Christmas Day

Christmas Day dawned bright and early, but not too early.  The kids slept in and didn't wake us up singing like they had planned.  Bummer for them!  They opened their stockings first.  I had stuck a banana in each stocking - just to see the reaction - and heard Andrew exclaim, "Somebody gave me a BANANA!"  Too funny.  Every year we put in Hershey's Kisses and other little things.  I also seem to always put in a new toothbrush.  Maybe I think it makes up for the candy.  Maybe not. 

Speaking of teeth . . . 

 ****We interrupt this broadcast to bring you some breaking news from the Smith Family.  It has been reported this evening that Jonathan has discovered a loose tooth.  I repeat, Jonathan has discovered a loose tooth.  This would be a first for Jonathan - already age 6.  He is anticipating big things.  We now return to our regularly scheduled program.*** 

We had everyone get ready for church and then had cinnamon rolls for breakfast.  Then it was time to open gifts.  

We usually take turns.

I helped Matthew open his because, well, he just didn't understand. But he sure had a fun time playing in the center of the room with the wrappings and boxes.  And, yes, he's blurry because he was moving so much and clapping his hands.  

The big kids.  They're a bit more reserved than the little kids.

Must have been good because Andrew snuck in a little air-guitar.

What's in there for Peter?

A Spider-Man mask!

A gift card!

Jon got his very own Fanta pop!

After all the presents were opened we went to Christmas morning church.  

After church we came home to lasagna and to play with all of the new things.  

There was a new Connect 4 game - for four players.  Jon beat James three times in a row.  Then James started to pay more attention and didn't lose the next couple of times.  It's a really fun game!

There was also a Lego Ninjago game.  Andrew and I had to build the game board before we could play.  It's an OK game.  All of the players are on the same team.  This was hard for the big kids to understand.  They came to the table with "I'm gonna beat you!" on their lips, but lost that competitive tone with they learned that you all either win or the purple skeleton on the back steps wins.  We played it a couple of times.  The neat thing about it is that you can change the configuration of the board if you want to play again and make it more interesting.  

Matthew got a new toy too!  I think he enjoyed his first Christmas!