Christmas

I believe most bloggers have already posted Christmas pictures and moved on. I, however, enjoy being different.

Well, that's a lousy excuse for my procrastination. Actually, I just flat out enjoyed being with my family for the past 12 days. I didn't want to take time to put a coherent thought here on the blog.

Our Christmas was great. It was low-key and fun.

Rick was off from December 24th-28th and then again December 31st-January 4th. Normally, when he takes that much time off, we're on the road for a fast-paced vacation, which is always fun. But it was nice to have him home and to just be. No real plans, except to play with the boys and eat whatever sounded good at any given time.

My parents joined us for Christmas day. Because I still have my kids brain washed to believe that they cannot get out of bed without permission or else!, all of the adults were able to get up leisurely to enjoy their hot coffee (or cold Diet Coke, whatever the case may be) before getting the boys up.

Which also means we were able to have cameras ready for the boys' initial peek at all the Christmas loot.

Here is Liam the instant that he saw the green marble run that he has talked about for months. The same marble run that we told him he could not have until he's six years old.
Parenting does require stretching the truth occasionally. Lord, please forgive me.

But the lie was totally worth Liam's pure excitement. He screamed, "MY GREEN MARBLE RUN! I GOT IT! AHHH!"

Did you see Garrett in the doorway with his hands over his head. He's funny about new situations. He takes them in slowly. Since Christmas only occurs once a year and the idea felt new to him, he was slow to show too much excitement.

But not Liam.
He was elated with everything this year. His excitement was contagious.

Never fear...Garrett did come around and have himself some fun. His favorite gift, hands down, was his Aggie football uniform.
I felt like I might be looking at my future when he played QB with Daddy in the backyard later in the day. Gig 'em, Garrett!

We bought Jack a workbench set complete with tools. Because he loves to play with tools and try to repair things around the house, we thought he would love it. But what does this face say to you?
Excitement? Not so much.

That same workbench is for sale on Craigslist now, because the amount of time he's spent with it: ZERO. Any buyers???

But what did get Jack's happy face was this air hockey table from my parents.

That picture makes me laugh. It's a fake smile, but look how nice of a fake smile it is. He looks too cute, in my unbiased opinion.

Another reason I am so late in sharing our Christmas is this: I am uncomfortable in writing about our Christmas gifts. I don't want anyone to get the idea that Christmas is all about the gifts in our house. Quite the opposite is true.

For the month leading up to December 25, we continually discuss what Christmas is really about with our kids. And Liam seemed to really "get it" this year.

Before we blew out candles for Jesus' birthday cake, I asked the kids to remind us what we were celebrating. And Liam went into great detail about God sending Jesus to live on earth before dying on the cross for our sins. My heart shone with pride over my little big boy who "got it" this year.

I hope you also had a merry Christmas and that you are blessed by Christ's birth.

And I can't wait until my kids are old enough to skip Christmas gifts and go on a family missions trip instead. I couldn't think of a better segue there, sorry. But I would love to skip all the craziness of buying and exchanging gifts. Instead, we would put the money towards a missions trip for the five of us to bless others in far greater need than us. That's where my heart has been on December 25 for the past two years.