Christmas Back at the Homestead. . .

After 4 posts about Christmas at Kelly and Cecilia's house, I figured I might as well record the little belated Christmas celebration we had when we returned home! We returned home on the Saturday after Christmas - sometime in the evening. We unloaded the car and quickly put our little ones to sleep. They knew that our gifts to each other would be exchanged the next day, and they were eager to sleep so that they could wake up to Christmas once again!!!! Erik and I had to get up before the boys on Sunday morning to make sure everything was ready, and that means getting up before 6! I took a picture of the tree in the early morning light. . .And, the stuffed stockings. . .Shortly after we got everything ready, we heard the pitter patter of little feet on the steps. Erik insisted that we wait in our bed for them. So, we just listened and smiled as we heard each one announce with pride their gifts that sat by the tree unwrapped. They ran into our room excitedly and jumped on our bed!! Then, we all headed to the living room to open gifts ~ after a pot of coffee was made, of course!!!! :-)

Joshua was most excited about his football gloves. I'm sure there is a better name for them, but I do not know it, so football gloves will have to do!!!Lijah got an awesome new "motorcycle" all his own!!!JCT, oh, JCT, words cannot describe how excited he was about his dragon chair. And, 2 weeks later, he is still just as excited about it!!! He named it Elvis. Doesn't he look good sitting in it??Erik Daniel wasn't too interested in his presents. He was more interested in the balls on the tree. "Bahh. Bahhh." I think he took every one of our balls, within his reach, off the tree!!Joshua made some gifts for all of us and wrapped them in boxes he stole from our recycling bin outside!!! Isn't he clever??My gift was the heart picture. The t-rex picture was for JCT, and the "Teckses" Longhorn picture was for Elijah, I think. And, that other little circle picture, yeah, I can't remember what that was or who it was for ~ it's the thought that counts, right?Okay, now for the big finale. . . We took them out and opened the garage, and guess what was behind Door Number One. . .They destroyed their first gator by getting sand in the motor. So, after 2 years, we bought them some more riding vehicles!!! They were tickled!!They had races. . .They drove around the yard like it was a little town. They drove for hours and hours until their batteries were nearly exhausted ~ not to mention their parents!!! They took turns giving each other rides! Erik Daniel, who remained a pedestrian much of the day, even tagged along for some of the fun every now and then! Now, some might find this next photo alarming. . . But, he actually did quite well for a 2 year old!!! It was a fun day!!! It was definitely one of those days where Erik and I smiled and thought about how fleeting time is, and how we won't have enough of these Christmases where the boys are young and wide-eyed. . . Happy memories!