Our Family Christmas-2015

Eli woke us up bright and early (5:00 AM) to tell us that Santa Claus had been to our house. He was so excited and couldn't wait to see what was under the tree! I grabbed my camera, started the coffee (really strong coffee), and went into the living room with Eli. 

Eli knew that Christmas Eve was Elfis' last night with us, but he was excited to see that Elfis had left him a new Christmas movie. We love all the Buddies movies and knew this one would be great just like all the others!

This year Eli's three gifts he asked for from Santa were a set of drums, a Buzz Lightyear laser gun, and new arrows for his bow he got for his birthday. The first thing Eli grabbed was the Buzz Lightyear laser gun. He started blasting everything around him! 

He was momentarily distracted from his three gifts when he noticed how full his stocking was. He grabbed it and started going through it to see what Santa had stuffed in there. 

Eli's loot from his stocking. 

My stocking

Josh's stocking

Eli started pulling out the presents from under the tree and passed them out. We didn't get him very much,  just a few little things. Josh and I normally do small gifts for each other or no gifts at all. It's so much more fun to watch Eli open all his! 

He got a new Swiss Army knife to use when he goes camping. 

New headphones

A new Bible

An LSU belt buckle

Eli found a letter from Santa Claus tucked in the Christmas tree and asked us to help him read it. Santa told him that there was one big gift from us and Grandpa E under the tree. He wanted Eli to open it last.

Eli was surprised to see that it was a set of electric drums! Josh, Grandpa E, and I wrote Santa and told him we wanted to get the drums for Eli and asked if Santa would get him new blue drumsticks. That sounded great to Santa so that's what we did!

My favorite picture I take every year is this one below. I love seeing the giant mess on the floor where lots of special Christmas memories are made every year. What a fun day!

While Josh started assembly on the drum set, I popped some cinnamon rolls in the oven and made more coffee. It was going to be a long morning :) Eli started playing with all of his gifts. 

It didn't take long and soon Eli was jamming along on his new drums! 

My favorite feature is the headphone option. This is biggest reason you get electric drums :)  Especially when your kid is just learning how to keep a beat...

My little rockstar in training

Eli with his Christmas gifts. 

After everything had been opened, Daddy came out with one more gift. It was a very special gift that Josh couldn't wait to give him...a new hunting gun (such a rite of passage for little boys down here in the South). Eli was bound and determined to kill a deer this season and he needed a hunting gun to do that. Josh and Eli were both excited about getting to use it on their next hunting trip. 

Barkley came in to get his Christmas gifts from Santa. I didn't get a picture of his gifts, but he got a brand new leather collar and a big Busy Bone from Santa. He loved them both :)

The rest of our Christmas morning was spent playing with all of Eli's new gifts. Zue-Zue came over to see everything that Eli got from Santa and she stayed and visited with us for a long time. Some of the grown ups might have taken naps, which were DESPERATELY needed! It was a fun day but it was over before we knew it. I hope you and your family had a wonderful Christmas as well!

The Christmas Season Begins

The day after Thanksgiving we pulled all our Christmas decorations out of storage and started decking the halls. I couldn't wait to decorate our house for Christmas. Some may say I go a little overboard, but I LOVE it! It makes me so happy to walk in my house and see all my Christmas decorations in each room. We also wanted our house to be ready because we knew that on December 1st Elfis would be arriving from the North Pole. 

It took all weekend long but we trimmed every tree, decked every hall, strung up all the lights (inside and outside) and got the house ready for Christmas. When December 1st rolled around, we were ready! That morning Eli woke up extra early and found a special package for him under the Christmas tree. Eflis had arrived from the North Pole! Eli was so excited! He looks forward to Elfis' arrival every year.

Elfis always brings his book that tells all about the special elves from the North Pole assigned to houses each year, and he'll usually bring Eli a small "happy". This year he brought Eli a gigantic pencil, two decks of Christmas playing cards, a note to Eli, and some candy. 

