We started the tradition of Christmas pajamas for the kids a few years ago. I knew of a few families who did it, and I liked the idea of adding a new tradition to our holidays. So, after our guests left Christmas Eve, we broke our the new PJs for Brenna and Andrew.
Then, of course, we had to set out our plate for Santa and the reindeer. As usual, there were cookies, milk, and carrots (for the reindeer), but this year Brenna wanted to make sure to leave a bowl of water for the reindeer too. After all, they must get thirsty flying all over the world in one night.
Brenna was thrilled (can you tell?) to receive her Bella ( Twilight) doll. That was tops on her list, along with Edward of course!
Right before bed, the kids went outside and spread some reindeer food onto the front lawn just in case they needed some extra incentive to visit the house! And then, they were off to bed.
Surprisingly, the kids actually slept in a bit. We had told them that they both had to be up so we could open presents and that they could not wake the other up in the morning. Brenna (who is not a morning person) got up first and came down to our room. Since the tree was outside our bedroom, she could not help but see a few of the unwrapped gifts under the tree. She was forced to wait in our room for Andrew to wake up. Finally, around 7:45, she went up to her room and heard Andrew waking up. (Or at least that is what she says happened!) Shortly thereafter, they were both downstairs, ready to see what Santa had brought.
Andrew was very excited to receive Lego Rock Band and a set of drums to play on the Wii.
The kids were super excited about the gifts that they got each other this year. Andrew actually insisted that Brenna open his gift almost right away. He had picked out a kids sewing machine for her and could not wait for her to open it. Brenna got him a remote control R2D2 which he thought was super cool. I was very impressed by how thoughtful they both were when picking out the other's gifts. It truly was one of those very nice family moments.
This year, we were fortunate to receive many handmade gifts from the kids. In addition to some new adorable ornaments for the tree (which we will treasure forever), Todd received this hat from Andrew. It had hearts on it and says ,"I Love DAD". What could be better?
Brenna wrote me a super sweet note which made me cry (the "good" cry as I often tell the kids), a beautiful card and snowflake. They will be tucked away in a very special place.
One of Brenna's other favorite gifts were her American Girl uniforms. She got one from Sacred Heart, where she goes now, and one from Gerstell, her school back in Maryland. She had wanted the Sacred Heart one for a few years now and was very pleased to finally get it.
After a nice Christmas breakfast we started assembling toys and games. Andrew (seen here in his new Indiana Jones costume) could not wait to try out Lego Rock band. He has enjoyed Guitar Hero for some time now, and was very interested in having a drum set to play too. He dove right in after we set it up and has been learning all sorts of new songs. Even when he is not playing it, I often find him singing some of them. Some of his new favorites include "Ghostbusters", "Let's Dance" and "We Will Rock You". It really is a riot to watch!
We are all truly thankful for the wonderful Christmas that we had. While we missed many of our friends and family, you were all in our thoughts and prayers during this special time!
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