Merry Christmas!

At Christmas Eve service last night, the kids behaved fairly well. It was their first time going to the service with us; we usually take advantage of the Sunday school aspect of church and enjoy an hour of child-free worship. We sang lots of songs, listened to Pastor Kevin talk about a simple Christmas, and Kate even got to light a candle at the end. My favorite part: when the pastor asked for a show of hands as to who refuses to read the Christmas letters from friends and Luke enthusiastically raised his hand.

We let the kids open one gift on Christmas eve. In this case, it was an XBox Kinect.

The first present of Christmas.

We were up until midnight, prepping for Christmas morning and Christmas breakfast. We "set" our alarm for 6:15am so we could be sure to be downstairs when the kids woke up. I opened my eyes at 6:45am and jumped out of bed. Someone forgot to turn the alarm on, but we were the first ones up. I resisted the urge to check to ensure the children were still breathing. We made coffee, started breakfast prep, and waited. Luke was the first one downstairs, at just after 7am (a minor Christmas miracle that he slept in so late), followed by Kate about 15 minutes later. Luke hadn't realized anything was amiss until Kate informed him that his stocking was full. Then we had to contain them both until Claire came down.

Luke's big present: a new booster seat for the car.

Kate finally got her Blizzard maker, a year after she asked for it. Tim and I have placed bets as to how long it will last before it breaks. We're having trouble agreeing on the terms; we both think it will be busted by the end of the day.

Claire also scored big with another one-year-late Santa surprise: an Easy Bake Oven. Santa is so weak. He swore he wouldn't cave and give Easy Bake Ovens or Blizzard Makers, but here we are.

Luke got a puppy pillow pet!

And a crane truck he can take apart and put together!

The aftermath.

Santa, left in the dust.

Merry Christmas!