Holly Jolly Christmas

We had a great Christmas!!! It was quite a crazy night. Charles woke up after a bad dream--where were all those sugar plums that should've been dancing in his head?-- and ended up sleeping in my bed, so Louis slept in his bed. Charles could hardly sleep since he knew it was Christmas, and kept asking if he could be done sleeping yet. I finally gave up hope of sleeping around 6am, but Kaylee and Caleb were still snoozing soundly so I played Twenty Questions with Charles to try and hold him off until Caleb woke up. Finally at 7am, I put Caleb in his crib (assuming he'd wake up as soon as I did, and I was right) and then we went to wake up Kaylee and Charles. The best part of the day was how nice Kaylee and Charles were to each other. It lasted until we got to my mom's. Then the fighting resumed, but it was so glorious while the truce lasted. Thanks to everyone who spoiled us this year!



Stocking gifts: Stephens Hot Cocoa, DVD player, TMNT four movied DVD, Scooby-Doo DVD Kaylee: orange, apple, socks, underwear, camis, Reese's trees, "Big Sister" pj's, pillow pet, Barbie as Rapunzel, Charles: orange, apple, socks, underwear, Reese's trees, Super Hero Squad pj's, Firebreathing Toothless, two headed dragon, Caleb: orange, apple, baby juice, teething cookies, finger food puffs, sippy cup, fuzzy pj's
Kaylee and Charles are quite the thoughtful little gift givers! The only sad part is that their generous hearts are too often bigger than my pocketbook. After some talks and tears and disappointment, they were given a dollar limit and found each other the perfect gifts!
Kaylee gave Charles a new General Greivous that he was sure he couldn't live without. The picture of him makes it looks like he's disappointed, but he was actually saying, "She got me just what I wanted!" He was so touched that she got that for him. Louis and I were not as fortunate, and sadly, I don't have a picture of him opening our gift and then crying! Seriously. What on Earth was it you ask? Church clothes. Yep. Next year, Santa is giving clothes and we're giving cool stuff! Charles got Kaylee a Tangled set... complete with brush, bed and several other pieces that are way too small! She was in heaven!

Family gifts: Kaylee: Tangled doll set (from Charles), casual boots (mom and dad) Charles: General Grievous (Kaylee), Sunday clothes (mom and dad) Caleb: fuzzy pj's and outfit (mom and dad) I was a Scrooge and didn't let the kids get stuff for Caleb, he's just too young to care. They did help me decide to give him the sippy cup in his stocking, though.
From the kids: Louis: Queen the Greatest Hits (from Charles), iTunes gift card and a gift certificate to clean the whole house!(from Kaylee), Camille: Speak Now Taylor Swift CD (from Charles), gift certificate to do homework without complaint (from Kaylee)
Caleb actually opened his gifts! He got a huge headstart on the one from Aunt Gwen shortly after Uncle Lynn delivered them. I figured he was entertained banging on the boxes and would let him play with the presents. One night I heard a big rip and he had started tearing the paper! Thank goodness it was his own present! A few days later, he found the same box and ripped over half the paper off! Silly kid!


From Black Family: Louis & Camille: vinyl tile, super adorable menu wall hanging, Kaylee & Charles: Dr. Seuss books and stuffed animals, Wocket in My Pocket and Oh Say! Can You Say? Caleb: Stacking rings and jingle ball
Science Gifts from G&G Koberstein: Kaylee: Rocket ship alarm clock projector--the kids love this, it's pretty darn cool! Charles: Fossil book with magnifying glass. He was quite enthralled with this. Both kids have been very interested in non-fiction books from the library and we had just read about fossils and how they are made a few days ago. Caleb: Five Little Ladybugs board book and matching hand puppet.
From Josh & Heather & Lily: Bed Bugs and Yahtzee! We have had so much fun playing both games. The kids LOVE them! Bed Bugs was a favorite game I got for Christmas as a kid, I think possibly from Josh. :)
After opening gifts at our house, we went to see Donna and Steve where all three children were spoiled beyond belief! And we were treated to some raspberry jalapeno jelly over cream cheese on crackers. So yummy! Who'da thunk?

From Donna and Steve: Kaylee: Tinkerbell and the Great Fairy Rescue, gold locket--which we call the special occasion only locket, two new cute pairs of jeans Charles: Super Hero Squad DVDs, Hot Wheels set, How To Train Your Dragon action toys- Zippleback and Monstrous Nightmare Caleb: super cute busy butterfly, crawl ball... and early present of Christmas jammies

We had Tress and Jake for Christmas, and I couldn't resist giving Squirm a box of cereal. It's one of the first things he does when he gets to my house. Picks a cereal box and asks me to pour some in a cup for him. So cute! :) Tressa said after he opened it he said, "Have some! Have some!"

As is custom, we went down to my parent's house to spend some time and let the kids open gifts from Grandpa and Grandma. We also got to talk to Elder Zach. Charles and Kaylee were extra chatty this time. It was pretty cute. Favorite line from Charles this year: "Are you having a Holly Jolly Christmas?"

So, along with trains, Squirm loves puzzles, and is very good at them. He found a puzzle for Grandma Sandy to give her for Christmas, she also loves puzzles. As soon as she opened it, he says, "Make it! Make it! With me!" This was requested several times during the day! ;)

This picture cracks me up. Ben is the best little baby and hardly ever cries (at least around me). So in this picture, he is NOT crying. He just happened to start stretching right as I attempted to get a picture of him with his eyes open, which I still have not accomplished! (But Tressa has, luckily... see above)

From G&G Manwaring: popcorn tin--which the kids devoured that very day!, Toy Story 3, How To Train Your Dragon, Kaylee: locket, Fancy Nancy puzzle, fancy notebook Charles: Cars puzzle, Toy Story cards, Book of Mormon Who game Caleb: pj's, personalized piggy bank