Christmas 2008

Oh boy we had a great Christmas morning....everything Christmas morning should be:

• getting up at the crack of dawn to the sound of kids DELIGHTED that Santa had in fact come and had even delivered their stockings to their beds! I think he does that at our house so that the kids will be entertained and the poor parents can get some sleep....but who can sleep when your kids are so excited and happy?
  
• stuffing your empty stomach with way too much chocolate and a few slices of the orange left at the bottom of the stocking
• Kids marching one by one into a glowing Christmassy room crying "Santa came! Santa came!" The kids were thrilled with their gifts....here's what santa brought them.
  

  
• Hazel was our little Christmas elf and handed out present after present.....she could even read most of the names on the gift tags.
• Ripping through paper and then tape and then boxes and then those horrid plastic zipties and then more twisty ties to finally play with those glorious presents....oh, and then getting out a screw driver to put in batteries...
• toys and playing and toys and playing and the occasional screech and sequel and fight and hug.I love it that Charlie and Jeff are equally excited about the same toys. Charlie was thrilled with all the remote control and fixer guy things that he got....but also looked on with extreme jealousy at some of the toys Jeff received.

Like this remote control helicopter that John gave to Jeff (and Charlie....but Charlie was told...much to his disappointment that he could only be the Pilot guy who told Jeff when to fly it.)

These pictures say a thousand words....boy was that kid in heaven.....

We had a yummy Christmas brunch....a savory egg strata with the left over ham and potatoes from the night before. It was yummy and making it the night before and popping it in the oven sure beat trying to make Eggs Benedict (an Eyre Christmas morning tradition). I think we'll save that for Easter. We had brown sugar crusted grapefruit which kept the pyro boys happy and gave us a good excuse to use the kitchen torch John gave us for our wedding.

And after breakfast it was more sitting around in our PJs opening and playing.

This is how the Shumway boys play....they look very serious and think very hard. It was so fun for Jeff to have John around....of the kids and I loved it too.....but Jeff's eyes were gleaming.

Some puzzles that the McFarlands sent the kids....what a cool creative gift!

Charlie's line up of new very cool vehicles. The big hummer looking one is a "take apart toy." It came with a battery operated drill and he can screw and unscrew the bolts and screws to take it apart and put it together in a minute flat....it's so funny to watch him work.

Hazel's big gifts were an amazingly cool art set (it, along with other crafty toys will keep her busy for hours...which was one of my best Christmas gifts too), a doctors kit (she LOVES being a bossy doctor) and a real camera from Santa (which allows her to boss people around and pose just so). She has started her very own blog....so for Christmas from Hazel's perspective check it out. She named it herself and tells me what to write.

And I (among other nice thoughtful things) got a remote starter for our van. This winter is going to be awesome.