Christmas Eve
Gifts from Grandparents
Aidan LOVES cozy blankets. He steals every single one in the house. I don't think he could ever get enough. We were laughing this night because I slept with my baby blanket I was brought home from the hospital in until I got married. Now, I have my faux fur blanket that Aidan and Mario try to steal all the time. I guess the blanket gene is strong!
Dylan always needs golf balls. #waterholes
Laughing because I noticed right away this was rosemary.
Christmas Eve Dinner-I forgot to save this picture, but found it on my IG stories archive. Prime rib, stuffing with mushrooms and butternut squash (really good, just bad photo), potatoes and a winter salad. I tagged Half Baked Harvest and she messaged me right back! Almost all of our recipes come from her cookbooks or website so this was very exciting to me and especially my husband who does most of the cooking. He even pre-ordered her book this summer. She deserves all of the success that has come her way because all of her recipes are amazing!
Christmas Morning
Aidan is only 11 so he still gets excited about Christmas morning. He made everyone in the house wake up early. I can't say the teens were thrilled about it, but they made it downstairs.
Ryan got much needed hair gel in his stocking.
The only smile I got from Dylan was when he saw the weight lifting gloves in his stocking.
My husband bought himself golf clubs this year like every year. He sells the offending set that is obviously responsible for his bad game and buys a new set on eBay. As long as they aren't new (aka expensive) I'll continue to play along.
Finally getting on that AirPod train. No makeup and unbrushed hair as usual for me on Christmas morning.
You might notice we don't do an extravagant Christmas when it comes to gifts, actually gifts in general. My husband and I buy ourselves one thing each (or a few inexpensive items) so we have something to open with the kids, and they get only a few gifts from us. This is something I started when my kids were little. I can't say I've made the right decisions all the time as a parent, but I feel good about this one based on their attitudes about material items. They don't ask for much, want much or begrudge anyone for what they have. I suppose it's that fine line between too much and not enough that has worked, plus a whole lot of conversations. The success from school/sports and relationships with family and friends has superseded anything I could buy them or any trip I could take them on. It's so hard to decide when your kids are little what the right decision is and sometimes what is good for one family or child isn't good for another. In that spirit, take this with a grain of salt unless it resonates with you!
Another thing we do is take turns opening presents instead of everyone tearing into them all at once. The youngest opens one present and everyone watches so we can see what he got, his reaction, get a photo and have him thank the person. Then we go to the next youngest and keep circling back until the presents are all open. I prefer it this way to see what everyone gets, their reactions and I also like to have the opportunity to say thank you.
On our way out the door Christmas evening to spend with my husband's side of the family. Mario got a new red bow tie collar that I think looks so handsome on him. I also never showed you a picture of our front door in the Christmas Home Tour. The light is only good in the morning (brightened way up here) so I never got a photo. I planted real mini Christmas trees in the pots this year instead of poinsettias. I just love the look!
We usually pop fireworks with the boys, heat up the spa and make s'mores on the fire pit in the backyard on New Year's Eve. This year we're headed to the beach house in Galveston! It didn't rent for the weekend so we decided to head down there with family. Of course we get a VRBO inquiry right after we make the decision. Oh well, it will be worth it!
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