This year we drew names for Christmas, but I tried to make it a little different so I told the kids we were doing Secret Santa this year, and they weren't supposed to tell who they drew. Then, they were supposed to do secret acts of service for this person, and whenever they did service for them or anyone else in our family, they were to write it down and put it in the white "Jesus stocking" that we have on our mantle. I had strips of red and green paper and a pen on the mantle for them to write their service down on. To my surprise, it worked pretty well. Of course the older kids are better at keeping secrets than the younger ones--and it really wasn't hard to figure out who had who after awhile, but the kids were really good sports, and our Jesus stocking is quite full of little paper slips that we will read next year! I think we will stick with this tradition! Anyway, the kids opened their gifts from each other on Christmas Eve--and they really loved them! Just look:
Abby had Ashlie--and she tried to fake her out with the little gift in the big box trick:
Meet Chloe--Ashlie's newest Webkinz. She loves these things!
Ashlie had Josh--and it seriously took her like 45 minutes in the store to find the PERFECT gift for him! Man, was she picky! This is what she settled on:
Emie had Abby, and knew just what she wanted! You see, Abby wrote 3 columns on her Christmas list this year--one for Santa, one for Mom and Dad, and one for Sibling Gifts. She was VERY organized about the whole thing! The only problem? She asked for like $1000 worth of stuff! Needless to say, we helped her whittle that thing down a bit! But the gift Emie bought was on all three lists, so she wanted to make sure she got this new robe. It is a long walk from my shower where she usually showers to her room upstairs, and now she will be cozy and warm--thanks Em!
Josh had Erin, and Todd took him shopping for her, so we really weren't sure what those two would come up with...I think the ASU shirt they picked out was so cute! I want one--it has some BLING! Good job Josh!
Jack drew Ashlie's name--and he found the perfect shirt for her at Tilly's--man, this kid sure has a sense of STYLE! Go Jack!
But the best present--hands down went to little Jack, from Erin. She was SO excited to have him open the perfect present she found at the mall--and sure enough it was a total HIT! She got him a good old fashioned Jack in the Box from a specialty store in the mall, and spent $25--even though the gift limit was $10--because she thought that he just HAD to have it! It was SO funny to watch him pop it up again and again and giggle. We all got a big kick out of it! Way to be thoughtful Erin!
Just look at the concentration--so CUTE!
After the kids presents, we always open our PJ's on Christmas Eve. I found such cute ones for the girls on Aero.com that I bought some for myself as well. My poor children were so embarrassed--apparently it isn't cool when mom dresses like them! Oh well, they were warm and cozy & super cute!
FINALLY, after a super fun, but long night--the stockings were hung, everything was ready:
And Todd and I finally got a few moments to ourselves! Santa BABY! (The teenagers will LOVE that one--HA HA!).
Merry Christmas!
