I always struggle with Christmas morning photos. The kids are moving 1,000 miles an hour and while they really are still genuinely excited by all their gifts, I rarely capture the emotion on camera amidst the chaos! As I grabbed photos from the day, technically these were taken early Christmas morning. As we were preparing for Santa's arrival, there was a beautiful snowfall outside, literally giving the luster of midday to objects below :-) I wish I had taken the energy to grab a tripod and set up a few sharp photos but was glad to get these midnight glimpses.
We're still refining some of our traditions, but for this year the kids asked Santa for something they want, something they need, something to wear and something to read, which worked out really well! Catherine's want was a princess blankie and Matthew's was the red Ninjago lego set. They were thrilled Christmas morning. Their "needs" were new towels (with hoods so they could hang better on our hooks!) but they both got to pick their characters. We were all a little surprised Catherine's was poncho style!
Since Matthew was little and still in the crib, we've adapted an old Watson tradition along with Ask Amy's "Book in Every Bed" campaign and the kids each woke up to a box of books (mostly from the used book sale), including a special new book they had asked for. Mostly this gives the kids presents to keep them occupied while James and I get ready. John and I slept through this but apparently James got in some good reading with the kids before the rest of us were ready to get up! As per my families tradition, stockings are also okay to go through before the whole family is there :-)
And if you weren't already overwhelmed, here's baby Batman, riding a dinosaur!
Santa finally learned that good deals at Costco sometimes aren't around at the appropriate times so he's still got a little growing, but we are all happy to add a rocking toy to our home collection.
The rest of the morning was a reminder of the overwhelming generosity of our friends and family who spoil us greatly, of which we are so appreciative. Here's just a smattering of the amazingly thoughtful gifts opened. Catherine loves her new Frozen watch from Amma and Papa! She may not get the time aspect (though she's getting frighteningly close) but she loves that it projects characters on the walls to add to her light shows!
Iris felt like she was missing out on the fun! She has obnoxiously taken to pawing/scratching at the window when she wants inside. Most often this occurs approximately .32 seconds after we have let her out because of her incessant indoor whining. There's no winning with this cat!
Opening their kinetic sand which has been a ton of fun!
A few days before Christmas Matthew made a list of the order in which we'd open presents. Here he is checking his list :-)
Catherine in her first princess dress-up outfits! She still doesn't play with them often on her own but boy does she shine when friends are over and she can show them off!
James and his Lego ballistics building manual from Uncle Matt. Little Matt was waaaaayyyy too interested in daddy's gift. You can't keep that boy away once he hears the word lego!
Due to a reading mix up (not by Matthew, but by an adult who shall remain nameless!) baby John's first gift was some fancy bourbon that's traveled around the world on a ship to age it! Apparently James is going to take the bourbon as he believes it was for him. John is disappointed obviously.
More books!
An awesome apron from Ed and Georgina for my little kitchen helper!
A snowball blaster! We normally don't get great snowball snow in the middle of winter but the past week has been perfect for this and it's gotten lots of use!
Scarf and owl bootie cuties from the UK!
Awesome lego shirts from Uncle John!
Now the kids have matching cars with Teta Sharon!
Catherine was thrilled!
Love that both kids still get really excited about new clothes! Fingers crossed this lasts another year or two.
Nothing says a Pozun family get-together than the 3 and 5 year olds walking around chanting "Come to the Dark Side, We have bacon!" for a few days!
Baby John tested out his new travel chair, play area. Can't wait to have this on hand for next spring and summer's camping adventures and travel!
He still prefers Amma's arms though!
Matthew and his Batman Spuddy!
I don't know what was going on when this was taken but it cracks me up every time I look at it!
Checking out his giant Darth Vader Pez from Uncle Matt. Seriously awesome. It dispenses entire packs of Pez.
And some Polar Bear PJs from Amma and Papa! Catherine was so excited about these she was jumping around like a madwomen. Sadly, her high crashed quickly and quite literally as she ended up knocking an ornament off the tree :(
Our house's first Nerf gun!
A few of us had troubles with gauging size on Amazon this year, as Matt got us what seems like the world's largest cribbage board to replace our plastic travel board and supplement our very difficult to play on antler board. Too bad it didn't come with any luck for Uncle Matt as we broke it in by pretty much everyone soundly beating him!
Dad and his awesome new BBQ thermometer!
An enthusiastic Catherine! Seriously, she was soooo hard to photograph!
Matthew checking out his new Snap Circuits!
It was a truly fantastic Christmas all around. The gifts were nice and the company fantastic. Once the dust settled, Matthew locked himself away to put together his 3 new lego sets from both grandparents and Santa, while Catherine spent most of the day as a princess and the rest of us put the crib board and thermometer to good use. It is kinda fun to look back almost a month later as pretty much every gift has slipped easily into our daily routine. I received a fantastic new crock pot from my parents that I've used a few times each week and a new blender from Mas and Pas that sees plenty of use, as well as tripods from nearly everyone :-) that I've put to good use for photos! Oh, and right now we are dutifully enjoying the TV antenna Matt got us that has allowed us to watch TV in bad weather AND when people are going up and down the stairs! We're slowly moving on up in the world :-)
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