The Day After Christmas

I hope you and your family had a wonderful Christmas Day yesterday! Here are a few pictures of our Christmas Eve and Christmas Day celebrations.

Casey reading to us about the first Christmas. Sean has his Bible out too!

Here the boys are decked out in their new Christmas jammies handmade by my grandmother. Ella was given a beautiful Christmas nightgown but it was in the laundry so we settled for her regular footie jammies. All three were excited to open their play nativity set!

While this picture looks as if they are peacefully sharing, it was perhaps the one second they

all attempted to share. Then they all began grabbing and whining so we made an effort to

help them share and then picked up for bedtime. Since then we have made special accommodation

to allow them special time alone to play with their nativity set.

Under our tree Christmas morning. And, no, I didn't wrap the boys' bikes. I was tired on Christmas Eve. Does that make me a bad mom? They were still super excited when they got their first glimpse of them!

Our stockings filled with yummy treats.

Ella got a cute puppy from the story of Clifford and here she is giving her a kiss! Aww!

Sean opened the present (but it was for all three) of a book on manners. Yes, that is a gift from me and Casey! Parents always find a way to come up with gifts that double as learning tools!

Logan decided to get undressed and then wear his coat to breakfast. He brought along his firetruck which was his favorite gift!

I got a new waffle maker (which is what I asked for!) and I made waffles

for our Christmas breakfast. They were a real treat!

We had a lot of fun and enjoyed our celebration with our little monkeys. The house full of new toys has me making sure to add to my new year "to-do" list to give away older items we no longer use to bless someone else and make our home less cluttered!

After all the gifts and breakfast we did go to church. There was no childcare provided which is why I spent half the service in the foyer corralling a 2.5 year old and a 1 year old because they couldn't sit still or keep their voices low during the message. I didn't really expect they would be able to but it was worth a try to go. After church we all enjoyed a nice refreshing nap. For dinner (sorry no pictures but we were just so ready to dig in by the time I had it ready...ahem...about a quarter after 7pm...) we had ham, ham gravy, mashed potatoes, green beans, and cheese rolls. We were all so stuffed (and it was late!) that we decided not to eat cake but to wait to make the "Happy Birthday Jesus" cake until later this week. My family will be coming for a few days to visit us and it'll be nice to have cake and ice cream to share with them!

This morning (the day after Christmas), for some, can be a bit dull after all the excitement and celebration from the day before. But, for me, I had barely been out of bed when Casey showed me an email from another blogger who had a "Five Days of Christmas" giveaway which I had entered. I had won a "set" of four ebooks and I was (and am) so very excited! They are based on eating "real food" which should be very interesting and mostly a new concept for me so I am looking forward to the reading material and learning about something new!

Over this next week between family and work, Casey and I will spend some time reevaluating our family life and goals from 2011 and come up with solutions and goals for 2012 to grow more united as a married couple, to grow stronger as a family unit, and to continue to grow in wisdom and contentment in our lives as Christ followers. My inspiration for this method versus the typical "New Year resolutions" is from the "Creative Christian Mama" blog. I love this idea! I look forward to sharing our "New year reevaluation" next week!

Enjoy your day and remember that the key to having Christmas joy year round is found in Jesus. He is the gift that never breaks, wears out, goes out of style, or you grow out of. He is the reason for true joy. Our joy is because we who believe in Him, that He alone can forgive us of our sins, will spend eternity with Him in Heaven instead of the fair and deserved punishment alternative. That is something worth celebrating every day!

♥Shari