Here it is - that golden moment in the early morning light before anyone has opened any presents. I'm of the opinion that waking up to the sight of the presents under the tree, stockings stuffed and the cookies eaten by Santa is far better than opening the presents themselves. As a child Brandon used to get up at some point in the middle of the night every Christmas Eve just to go out and see the tree and be alone with it all for awhile before morning came and the moment was gone. Kate does the same thing now. This year she was up at 3:00, checked everything out, read a book until 4:30, then slept until 5:30. The next two kids woke up shortly after that, but Brandon and I did the best we could to sleep through the whisperings until almost 7:00.
You see Brandon's stocking on the far right? Totally empty. That's because his wife fell asleep early in the process of setting up for Christmas morning and he did most of the work, with the exception of filling his own stocking. I filled it eventually.
Nothing like a little chocolate to start the day off right!
We follow the tradition of Brandon's family and do stockings first, then breakfast, then opening the other presents. We also go from youngest to oldest, choosing gifts from under the tree to give to someone to open while everyone else watches. We go around and around until all the presents are gone. No rip and tear at this house - after all the preparation and anticipation, we like to drag out Christmas morning as long as we can!
The kids look forward to Christmas breakfast as much as anything else. Homemade "Clone of a Cinnabon" cinnamon rolls, sausage breakfast casserole and grapefruit halves with sugar. I don't remember when this became a tradition in our little family, but it's to the point now where I can't vary any part of the meal or someone is going to have something to say!
Go here for the recipe.
The year of the Snuggi!! Kate wanted one bad. That and a pocketknife. (She's been waiting for years.) And some new heelies. I don't have any other good Christmas morning pictures because I just wanted to enjoy the day, but Will's favorite presents were a hand me down Unicycle his Uncle Trenton got for Christmas probably twenty years ago, the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, and a Batman game for his DS. Elizabeth says her favorite gifts were a little remote control car meant for Rachael (funny how that worked out), a microphone, and a little wooden cookie "baking" set.
There's just nothing quite like spending the day in your pajamas, opening presents and eating candy. Is it any wonder kids of all ages love Christmas so much?
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