Christmas Day

I forgot I had these pictures of us looking at lights in Deerfield. This was not on Christmas day, a few days earlier...

 

 

 Everyone was really tired after a big Christmas Eve. I thought that Nathan and Charlotte wouldn't go to bed until really late and that it would be hard for them to fall asleep. But, nope, they went right to bed and Wayne and I got busy filling stockings and setting out presents. The next morning, they actually slept until 8:00 which was nice. Last year, I got tons of pictures but not enough video so this year, I was determined to have a bunch of video tape. So I pretty much have all of Christmas taped, but less actual pictures. Santa brought Nathan his beloved DS, and Charlotte got all the princesses and each a huge stuffed bear and puppy. Here is everything else they got: Nathan - DS games, DS holder, 2 Minecraft figures, a football  figure, Velcro Nikes, flags for flag football, a tee to kick the football and football sticker trading books. Charlotte got new Leap Pad games, a leap pad holder, a princess playhouse, a princess baby doll from Nathan, a new tricycle, and some palace pets. They also got 2 board games for us to do family game night...I'm probably forgetting something, but these were the main things. Nathan and Charlotte were so grateful for everything. Nathan kept saying, "This is the best day ever!"

 

 

And this is the big Barbie head that Mama and Papa got Charlotte. She uses cold and warm water to put make up on, paint her nails, and change the color of her hair. Perfect for my girly girl. And Nathan got a huge Nerf gun from them. He LOVED this because whenever Jake comes over, he brings all of his Nerf guns and they play spies outside. Now, Nathan can keep up!

 

And this is Melf, our Elf on the Shelf. He showed up after Thanksgiving and did lots of fun things for the kids. Remember that I felt like Christmas snuck up on me and was a bit stressful? Well, I had lots of grand ideas for Melf, but half the time, it was all I could do to remember to move him each night. The idea is that your elf is here to watch over the kids during the day and then every night, when the kids go to sleep, he goes back to the North Pole to report to Santa, which is why he is supposed to be in a different place in the morning. Nathan and Charlotte would wake up and go find Melf first thing in the morning. Sometimes I would be in bed at night, and then wake up worried that I forgot to move him. Or I'd wake up in the morning, realizing that I never moved him, and I'd have to hurry and do it before Nathan and Charlotte got up. There was one morning when I had him in my hand trying to hurriedly find a place for him, and I hear Nathan running down the stairs. OH NO! I put him in my pajama pants and had to hide him for a while until Nathan left the room. Then I had to find a random place to put him that Nathan didn't see on his way down. So stressful!!! Here are a couple of pictures of Melf's surprises: Rainbow Loom bracelets, leaving Christmas cups, powdered donuts and orange juice, the gingerbread house supplies, and a few others.