Christmas Celebrations

 Early Christmas morning we were woken up with joy and shouts and excitement from these 4 kiddos! Who needs to set an alarm on Christmas morning when you have 4 kids?

Stockings are always first on the agenda Christmas morning. 

 The cool guys in there new hats. This picture is a classic. I have a feeling this will be one of those pics that we will see again and again. I can almost picture them with this exact pose when they are teens. That's a scary thought.

 Luke's big gift this year was an MP3 player. We've been hearing him sing ever since :) You know when you are listening to music but no one else can hear it so you don't realize that you are singing but everyone else around you can hear you? Yea, that's what he does....and it's been funny.

 Hallie got a water bottle for Daddy for Christmas. When we were wrapping it I told her not to tell Daddy what it is. She promptly goes to Daddy and says, *puts finger up to her mouth* "Shhh...new wadder boddle...k? Shh."
Well, okay daddy, act surprised :)

Girls with their new dresses, tights and leg warmers! Yes, it's all the new thing...so many cute leg warmers, I think I might just have to go get some myself ;)

It wouldn't be a Christmas without a new baby doll!

Princess tent Take 2. We got Melissa a princess tent last year but it didn't last. First time we put it up it got a hole. Something like that will NOT last in our home. So...we took it back. This year, we found one that has the poles that go with it. So far so good! She already slept in it and no holes! Yay for tents with poles!






 I had heard last year about a gift giving system for kids. I loved the idea and we implemented it last year and plan to continue it year to year. I wanted to share it with you in case you  wanted to take ideas from it for next year. Nate and I really don't want our kids to get so caught up in toys and greediness with gifts and frankly, as parents, I don't want to get caught up in that either!

As we shop for our children, we assign "categories" to the kids presents.
They each get a gift of Faith - something that will encourage their walk with the Lord. (Veggie Tale DVD, Bible, Christian Music...etc.).
A gift of Warmth - something they really need. (Clothes, sheets, shoes, slippers...etc)
A gift of Wisdom - something that will help them learn. (Books, games, puzzles, art supplies...etc)
A gift of Joy - something they really want.
And a gift of Love - originally this was a homemade gift for the kids. But I changed it to fit our family better to - something that you can make or do to give to someone else. (Crafts, projects, beads for bracelets...etc.)

Each child has 5 gifts from Nate and I. There are some categories that might have 2 items in it that go together but for the most part, this is what we have decided to be our limit with our kids. I hope that might be an encouragement to some of you. Sometimes it's hard to know where to stop and this system has really helped us as well as taught our kids presents are not all Toys and to be thankful for the other things as well. I am really excited about the "Gift of Love" this year. These are things that we can help our kids do to give away to other people. We got Melissa beads and elastic string to make bracelets and necklaces for others. She took right to that and has already started! Also, for me as a parent, I know that these gifts won't need to take a permanent residence in our home :)
Our kids also buy for each other and we always have a family gift too. This year we got a Wii for our family gift so it was a big one!

Well I hope you all had a Merry Christmas!!!!