It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

The beautiful scene before morning chaos. I think we were even in bed by 10:00 on Christmas Eve. Aunt Ellen's gift bags look wonderful under the tree, don't they? I love using them. Our Christmas Eve was very, very nice this year. We didn't try to squeeze in Mass, a huge meal, and the secret evening activities. We decided to attend Mass on Christmas morning, and I think the change worked out very well for us. E2 woke up late Christmas morning. All the other presents had been cleared out by the time he got there. Here he is after he opened his last present. He wasn't assigned a theme this year, so he received a couple random toys - little plastic dinosaurs and a pirate ship. Both were huge hits for all the kids, but especially the boys.

Here is A6 opening her bags. Her theme this year was crafts/arts. She received four play silks (huge hits for all the kids), a ton of crafty stuff, and two miniature American girl dolls. She also received a puzzle, game, and book just like the boys. I had to get more school stuff under the tree somehow!

And J4...his theme was construction. He received child sized real tools, a birdhouse to build, and PVC piping. What is PVC piping? Well, it's awesome stuff for any 4yo boy! You can see some of the pieces in the picture above. We bought PVC piping at our local Lowe's, and Mark cut it into 6" and 12" sections. We bought all kinds of connectors - elbows, cross, straights, and 45 degree elbows. They all have had a blast building with the piping. The best part? Marbles fit through it, of course.