December 25th: Christmas!!!!
12/25/17 Christmas Day!!! It was wonderful! Eric and I managed to stay awake longer than the children to put out the Christmas Train. Donovan loved Boxy the Snowman from last year so much he asked me to do something fun with this year’s presents. So I built a train out of boxes. My cardboard stash is amazing thanks to Mom’s new house. I used the lego train we built this month on Epic Lego day as a model. I put presents for all the kids in the front of the engine, the rest of Donovan’s presents in the coal car, Maia’s presents in the flatbed car and Serenity in the caboose. They loved it! Serenity woke up first, as usual, and very quietly drove the train. She also whispered excitedly that she could see a polar bear in Maia’s stocking. =) Donovan woke up and squealed. Sleepy Daddy shushed him at that point because Maia was still asleep, but he had a BIG grin on his face as he pointed to the train! I got sleepy morning snuggles from both of them while they waited patiently for Maia to wake up. After awhile I lost my patience and let them get into their stockings. =) Donovan got Destiny cards, as requested, a Boba Fett fidget spinner, some M&Ms, and a little lego kit. Serenity was THRILLED by the unicorn slippers she found in her stocking. She also got Animal Jam trading cards which she had missed out on at the last class auction, so she was pretty jazzed about that too. Maia got a polar bear friend and Rudolph slippers in her stocking, and she got Ryder to complete her Paw Patrol collection. She brought them along to play board games with us later in the day. =) Daddy got licorice, Ferrero Rocher, a little Star Wars Lego kit and a Chewbacca car, which got just the reaction I hoped. I love his Wookie noise =)
Stocking Pics: DZ's saying "Seriously?!?!? SIX Destiny packs?!?!?!
Once Maia woke up and everyone checked their stockings, it was time to ride the train! In the front of the train we had three numbered gifts as I’d bought each of them a personalized book, a mermaid pillow, and a little toy. (Animal Jam Panda for Serenity, Tiger for DZ, and a Palace Pet for Maia.) They were thrilled about the pillows and played with them for quite a while. Serenity had gotten one from Patricia and Jack and Henry a couple days ago and they all wanted turns with it, so this worked out well. It was the first time I’d bought a present six months in advance (there was a sale) and I actually managed to keep it until Christmas. Usually I can’t wait. =)
Donovan got Ninjago for the X-box, an R2D2 night light, and a box full of Star Wars goodies including 12 socks, a Yoda tie, and his first Nerf Gun and target. It’s Rey’s blaster =) And new walkie talkies that should theoretically work all over the neighborhood!
Serenity got a microscope with some extra prepared slides, a set of 150 rocks to identify, an Animal Jam playset, and a Rebel Girls book. Oh, and Zoo Tycoon for the x-box. Fortunately, we downloaded it a few days in advance. We should have done the same for the Ninjago game but silly us, we expected that since we had a disc it wouldn’t need to download!
Maia got a bathtub toy that makes bubble foam like an ice cream dispenser, a Rey Doll with BB8, (which DZ covets. We may be ordering Leia and r2d2 for him with his Christmas gift card from Papa). Her favorite was a box of three new Elephant and Piggie books and an Elephant and Piggie stuffed animal set. =) It was so cute, she had to read them right away! She got a play-doh set with a firetruck that would shoot play-doh water.
Eric had already opened his Pandemic Legacy set, and I’d run out of wrapping energy so his presents were stacked inside a single box that I wrapped a bunch of Washi tape around. He got Sherlock Holmes, some logic puzzle books, a Graphic Novel set about Darth Vader, and a set of 12 days of Star Wars socks. It was so funny, last night as we were waiting for the kids to fall asleep, he said, you know, I actually really like the short no-show socks to wear around the house, could you keep an eye out for another set? I said, “Oh sure, I’ll keep my eyes open” but they were already under the tree! Maia gave him a box of muffin mix and poppy seeds, as she was certain he wanted muffins for Christmas and he told her poppyseed was his favorite. But not lemon poppyseed so we have to mix it up =) Donovan gave Daddy ten games of his choice and Serenity made a poster for Wainright Family Game Night with all their favorite games to play as a family, like Legendary.
My big present had been sitting in the closet for MONTHS. I knew what it was, as I’d asked Eric if he wanted a suggestion this year. I’d been thinking about having this lady whose paintings I like paint one of three kids swinging. But I hadn’t actually gotten to see it, Eric checked to make sure it made it ok but it just languished in our closet since October. It’s BEAUTIFUL!!! The kids got me wonderful things too. Maia got me a big butterfly punch, and Serenity got me a canvas letter C for us to decorate. Donovan gave me money to buy pokecoins and offered to go on a pokewalk with me =) I loved that present when Serenity gave it to me for my birthday, so it was so sweet he remembered that and got it for me! I was really excited because I never spend actual money on Pokemon but I’m totally addicted to it. So fun!
After we opened presents we just lazed around for the rest of the morning playing all our goodies! I did a little baking for our guests that will arrive late today, but that was about it for productivity. We played our newest board game, Near and Far, which is a lot like Above and Below. Extremely complicated when you read it the first time, but really fun once you get the hang of it. And honestly, it feels like you win if you just accomplish your in game goals and get to adventure to hear the choose-your-own-adventure type stories, so we all had a blast.
Maia played with her play-doh, spent over an hour in the tub with her new tub toy, played with Rey and called her “my friend.” She also read all three elephant and piggie books more than once. =)
