Christmas Day 2011

And it is the moment we've all been waiting for...even if it is WAY too early...

CHRISTMAS MORNING!

I thought some of my children (namely, the man-child) was going to lose his mind with excitement leading up to Christmas.

And all the excitement was in the hope of receiving Lego Dino sets.  Two weeks before Christmas he woke up in a bad mood because he had had a "nightmare."  He said he woke up Christmas morning and he didn't get the set he hoped for.  I asked him, "What did you get instead?"
He responded, "I don't know and it doesn't matter."
Sheesh!  Talk about pressure on the big guy in red.

Needless to say, his nightmare did not come to pass and he has been blissfully building Legos for the past four days.

Let me interpret this look for you.
"Is this for real?"
"Did Santa actually bring me a bird?"
"I cannot believe this bird is in my living room!"

And a marvelous bird it is, too!  Her name is Pebbles (because Elinor's cousin has a cockatiel named Bam-Bam).  She is SUCH a good bird!!!  She will easily let any of the kids hold her and she will sit perched on a shoulder forever. 

She is quiet and will set her head against your cheek to give a hug.  She is "hugging" Elinor in this picture.
Santa scored BIG TIME with the bird!  All the kids enjoy her so much we have to remind them that the bird is, in fact, Elinor's.

Captain America will save us!  Cannon got lots of super hero toys and may I just admit that I had trouble controlling myself in the stores this season when it came to buying gifts for Cannon.  Little boy toys are so fun and it's been so long since I've bought them!

Clark gave a present to Cannon this year and he bought a Ninja Lego set for him, so they could build it together.  These two brothers are nine years apart, but they quite enjoy each other's company.  I'm afraid Cannon will be beside himself when Clark leaves on a mission some day.

Bethany's biggest gift this Christmas is getting her first pair of point ballet shoes, which she has been fitted for and have been ordered, but sadly did not arrive in time for Christmas.  But I suppose since they weren't a surprise anyway, and she can't really play with them, it is all right.  She did get a scooter for her doll and a new doll, which she has had a lovely time dressing and doing her hair.

We gave new dolls to all the girls in the hopes that they would play with them together, and Faith has a bit, but it's really Bethany who enjoys it the most.  I don't think Elinor has touched her doll except to open the box at Bethany's insistence.  Elinor is really embracing the tom-boy role.  When her friend Ben came over a few days later she excitedly showed him the bird and said, "Hey, Ben!  Now we can play pirates!"

They may not both like dolls, but they do both love to cook, so they were excited to get aprons, made by Grandma Barbara.

Faith had a good day!  She got a gymnastics mat and a fold up balance beam that sits on the floor.  Truthfully, Santa took donations this year for several gifts.  My Aunt Michelle saw on the blog that Faith took gymnastics and that Elinor wanted a bird.  She generously called me and said they happened to have a bird cage we could have, and the gymnastics equipment for Faith that my cousin used when she was younger.  

We were so thankful, because these mats are NOT cheap!!  Faith told me she really wanted a mat, but didn't think she could get one.  THANK YOU, THANK YOU to my Aunt Michelle and Uncle Spencer!!!

I loved Strawberry Shortcake when I was a girl.  I had a Strawberry Shortcake Christmas when I was about Faith's age.

I don't know if she actually likes Strawberry Shortcake or not, and I'm afraid I might not actually care.  I do think she likes them, and they just smell so good. 

I must have them--and now I do... I mean, she does!

George got a basketball hoop, once again thanks to Spencer and Michelle.  He took right to it and knew just what to do. 

He liked the Fruit Loops Santa brought!

As for me, I did get my Zumba Wii game that my heart longed for, but I mostly loved the poem Abe wrote for me.  It was sweet and beautiful and I cried and Clark said, "Dad, did you actually write that?  That's good!"

We had a lovely Sacrament Meeting at 11:00 and then Abe and I got a glorious gift.  We took afternoon naps. 

 Later in the afternoon Abe prepared his traditional British Fried Breakfast.  If you eat this meal, you won't have to eat again for two days!  But it is tasty.

We ladies had a fun time testing out Just Dance for Kids.  Bethany was really good!

I have very mixed feelings about this picture.  At this point all the presents have been opened, but the cleaning up has not commenced yet.  It looks rather obscene to me and I try to decide--- did I go too far this year?  Did I go overboard?  Did everyone have a nice Christmas?  Did they get what they wanted?  Did they get too much?  Our living room is rather small and there are 8 of us, so if everyone gets a few gifts, that stacks up very quickly. 

I am rather ashamed that I am so tormented when it comes to Christmas.  How much is too much?  It is such a delicate orchestration.  

I am happy to say, that I do think I maintained the balance fairly well this year.  Abe was very helpful to me in that when I started stressing about things, he jumped right in with advice and even with shopping when needed. 

And now we enjoy the week between Christmas and New Year's when our only work is to play.