A Different Kinda Christmas

Christmas was different this year. For the first time in the 6 years that Mike and I have been married, the kids had Christmas morning with their mom and Nana.

They spent almost a week with her just after school was released for the holidays then we got them back for our day in Port Arthur with Mike’s family. Then they were off again on Christmas Eve and wouldn’t return until the following evening. That gave us a good excuse to celebrate early… and we did just that! We had Christmas that Thursday morning and played with our new toys all day.

Here's Zack with a happy smile on his face. Like father, like son... he got another electronic gadget. They can't get enough!

Here's Maddie reaction to a Taylor Swift CD... squeal!!
And a couple of pictures of Graham's delight...

Even Mike got a fun new toy for his boat.

One of the things I so love about Mike is his humor. Every Christmas he tries to get creative with the gift wrapping. It was hilarious to watch him tease the kids telling them to be ever so careful not to damage the antennas (that didn't exist) on this gift. The kids were being so gentle and unwrapping so carefully, finally to discover that it was just a regular sized box. Funny stuff!

Christmas morning Mike and I slept in and had a leisure breakfast with each other and even got to facetime the kiddos. We spend the rest of the day with my family in Lake Jackson. The kids met up with us later in the evening. What a wonderful day it was!

With the kids receiving gifts right and left from parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, we are learning that it’s too much. It’s ridiculous, really. Next year I think we will do it all different, maybe go on a trip and/or participate in a really big service project. This year I did initiate a fun tradition of giving them tree ornaments that reminded me of their year. I found a yummy looking donut for Graham to represent his first job at Donut Heaven. Zack got a man running to remind us of his first year in cross country. Maddie received one with a volleyball and tennis shoes. Mike got a sailboat of course and Mike and I shared one reminding us of the wonderful cruise we took this year. I hope I can keep up the tradition and I hope that the kids get as much out of it as I do!