The Carnage

I hope that everyone had a Merry, SAFE, healthy Christmas! We had a wonderful time with family but as much as I love having a big shindig here, I really love getting back to my routine.

Christmas Eve brought our middle daughter and her family, a friend of theirs that is living with them, and my parents to our house. My father in law was sick so they couldn't make it :(

After a beautiful Christmas Eve service at church, tons of food and way too much wrapping paper, my living room looked like a warzone.

This was AFTER we picked up the paper!

There was much help in making the mess, especially by this little cutie!

Someone was a little grumpy:)
She was helping everyone open their presents and when my son opened one of his by himself, she looked at him, started clapping and said," You did it! Good job! High five!" Three is such a sweet age!

Hubby and I stayed up a little late because I still had one more gift to wrap for Christmas morning. Then we sat on the couch and talked for awhile. You know those kinds of talks. The ones where you have to wait until the kids are asleep to start them. Those deep conversations where you remember the year and all that you accomplished (and didn't). Anyway, we got to bed about 1 am and at 7am, my daughter was in our room shaking my arm yelling PRESENTS! PRESENTS!
So, presents it was (and lots of coffee).

This was the present that had to wrapped the night before. Pretty much, the only thing she asked for was a guitar. We were happy to oblige.

The only thing this guy asked for was a new Nintendo because his old one was completely worn out. And yes, his shirt is on inside out and backwards. It's kind of his signature!

And the warzone returned....
No, all those presents in the background weren't theirs. We did very good buying gifts this year. Each of them got the one thing they really wanted and couple things to go with it. Then they each got some books. We have found that the fewer the presents, the more joy is experienced. I felt kind of bad because my daughter ended up with a couple more presents than my son but I felt better when he said this, "Whoa, you got me exactly what I wanted. I don't feel slighted at all." Oh I LOVE this kid!

The rest of the day was spent relaxing and eating. Way too much of both! I was up all night with the most horrendous stomach ache ever. NEVER NEVER NEVER again! I could not believe all the junk that was eaten. Stuff I would NEVER eat, I stuffed myself on. Lesson learned!

Our best present wasn't under the tree, though. Even though we didn't have a party or a cake, we celebrated the birth of our Savior. We read devotionals and prayed and thanked God for sending us His son. THAT was the greatest gift ever! Everything else was just fluff. Nice fluff, but fluff none the less!