Christmas 2013 {better late than never}

As I was uploading photos from a project I was going to share with you today (but am now revealing it next week) I realized I never blogged about Christmas. So for posterity, here we go:

We let the kids open their stockings on Christmas Eve. It gets them excited about the morning and holds them over for the good stuff. (we don't play up Santa very much so there are no questions about why they get their stocking separate from their presents... just clarifying). The girls ran for theirs...

while Ryan had to wait since he was too short!

Each year I get them ornaments. I try to make them pertain to something that happened in the last 12 months. Ryan and Natalie were easy. Ryan loves M&Ms and Natalie started learning to play the violin. For the life of me, none of the ornaments I was seeing spoke Ainsley's name to me. Until I spotted this marshmallow, sitting in a sleeping bag on top of a square of chocolate and graham cracker (in about the fifth store I tried). Ainsley loves making fires and roasting marshmallows! Whoot Whoot! Mission Ornaments 2012 accomplished. 

Christmas morning the kids slept in until after 8 a.m. I LOVE my children. I was still sick so I slithered to the couch, took a few pictures, then slithered back to bed. Here are the girls helping Ryan open one of his gifts. 

Ryan and Ainsley

Ryan opening some Little Einstein's movies... I love his expression.

Ryan reading the directions to daddy for his car track. 

The girls opening more gifts. 

These two pictures are after Christmas, but crack me up. This one is Ryan walking around in Henry's size 14 snow boots. He had to hold on to the cabinets the entire time he was walking. He laughed a lot at himself too. 

This is Natalie making our neighbor, Jeff, his avatar on the new Wii. It was funny listening to their conversation: 

Jeff: Not those eyebrows. They look too angry..... no my hair isn't that yellow.... yes, that's more me. 

Ainsley: Don't make him so skinny, Natalie. He's fatter than that (love kids' honesty). 

Jeff, when Natalie was all done: That's me!

And that folks, was our Christmas for 2012.