higher than I thought.  Sad, I purchased the other things and left the tools at the store.  The next day I was home with the boys and Asher looked at me and said, "Mommy, please make sure that tools are on my list for Christmas."  At that moment I lost all control.  That evening, after the kids were in bed I went online to purchase the tools and realized I could purchase them with the foam wood building kit and save 40%.  So, I decided to do that and planned to just return the extra toy.  As Christmas approached, the foam kit came, but the tools did not.  On the Thursday before Christmas I received an email that the toy would not be arriving until after Christmas.  So, that evening, I headed to Toys R Us once more to purchase the tools, so that I could no return the TWO extra toys after Christmas!  It was a big hassle, but our boy was SUPER excited about his new power tools and if you ask him what his favorite Christmas present was I guarantee he will say, "My Zawzall" (sawzall) :p  So, long story short I can't say I exactly stayed on budget for the boys, but I don't regret it either!

Video: Asher Opens His Tools

Avery got some Big Boy things: A pillow for his bed...

...and his very own stool, so he doesn't have to share with Asher.

As our Christmas morning wound down and the wrapped presents beneath the tree were mostly gone, Asher suddenly began to cry.  We asked him what was wrong and he responded, "I'm sad because the presents are almost gone."  We reminded him of all the great new things he had to play with, read and wear but at the same time I understood his disappointment and recognized that he was getting older and understanding more of life...including the disappointment that comes with Christmas.  Don't get me wrong, I love Christmas but every year there is disappointment that comes with.  There are things that I want to do that I don't get around to, moments I want to share with my family that never happen and even my own disappointment that the tree is empty of presents; not because I want more, but rather because I don't want to the moment to end.  It is a fun time for everyone, but cannot last forever.  I can recall feeling as he did as a child and a specific Christmas crying at bedtime because the day I'd looked forward to for months was now over.  It is tough, and Asher coming of age to this realization of disappointment was disappointing in and of itself.  My little boy is growing up!

Video: Asher, Why Are You Crying?

My favorite Hot Cocoa to put in my new mug...too good to share!

Shortly after Asher's moment of sadness, we each opened one last present and then a present to the Family from Santa to finish off our Christmas morning present opening.

Video: Avery's Last Present

(He got a light-up dragon to sleep with, because he now things the dark/bedtime is "pooky").

Video: Asher's Last Present

(He got an Art Box.  This was my favorite present of the season and I Could.Not.Wait to give it to him.  Since Asher loves to create things so much and is constantly coloring, creating, cutting and taping I wanted to give him an art kit for Christmas.  At first I'd looked at the Crayola kits that you can buy but then realized that they are mostly full of crayons which we have plenty of.  Instead, Eric and I decided to make him our own kit.  Eric found the perfect box at Menards with plenty of storage and a handle for carrying and then we went to the Dollar Store and Meijer to find supplies to fill it up: A full ream of plain printer paper (maybe now our printer will actually have paper when we want to use it), several rolls of tape, a new pair of kid-friendly scissors, tons of stickers, a new set of washable markers, construction paper and more!  It was the perfect gift for our little boy and he was thrilled.  I have never seen anyone so excited about new scissors and tape and knew that the ornament we picked for him this year was absolutely perfect!)

Tape!

Eric finally got the Wall-E Lego he's wanted for years.

"Boo-Boo eight Mommy" (what he calls any robot looking character).

New fuzzy warm jammies to get me through the cold Wisconsin winter!  ..always a favorite of mine!

Asher with the present To: Family From: Santa.

Asher insisted we all open it together, since it to all of us.

A new family movie!  :)

When the presents were all unwrapped, the fun did not stop.  The boys happily played with their new toys, Eric and I enjoyed a few minutes to relax and then we called Eric's family to wish them a Merry Christmas.  Then I headed off to the kitchen to prepare a special Christmas breakfast.

(2) Videos: Facetiming with Eric's Parents and Uncle Rob

For breakfast, we enjoyed donut snowmen, snowman pancakes complete with bacon scarves, fruit and hot chocolate with whipped cream...not exactly the healthiest of breakfasts, but hey, it's Christmas! :)

Avery with his donut glasses.

The aftermath of donut glasses.

Finally, we finished up our Christmas morning by reading "Nibbles" (one of the boys' new books), getting ready for the day, and then heading off to Crystal Lake to enjoy the rest of the day with the rest of my family!  It was pretty much a perfect Christmas morning.