Christmas 2010

So, today was Christmas. How did that happen? I know I blame a lot of my current *ACK* state to my kitchen disaster {turned blessing}, but losing out on almost 6 weeks right before Christmas really has a way of wreaking havoc on one's perception of time!

We have a standing rule in our house that we do not begin Christmas festivities before 8 AM. Period. The children are up well before that, but we keep them sequestered in the playroom until we can get our wits about us, get the cameras ready, and get them lined up and ready to go downstairs to where the *magic* has happened ;)

Santa did not disappoint this year. Our Christmas seemed "smaller" because our kids already have every gadget that kids their ages could want {iPod, camera, DS, etc}. It felt strange to not have more "big ticket" items, but it was so nice to get back to the "basics" of clothes, games, and the more simple things ... they have been WAY too spoiled the past few years! Funny thing is they were smiling, laughing, and enjoying themselves just as much if not more. Rather than being connected to their new "devices" they were playing games together. BLISS for a mama to see!

Steve surprised me with the Silhouette Craft Cutter I'd been wanting and I got him an iPad ... not really a surprise because I can NEVER surprise him, but he plays along very well ;)

Just a few more pics of the unwrapping frenzy ... gotta love that it takes hours (for Steve) to wrap everything and about 15 minutes for everything to be torn apart!!

We spent time in the morning playing games and eating our traditional breakfast Strata casserole ... YUM!

We laid low for a while, ate snacks and treats, watched Despicable Me, and decided it was time to open my birthday gifts!! I am a lucky girl to celebrate my birthday on Christmas. Most people think it would be awful, but I've never known any different and everyone has always done a great job to differentiate between the two celebrations! I received lots of wonderful things, money, and some gift cards - can't wait to shop some more!!

I just have to show off a bit of Steve's creative side while I'm at it ... he knew I wanted to get a new pair of jeans from the Buckle but also knew that buying jeans is not an easy task - certainly one he didn't want to take on by himself ;) So he gave me cash to buy them and made this fancy "buckle" out of cardstock to hold the money!! Isn't he the best?!?

Next it was time to take Aunt Kris to the airport so she could head home. We are so glad she was able to be with us this year to help us celebrate the season!!

Since we chose to eat our "holiday feast" a few days early this year, I decided that making one of my fave dinners was in order for my birthday ... homemade pizza, of course! The kids made their own and I decked one out for Steve and myself. Yum-O!!

After dinner we had the Wilsons over to share in some birthday cake and ice cream - what better way to start winding down a fabulous day?!? Texas Sheet Cake and Peppermint Ice Cream were the perfect way to celebrate!

A few more minutes for games and light saber fights before calling it a night ... what a fun and fabulous day!

Did I mention that it was my birthday? I turned 39 today. I'm not living in denial of it. I'm not even dreading the idea that I'm turning 40 a year from today. Life at 39 is pretty darn good. I look forward to seeing what the next year holds in store!!