Christmas Day

After our Christmas morning at home and then going to mass, we hit the road for my parent's house. The kids caught a quick nap on the way.

When we arrived it was nonstop high energy and fun. After hugs and shouts of joy to their cousins,the kids immediately went to see what was in their stockings. Gram and Papaw love stuffing the stockings and they filled them up with lots of goodies this year!

After checking out the stockings, we sat down to our Christmas feast. There was so much deliciousness. I was excited that we had leftovers for a couple of days after too!

Gram and Papaw with the grandkids...how did that happen!!

After stuffing our faces, the kids could not wait any longer to open gifts!! We were very organized this year and although it took a few hours it wasn't too chaotic! With 9 kids...organization is key! We opened gifts by family and everyone was pretty patient waiting their turn. It was so much fun to watch the excitement on the kid's faces. I really wish I would have video taped my nephew Joshua...he had the best screeches and expressions!

Even Lola, my parent's dog, liked her new Gator jersey! The kids received so many wonderful, thoughtful gifts. I'm still trying to find places for all of them. I think we might be making a trip to Ikea for some new shelves tonight!

The kids finished the day by singing and dancing to songs from their Christmas programs.

It was definitely a fun-filled family day full of happy memories!

Christmas Eve

On Christmas Eve we headed to Damian's parents house. The kids had a blast playing with their cousins and celebrating Christmas. We missed Damian's brother and his family and his sister and her family but the rest of us had a great time eating, laughing, and doing our annual Kris Kringle gift exchange. It was about 80 degrees outside...so the kids had fun playing and running around outside. They also sang some Christmas carols! It was a wonderful day!

Christmas Morning

We have had one of our best Christmas' yet! It's hard to believe the weekend is over. It's a good thing I am off all week...it's going to take me that long to organize all the toys and get my house back in order. I tried to tackle a little today and I was overwhelmed. It was so nice to have Damian off work today to continue our weekend of fun. We did a little shopping,(and got the BEST deal on shoes for the kids at Stride Rite!!) played with new toys ALL DAY (I put together Polly Pocket and Legos for hours), and relaxed a lot. I almost forgot it was Monday! I just hope this week goes by very slowly and I can get everything done. We have a playdate at the park, ice skating, a bonfire/cookout with friends, and a trip to Kissimmee to see my family all planned for this week. Let the holiday fun continue!!

Here are just a few of the almost 300 pics from Christmas morning. There are more to come from our evening with the Hillens and afternoon with the Robbins.

Since Max and Emma have been so good this year, Santa was extra generous.

Emma received a guitar, a telescope and microscope, Razor scooter, and some fun stocking stuffers(DS games, Taylor Swift cd, Justice scarf, earrings, chocolate, new toothbrush, notebook, Wii game). Max loved his blast crashers race track, legos, scooter, and fun stocking stuffers too(lego hero factory, Wii game, battleship game, toothbrush, angry birds gummies,cars notebook, power ranger samurai). (the stocking stuffers are my favorite part--I definitely get that from my parents!!)

After they played with their new toys from Santa, they opened their gifts from us. There was a lot of smiling, screeching, and laughing all at 6 a.m.!!

Here are a few things that I better write down so I don't forget:

Emma kept explaining everything to Max and they were just so excited. It was so sweet. I loved hearing their conversation all morning. Every time they would open a gift they would hug us and say thank you so much! So sweet!

I ended up waking the kids up at 5:45am. I wanted them to be able to enjoy Christmas and not be rushed before church at 9 am and then leaving for my parents. I have never seen them hop out of bed so fast. Max was practically walking in circles upstairs! I remember the excitement I always felt as a kid when I would wake up and see all that Santa left for us...it is the best feeling to witness all of that again through my children.

The absolute best thing that happened on Christmas morning was when Max, during gift opening, knelt down, lifted his head high and shouted "Happy Birthday, Jesus". He did this out of nowhere and my heart melted. He remembered what this day was all about!! Damian and I couldn't help but smile and know that we must be doing something right. I have had some very serious discussions with Emma lately about Jesus and what we believe as Catholics. She has asked some tough questions and it makes me so proud to be her mom and teach her about our faith. Also, to hear them sing with all their hearts at church and ask to sit in the front pew...again makes me so proud! Not only do they sit quietly they participate in mass.

Christmas morning with my family of four was so very special to me. I am so blessed to have such an amazing hubby and absolutely amazing kids too! There is more fun to come with grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins...oh my!!