Merry Christmas!

We had fully intended on going to church on Christmas morning before spending time with my in-laws, but with Sapphira still dealing with a croupy cough and having to go to the doctor for a breathing treatment on Christmas Eve, we decided to play it by ear and see how long she slept in.  Well, since church started at 10 am and she slept until 10:45, we stayed home! :)  Although I was a bit bummed to not go, it actually made for a much better day since both kids slept in and were able to get some good playing time in with their new toys before their cousins came over and they opened new presents.  My in-laws got to our house right at lunch time so we baked some pizzas and ate quick before the kids exploded from anticipation. :)

 Cousins

 ♥♥♥

 Malachi loves watching us play Angry Birds on our phones.  He was so excited to get a "red bomb" bird :)

 One of her cousins gave her this Strawberry Shortcake coloring book.  She colors everyday in it.

 Malachi had also asked for a real soccer ball.  Grandma and Papa got him his very own!

 Her other cousin gave her a soft little puppy dog.  It got lots of kisses.

 Sapphira gave Malachi two transformer books.  Yippee!

 Sapphira loves toys where you fit shapes into holes.  My mom found this one at a second hand store and gave it to us to give to Sapphira.

 I made Sapphira this faux chenille blanket using this tutorial.  She immediately pulled it out of the packaging and wrappedherself in it.  ♥♥♥  I hope to get better pictures of this later.

 Miss E, a dear friend I used to work with, gave Malachi this Transformer toy.  He was so excited!!

I know this picture is soooo blurry, but it makes me laugh because the reason it is so blurry is because he just opened another Transformer toy from Samuel and I and was so incredibly excited about it.  Two Transformers in one afternoon makes for one excited little boy!

 Miss E also gave Sapphira a new tea set.  I couldn't get it out of the box fast enough for her!

 "Bumblebee to the rescue!"

 Organizing her new tea set.

 Happy to being playing with new toys with her cousins.

The Transformer we gave Malachi "transformed".  Here Samuel is reading the instructions and trying to figure out how it works.  A couple minutes later, Samuel gave up and let Malachi have it back.  Two seconds later, Malachi has it "transformed".  I guess you know you are getting older when you can't figure something out and you give it to your kid to do.  Also, notice Samuel's red Angry Birds shirt?  Malachi and Sapphira picked that out for him.

Sapphira begged her cousins until they played tea party with her.  That room was clean when she woke up that morning! oy

This year, we decided to give Malachi and Sapphira three presents each since Jesus got three presents from the wise men.  Malachi got a red Angry Bird and some Angry Bird band aids, a Super Why board game and a Transformer.  Sapphira got the faux chenille blanket, the tupperware shape toy, and a Timmy Time doll (don't worry...I didn't pay that much!!!  I got it on massive clearance over the summer).  It was so nice to have a specific limit on how much to give each child, especially since money is so short this year.  I have to say that they were probably happier with a few things they love instead of a bunch of stuff they think are ok.  I think this will be a tradition we continue.

We usually make a big ham dinner with all the trimmings, but since Christmas was on a Sunday this year we knew making the whole dinner would add too much stress to the day, so we picked up take and bake pizzas the day before.  I really enjoyed the no-planning aspect of the meal and something out of the ordinary.  After we opened presents and the kids had some time to play, we sliced up some apples and opened up some caramel that I made using this recipe from a friend's blog.  So stinkin' yummy!  Maybe another tradition... 

It was such a good day.  The kids stayed in their comfy jammies all day, got lots of playing time in with Grandma, Papa and their cousins, and we had a nice quiet afternoon.  Christmas always feels stressful while I'm getting things ready for it, but once it's here and happening, I'm able to relax and enjoy the day.  Another wonderful Christmas to remember.