Christmas Re-Cap...

Happy "after" Christmas everyone!!! Is your house still a mess like mine is?? Ha ha, I actually made some good headway yesterday and plan to continue today. My kids are literally bouncing off the walls. They have been forced to kind of lurk around while I attempt to make this mess a home again. We had the whole family over for Xmas eve and Xmas day, so it takes quite a while to recover. And plus, I suck at housekeeping. Anyway, we had a marvelous Xmas filled with family, food, gifts, and a lot of laughter! It was awesome!!! Here's a re-cap for you :)

We spent most of Xmas eve at My in-law's house and had a great time! We ate yummy food and got to open gifts and just hang out. We are finally at a stage where I don't have to follow Hayden around to make sure that she isn't breaking anything or falling down and hurting herself. She's officially a "big kid" now so she can run around with her cousins and have fun while Josh and I just relax :) Awesome!
Here's a couple pics from Xmas eve:

Hayden and her Tompa....she loooooves him :)

Noah playing with his new toy called "fireflyz" which sadly is currently lost in his mess of a room....hopefully it's in there.

Our fam (kids in pjs). My in-laws live about 30 minutes away so the kids are usually asleep by the time we get home.

The house I live in with my family is what our entire family considers the "family" house. My grandparents lived here for like 25 years prior to us moving in, so every holiday was celebrated here. This means that while my little family was at my in-laws house celebrating, the rest of my extended family was at our house celebrating. So, when we got back home on Xmas eve, there was another "party" to attend :) I don't have any pictures of Xmas eve at my house, but we stayed up late hanging out, eating more, and chatting. It was awesome! And, I had all of my wrapping done early this year (yay me)!

Christmas morning Noah woke up up around 7am yelling that Santa had come and left presents for everyone!!! We had to wake Hayden up, ha ha! She's still little :) Josh and I sat and drank our coffee while the kids ripped their stockings to shreds :)

Apparently Santa likes Rice Krispie treats :)

The calm before the storm...

(Santa needs to try to remember that stockings aren't that big. Maybe smaller stocking stuffers would be a better idea...ha ha)

(Noah didn't get less stuff, his stocking is actually a tad bigger than Hayden's).

Hayden can finally open packages all by herself :)

Noah is an old pro :)

They each got a "blanket gift" this year from Santa. I remember when I was a kid, there was usually at least one "blanket gift" in the room for somebody (a blanket gift is one that is too big to wrap and must be concealed with a blanket). The year my little brother got a bike was SO exciting! It was big in the corner of the living room with a big blanket draped over it. He didn't even notice it but Lisa and I were dying with excitement. I have such fun Xmas memories from when I was little.
 Anyway:

Razor Scooter :)

Doll house :)

After we had some special time in the morning with just the 4 of us, the rest of my fam came over to eat, open more gifts and hang out. We had a great time!!!

Look at these CUTE pj's that my sis got for Hayden!!

I got this beautiful print from Studio Mela...

Isn't it beautiful!?!! I love that it says "Live simply" but I put it in the most gaudy gold frame!! Ha ha! Ive heard the whole phrase to be: "Live Simply, so others may simply live." Just beautiful!! Most of my Xmas list this year was made up of items from Etsy :)

And today, our Xmas tree is a definite fire hazard. Josh is at work but he explicitly told me NOT to turn on the lights anymore. He's a fire fighter so I guess I better listen ;)

I will miss you sweet tree. You were our best one by far! Go to the chipper in peace little friend :)
It was a wonderful holiday season and I can't wait to do it all again next year! I got some seriously awesome goodies at the after Christmas sales this year so next year is going to be even more magical (think 6.5' white tree....as my secondary tree of course). YAY!!!
I hope you all had a Merry and Bright holiday!!!