Christmas

Warning!  Mommy guilt ahead!  

For the past few years, I have tried to plan a Christmas-based activity for every day in December.  Sometimes it would be centered on Santa, sometimes on Christ, and sometimes a weird hybrid like the year when the boys made Venom attack the characters in the nativity set (not part of the plan).  But this year, I just didn't have the energy.  I made a list and even bought supplies, but most days ended on the couch with various joints supported by pillows and me cursing the fact that ibuprofen is on the pregnancy no-no list.  Luckily, the boys are now all old enough to remember the year Isaac was born as the lamest Christmas season ever.  For. the. win.

Lucky for me, Ben keeps calling Isaac "the best Christmas present ever" so hopefully he isn't completely resentful.

We did, however, manage to squeeze in a few of the basics, even if I wasn't the one actually participating in them.  First up:  Christmas decorations!  

When Aunt Rachel got here, she took one for the team and headed up Project Gingerbread House.  This is the pre-sugar crazy.

The traditional opening of one gift on Christmas Eve.  After 5 years or so of getting matching pajamas on Christmas Eve, the boys have caught on.  They don't get nearly as excited at the prospect of opening a gift on Christmas Eve anymore.

Behold the loot.

Christmas morning!  Hooray!  Camo pajamas all around (except for Isaac who wasn't supposed to have made his grand entrance yet).

The boys had a great time opening up all their gifts.  Of course, we armed them heavily with Nerf gear this year, so what was not to enjoy?

The agenda for Christmas day included Jason and the boys heading over to Oma and Opa's for Christmas linner/dunch and fun with cousins.  Ben, however, caught a stomach bug and earned himself a day on a chair with a bowl.  At which point the "best day ever" very quickly was downgraded to "the worst Christmas ever."  Hopefully that means that the standard is set pretty low for next year.

And then the best day of the year:  the day after Christmas.  Christmas and Christmas Eve are fun, but usually a bit hectic.  But the after is when we benefit from all preparation and work because the boys spend almost the entire day playing peaceably with all their new stuff.  The star of the show this year was Star Wars Clone Wars Monopoly which the boys played for 4 hours Friday morning.  Hooray!

Merry Christmas!