We always have a special breakfast of frosted donuts and hot chocolate on the day Elfis arrives from the North Pole so that's exactly what we did.  Eli enjoyed his donuts and hot chocolate on the floor beside Elfis before getting dressed for school that day. 

I've seen pictures and read stories about some of these elves from the North Pole that do all sorts of crazy shenanigans when they visit the houses they're assigned to and I'm happy to report that Elfis is not like that at all. He usually likes to hide in high places around our living room and occasionally he'll bring small activities for us to do as a family, but that's mostly all the excitement we get from Elfis. Every now and then we'll find him in the middle of something but those moments are rare!

One morning we found him playing cards with Chippy and Frosty. 

Another morning he decided to enjoy a cup of hot chocolate and a few marshmallows.

Every year there are a few Christmas traditions we do as a family. One of those is packing a box for a soldier overseas.

Of course, one of Eli's favorite parts of the Christmas season is getting to wear his elf hat while he does his homework each night. My cute little elf makes the Christmas season so much fun! The Christmas season was off to a great start!!

Christmas Day-2014

Christmas Eve came before we knew it. We were busy, busy all day long delivering the last of the cinnamon rolls to neighbors, wrapping up last minute gifts, and making lots of memories. That night before going to bed, Eli chose which cookies he wanted to leave for Santa and then poured him a nice, tall glass of milk.  

He wrote Santa a letter and then it was time for his Bible story and bed. He made sure to tell Elfis good-bye before he went to sleep because he knew that he wouldn't see him again until next year.

We all went to sleep and before we knew it morning had come and it was time to see what Santa had left for Eli. He was actually kind to us this year and I think it was around 5:30 or 6:00 before he came to get us, which is actually a normal time for us to get up. I snapped a picture of the picturesque scene before all chaos ensued :)

Eli's three gifts from Santa included a guitar, a stuffed Elf that he could actually touch (his words), and a spy watch. Each gift came with a tag straight from the North Pole ;)

Eli was MOST EXCITED about the stuffed Elf that he could touch. Oh my word. That child loves anything stuffed. He immediately christened the elf "Chippy" and carried him everywhere with him the rest of the day. 

After seeing his three gifts, he went though his stocking from Santa. 

Upon discovering the blue glitter glue, I think his exact words were, "Look, Mommy! Santa brought me the glitter glue that you always say you're not going to buy me"! Way to show me up, Santa :)

Practicing on his guitar

Santa always gets Eli three gifts, but Josh and I usually get him a couple of small things from us as well. Josh and Eli have been camping a lot lately and are planning more camping trips in the future, so Josh got Eli this really awesome lantern that you charge by winding the handle. It has an LED light, a USB port, a stand, and lots of other awesome features. I don't know who liked it more, Josh or Eli. 

After opening gifts, we checked to see if Santa had eaten all the cookies and he had. He also left Eli a note telling him thanks.

We noticed something on the other side of the kitchen and discovered Elfis had left Eli a message before heading back to the North Pole with Santa. Eli was so happy to see that Elfis had written him a note telling him good-bye.

My Christmas surprise from Josh and Eli included a new Kitchen-Aid hand mixer, a brand new set of knives, and a candle from Anthropologie (okay, so I bought the candle myself, but I didn't open it until Christmas. I had to find some way to justify spending that much money on a stinking candle even if it does smells HEAVENLY!! Just saying if you haven't smelled the Volcano scent you're missing out...it's yummy!) I was so happy and surprised (not about the candle obviously, but everything else)! 

The aftermath of our Christmas morning looked like this. What a fun and memorable mess! 

While our breakfast casserole and cinnamon rolls warmed up in the oven, Eli changed clothes and started playing with all his toys he'd gotten. Chippy was never far from him all morning long.

The most frustrating but equally satisfying game ever...Marble Run. 

It was a very Merry Christmas for our family and I hope it was for your family as well! This was the picture we sent out to our family that morning wishing them Merry Christmas. We spent most of the day in our jammies/comfy clothes, watching Eli play with his toys, watching Christmas movies, and enjoying time with each other. It was a great day!

That's a wrap until next year!