I was more excited about Christmas than I’ve been in years. Part of it, I think, is the fact that Eddie and Peter are both getting older and get more excited about things themselves. But I also felt more into the whole gift-purchasing process. I think I was slightly more involved than I sometimes am, but I was also more excited by the things we were doing. These feelings extend to my gift-purchasing for Melanie, too. It was a lot of fun.
Eddie and Peter exchanged gifts on Christmas Eve. They had both chosen (independently, though not without some suggestion) a Power Ranger action figure. Eddie got his favorite color—red—while Peter got his favorite color—green.
Also on Christmas Eve, Melanie had us make snowmen out of white chocolate covered Oreos and various candies. Here are some pictures of that:
This is Eddie’s snowman.
My snowman.
Creegan preferred to eat rather than build the snowmen.
Melanie also continued our tradition of having homemade soup served in non-homemade bread bowls for Christmas Eve dinner. This year’s soup was a creamy corn chowder with red potato, bacon, and rosemary. Check it out:
Another Christmas Eve tradition is having the kids open up a selected gift from Mom and Dad. Last year, Eddie and Peter received Christmas blankets in which they wrapped themselves for our traditional Christmas Eve drive to look at lights. This year, Eddie and Peter got new pajamas and Creegan received a blanket. Even I got some pajama bottoms, which was unexpected. Fun stuff!
My pajama bottoms are what you might call “relaxed fit.”
That brings us to Christmas day…
The presents before any kids got to them. Believe it or not, we had to wake Eddie and Peter up. Creegan, of course, was the first one up.
The scooters that Santa left Eddie and Peter, in their favorite colors.
The boys’ stockings prior to discovery.
Melanie’s stocking.
My stocking. One of the most fun items it contained was a tree ornament of “the old man” from A Christmas Story and his beloved leg lamp.
The table full of candy that Santa left.
The collection of DVDs and Blu-rays that Santa left.
The boys arrive on the scene.
Peter immediately nabs the bubble gum machine, which ended up being one of the most popular gifts of the day (much to Melanie’s and my surprise).
Peter and Eddie inside the colorable cardboard rocket ship that Santa brought.
Creegan inside the rocket.
Melanie showing off some gifts from her wonderful husband. In Melanie’s left hand is an incredibly sharp bread knife with which her wonderful husband sliced off a very small portion of pinky when he made egg nog French toast later that morning.
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
I just LOVE it!!!! Thanks for sharing all the pictures. It's especially fun to see the boys outside on scooters with no jackets or coats! Not so warm and sunny here :) I sure have missed you with the holidays. I'm glad you had such a good time. You guys are awesome!
ReplyDeleteWoah, when did your boys get so big?
ReplyDeleteIt sounds and looks like you had an awesome Christmas. The soup looks delicious. I like that idea of soup for dinner on Christmas Eve. I might have to start that tradition. It looks like your boys got some fun toys.