My extended family celebrates Christmas Eve every other year and this happened to be the off year. A suggested making a big meal and inviting my mom over. I loved the idea! We basically had a second Thanksgiving complete with turkey breast, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, corn, and stuffing. Giving ourselves props for cooking a big, yummy meal because chefs we are not.
A and I had so much fun setting out presents after the boys went to bed on Christmas Eve. Playing Santa is the BEST!! For the most part, gifts were wrapped, but we left out W's critter house and S's ride on toy and Anywhere Chair. Both boys were so excited when they woke up and as W walked in and saw all the presents, he said, "Holy Moly!". W wanted to play and it was difficult to get him to church, but we eventually made it and then stopped at Starbucks for bagels, coffee, and juice. Soon after, it was off to Nani and Papa's for another delicious meal of ham and beef tenderloin (sooo good!) and more presents. I was a little disappointed that S was not interested in opening presents. He was a bit overwhelmed and when a present was opened, he wanted to play with it. We eventually headed home with two tired boys. Before bed, we emptied out stockings.
The day after Christmas, my mom, brother, and brother's girlfriend came over for brunch. I made a breakfast casserole and once we started eating, I realized I forgot to add the potatoes to the casserole. Can't believe I did that! But luckily, it still tasted great. We also had cinnamon rolls, pancakes, bacon, and sausage. After brunch, we finally got around to opening all the presents under the tree. Again, S was not really interested and just wanted to play with the toys that were opened.
I love stretching out Christmas over 3 days and I hope we'll continue to do this. It's such a magical time, I'm all for anything we can do to extend it. I also think the boys appreciate their gifts a little more - instead of opening all the presents at once, they get to experience a few at a time.
Our favorite gifts this year: W loves playing with the Calico Critter House he requested many times and a toy cash register. S's favorite gift was a new blanky (his previous one had ripped in half). The boys received a trampoline that W had requested multiple times and that was a big hit, but I'm skeptical about how much they'll play with it once the novelty wears off. A's favorite gifts were a photo calendar I made for him (it turned out awesome if I do say so) and a Cubs World Series Lego set. My favorites were two pairs of slippers. I know most people might think two pairs is crazy, but I live in slippers (even during the summer) and I'm obsessed with both pairs. I wore my previous pair so much they had a gigantic hole. I also received a big Philosophy gift set from my mom that I can't wait to use.
Ready for 2017...
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