Christmas Morn'

Christmas morning we woke to two silly kiddos that were as excited as any other child that it was Christmas morn'. We heard them trample downstairs and then rush back upstairs at the speed of lightning to inform us that Santa Claus had made a visit to our house. Gabrielle was especially excited that he liked the plate of goodies that she and Dawson had left out for him and that he had left the plate clean.

As I mentioned in my previous post the kids didn't request much for Christmas, however they did both long for a pillow pet and were thrilled when they tore into the large gift bags revealing them. We allowed the kids to open this one gift on Christmas Eve prior to turning in for the night. Gabrielle became attached to hers from the 1st moment. She removed her bed pillow and sleeps on the pillow pet and then strategically places "her" on her bed in the morning when making her bed.

Another wish list item of Gabi's was a Barbie Mermaid Tail. This momma was NEVER a fan of Barbie or her pals so it has been somewhat of a stretch for me to embrace Gabrielle's fondness of the perfect plastic billion dollar toy. I will succumb to saying that this was $5 very well spent. She has played with the Barbie MT countless hours already - taking her swimming in the bathroom sinks and bathing with her and Barbie's b'friend Ken :)

Our little man - what do you get a rough and tumble boy?
This year he scored yet another wheeoooh wheeooh (firetruck), hot wheels tracks & storage case and some Monster Truck gear. Daddy has been great about making special time to play with D building, racing, tearing apart, reconstructing and so on.

Santa delivered a PlayStation Move, 2nd controller and a couple of kids games. This equals fun, family entertainment!
We experienced another year of abundant blessings receiving far more than we deserve. It really made me take a deeper look into my views on giving. There is something very satisfying about finding rock bottom pricing/end of year clearance sales on games and toys the kids will enjoy when you are on a tight "budget", but in the big scheme of things I can say with confidence we will scale back on our giving in the years to come. We asked the kids to each pick one large toy and several smaller items to either throw, give away or sell. I was proud of their choices as well as their attitudes. Gabi was quick to pinpoint a friend she wanted to gift the toys to which made me happy. She was thoughtful in her choice and reasoning for whom she chose.
My hope is that everyone had a very blessed Christmas season and that you each took time to reflect on Christ's love for us.