I'll Be Home For Christmas

Bryan and I really like the idea of our kids waking up every Christmas morning at our house. So while we may travel around the holidays, you will usually find us at home for Christmas.

Before the kids wake up, we turn the Christmas lights on and put on some holiday tunes. Here's a few photos of what our house looks like Christmas morning:

We wake the kids up (yes, you heard correctly), and have them sit on the stairs (long enough for Bryan to get the camcorder on and in position). Can you tell they are excited? Aaron still doesn't quite get it yet...so he's thinkin' about it. Kate is ALL smiles.

They calmly walked downstairs and then ran to the Christmas tree. They both seemed pretty happy with all the gifts Santa brought them this year. Here's their favorite gifts:

Kate really wanted a Nintendo DS this year...she got it...and it was PINK.

Her favorite color, of course.

Since we took Aaron to see WALL-E at the "BIG" movies, he has taken a liking to the main character. Anytime he sees a picture of WALL-E, he gets so excited and says, "Look, Look, Look...it's WALL-E". So, when Aaron found this Look and Find WALL-E book, he wanted Daddy to read it to him.

Want to take a guess at what DVD he is holding?

We also opened some gifts from Mommy & Daddy and Mema & Pop (who were spending Christmas with the Florida Shermans this year). Kate was super-excited to see that she got a Paula Deen cookbook for kids...and it was signed by Paula herself! Thanks so much Mema for getting her book signed. She really was impressed.

After they looked at all of their gifts, and opened their stockings, it was PLAYTIME. Here is Aaron playing with his police car, Kate trying to figure out her Nintendo DS, and Daddy desperately wanting to build his Lincoln Log cabin.

Of course, we didn't get to play for long. We were off to my Mom & Dad's house once more. We got to visit and play games last night, but today we get to....EAT BREAKFAST! I bet you thought I was going to say open gifts, right? Yeah, well...we do that too. But I love my mom's Christmas morning breakfast. Eggs, bacon, sausage, grits, biscuits and coffee. Yum.

Yes, we are here! Let the eatin' begin. Looks like I wasn't the only one excited about breakfast.

Mom, you awake? Kekey, I busted you eating already! Sit down and make yourself at home.

Okay, so we made the kids wait long enough. Time to open those presents! It's a mess, as you can see! I always have a hard time opening my gifts because I just love watching everyone open up their gifts.

My mom's gift from the girls was a DVR. She had no idea that she was getting it. So much fun!

Here was the card that AV made to explain the gift. I think Mom was excited and I know that she'll enjoy having it once she figures out how to use it.

Aaron's favorite gifts were a firetruck that squirted real water and these building blocks.
He really does love building them up, just to knock them back down.

Okay, Kelly. You asked for this one. When you pose for a picture like this, you have to know that it's going to be used. Thanks for being our human trash compactor.

Just a picture of AV and her hair, styled by yours truly. Andrea had to leave to go to David's house, and didn't want to have to dry her own hair. So, Merry Christmas Dree-Dree, I hope you like it.

And from our house to yours, I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas.
Thanks for your gift of friendship. May God Bless You!