Sweet, Simple Christmas

I love Christmas.  I love the truth it brings.  I love that it is a time to really reflect on the birth of Jesus.  I don't always think of my Savior as a child, but now that I am a mother, the story of Christ's arrival is much sweeter to me.  The idea that God's Son was willing to come to this earth to bless us with the gift of His life, death, and resurrection completely amazes me.

Christmas for our family is simple.  We eat too much, laugh a bunch, and love on each other.  We read from Luke over and over and over to reiterate the importance of this holiday, and at this point, both Daniel and Samuel can tell you the gifts the wise men brought to baby Jesus.  Our boys, much like Jesus, receive three gifts from Mom and Dad on Christmas morning.  They wake to find them neatly wrapped and set out underneath our "Jesus" tree.  However, they cannot open them until after we read about the gift of Jesus!  

I know we do things a bit different than most, but there's something sweet about the simplicity of what we do.  Jesus didn't come into the world with fancy things, yet He was and is the King of Kings.  He definitely wasn't the best dressed wearing swaddling cloths and lying among pieces of hay, yet He now wears a robe and a crown.  He didn't need gifts because He was and is the gift to the world.  I want our children to know that Christmas is about CHRIST and nothing more.  The reason we lavish our love on our children at this time of year is because Christ first loved us.  Yes, they got way more than they need, but I hope that in the excitement of what was today, our boys reflected on who and why we celebrate:  Jesus Christ, our Lord.

3 boys

3 stockings

3 gifts for each

(Stockings are my favorite Christmas childhood memory - 

my mom was very good about making these special for us, 

so I really want to continue that tradition with our boys.)

Reading the Christmas Story

in our pajamas

Daniel, despite having gone to the doctor

on Christmas Eve and having ear infections,

was SUPER excited to get 

Crazy Forts from Mom and Dad!

Thankful for medicine today.

Samuel, our little musician,

was happy to get a microphone

that plays music AND

records him singing!

Elias really wasn't feeling well...

He has been running temp since Christmas Eve, 

and today his symptoms increased.

However, he really liked his 

Chase and Go car.

BUT not near as much as he liked 

his Laugh and Learn farm he received

from Grandpa a few days before Christmas.

We decided to pull it out on Christmas Day - 

you know, to add to the chaos.  

We were all ready to go back to bed.

No?

Just Mom and Elias.

We really test the "age recommendation"

on toys to their limits.  For instance,

the barn says ages 6-36 months.

No joke, our 3 sons played with this for an hour.

Elias (7 months)

Samuel (31 months = 2 1/2 years)

Daniel (44 months = 3 1/2 years)

Daniel acted like it was the best thing

he's seen in a year!

What Christmas 

(and double ear infections)

does to Daniel!

Asleep on the couch by 7 o'clock