Christmas Morning

Christmas morning started early in our house as usual. 6:00am is our hard line for when the kids can get up and apparently Nathan had been awake in his bed since 5:20 waiting for the clock to strike 6:00, ha! He woke up every other person in our family right at 6:00. Elisabeth was so tired she came down crying that he had woken her up. She recovered pretty quickly.

These girls got some wake up snuggles from Daddy. Katherine was pretty out of it. She still doesn't have a full grasp on what Christmas morning means. 

The first things the kids opened were their stockings. I try to keep their stockings pretty inexpensive and practical- socks, underwear, bandaids, toothbrush, art supplies, favorite candy, and one or two other surprises. The girls got some lip gloss and chapstick, Samuel got a joke book, and Nathan got a card game. 

After stockings, the kids took turns opening their presents. 

They each had three presents from me and Matt, a gift from Momoo and a gift from their cousins. Then Matt and I had an extra surprise for them. 

Amelia and Emmeline always gift the kids books for Christmas, and they always pick awesome ones. Samuel devoured this series including additional ones from the library. 

Nathan got a couple of new Harry Potter Lego Sets.

I got Matt a new game, and some tools/equipment for an upcoming home project. He got me the pots and pans I asked for and surprised me with an Apple watch. 

There were also two extra presents for each kid under the tree. One was a piece of paper with a clue on it, and the other was a puzzle the kids had to solve to find a location for another present with a clue. 

Katherine did a puzzle that showed her where to find her other present. 

Samuel decoded a puzzle to find his present in the secret fort. 

Elisabeth solved her puzzle and found her present under the upstairs Christmas tree. 

And Nathan had to break out his math book on Christmas morning to solve some long division math problems to find his gift in the garage next to the bikes. 

Finally, when they had all eight clues, they solved the puzzle and found out what their big family gift was. 

I think they were pretty happy with their surprise :)

We are certainly looking forward to a fun Spring/Summer adventuring as a family. 

The aftermath of Christmas morning. It's a sure sign of a successful morning. 

Samuel told everyone that he got five gifts on Christmas morning and aside from books, all his gifts were building toys. 

Momoo got Elisabeth some dangly earrings for Christmas. She couldn't wait to wear them. 

After all the gifts were open, the kids got to playing while I cooked breakfast. 

We had our traditional breakfast of waffles with ALL the toppings and bacon. Samuel got me the tablecloth from Dollar Tree during our Christmas Eve gift exchange. 

I sure love these people. There's no one else I'd rather spend Christmas morning with than these five. 

After breakfast, Matt cleaned up the kitchen, and I took my turn playing with the kids. Katherine and I played castle and had a wedding at the castle. 

Elisabeth and Nathan ran upstairs to start on their Lego sets. They both had a walkie talkie and could call each other to check in or if they needed help. It was adorable and one of my favorite moments of Christmas morning!

We played until around 11:00 and then got ready to head over to my parents' house for more Christmas fun!