Christmas Morning

 

Well, the kids apparently made it to the Nice List once again.  They awoke at 6:30, so we followed our tradition of reading the Christmas story from the New Testament, and then....

Below, the kids are unwrapping their newest set of Adventures in Odyssey Cd's.  They love AIO, and I love that they love it.

 A new indoor/outdoor basketball for the boys to share.  

Because they have worn-out their old ones this year!

John - my shark lover - wanted new house slippers. 

 So Shark Week slippers were a perfect gift!

Below, Anna would receive a new silver charm for her charm bracelet that she got last Christmas.  This year's charm was a teddy bear.  I received a charm and charm bracelet from my grandmother when I was a little girl, and I still wear it today.

 This was the first year that the kids were allowed to spend their own money on gifts.  Wanting to make sure they didn't overspend, Tim set the $5 rule:  every gift the children bought - whether for a sibling or a parent - could cost no more than $5.  At first, I was dubious.  But WOW!  You wouldn't believe how each child could spread $5!!!   Sometimes they bought favorite types of food, such as $.99  2-liters or favorite packages of cookies.  They also discovered that if you use a coupon, you could get a gift worth much more than the $5 limit (which is what John did below...using a 40% off coupon to buy his brother an art set at Hobby Lobby).  But perhaps most creative of all was Christopher, who made his dad and me a set of coupons for such treats as making our bed, bringing us breakfast in bed, and offering to clean our car inside and buying us a car wash for the outside...which costs about $5.  I'm so proud of my creative kids!

One of the most glorious messes in the world is the mess created in the living room on Christmas day. Don't clean it up too quickly. ~Andy Rooney

--Kara