Christmas!

Jacob was thrilled to have the biggest present, so of course he had to open his first!

Give this boy some Despicable Me 2 band aids and he is a happy camper.

 Callie got him his own set of racquetballs so he is ready for the ball wall at school now!  As soon as he opened them up he said "Ha Ha - Jacob.  Mine are hot pink!"  Red, anyway.

 Callie just found the surprise down in her bedroom:  a queen-sized bed.  Now she can use the cute bedding she bought!

 Drew got Callie fabric to recover her chairs - stay tuned for the makeover.

 Camden with his new Playmobil set "my very own big legos!"  When he first opened it up Drew announced, "He got a tutu!"  No, it's a tepee.  Another fun moment was when Camden was unwrapping a spherical present.  Daddy asked him what it could be and Camden said, "a fire truck" -  close, it was a ball with no packaging.

 This gift was intended to be a bit of a joke, but I thought the silhouettes of the capybara and unicorn turned out cute.  Thanks for the idea, PB!

 I love to see the kids playing with each others' new things.

 Callie got some FOXY new socks

 The middle of the blissful mess after everything has been opened.  Hannah is in her typical position:  reading one (or more) of her new books.  Dad is sporting his BSI pajamas.

 This guy wanted a bow and arrow SO BADLY.  Santa delivered!

The girls and I went downstairs and jammed to our cassette tape of  Hansen that came in our package from Uncle Aaron R. while recovering Callie's chairs.  I think we are the first grateful recipient of that gag gift.  We may never pass it on!  (Actually, we can now that Callie bought the Mm-Bop mp3).  

This is how the chair looked when my mom recovered it for me around 1990 - Williamsburg blue, baby

It was cute and purple when we did a mini-redo for the girls when they shared a room

 Here is the new chair:  I think this is the hottest it has ever been!

I got to spend some time outside with this fun boy while he used his new bow and arrow set.  It was sunny and beautiful.

We were so very lucky to have Lisa join us for Christmas again this year!  She is an extra set of helping hands, and a lot of fun.  

Group Shot before heading off to bed after a great Christmas day:

 The Gap Group:  

There were some stellar deals going on in early December and so some of my kids that I thought needed sweatshirts got some.  I got one for me but I thought it would be weird to wear mine for a few weeks and then the kids unwrap theirs, so I wrapped mine up for Christmas, too.  Camden happened to be with me when I made the purchases and he has a good memory.  When I unwrapped mine Camden said, "Mom!!  You got this for yourself!!!"