Our 2021 Christmas at Home

We celebrated Christmas at home with our crew on Christmas Eve this year.  It was a warm, beautiful day and we had a wonderful time together.

Christmas always starts the night before, of course.

All ready for sweet kiddos in the morning.

The kids were up bright and early!  I was up in my chair dozing and enjoying the quiet and the lights when the first ones started creeping out.

The kids started in on stockings and flipping on the kip bar right away.  

There was also a cajon to play, so the noise level increased steadily throughout the morning.

Zayden sharing his pringles....apparently Ev needed some, too!

My monkeys...my zoo.

After the first round of chaos (wink) we had brunch.  I had made cinnamon rolls the day before and a breakfast tator tot casserole.  The casserole was a huge hit.  The cinnamon rolls should have been - they were beautiful and moist and smelled perfect, but unfortunately I'd been too heavy handed with the cinnamon, so that was a little disappointing.  Lesson learned.

Paper plates was my gift to me on Christmas.

After we tidied up breakfast it was present time.  The kids were most excited to give their gifts to each other, so we started with that.

Mia had Evalynn's name and was so excited to give her this Care Bear.  Look at Mia in the first picture and Evie below.  What satisfaction to have a happy giver and recipient.

Xavier had Ameliya's name.  He chose an outfit for her American Girl Wellie Wisher doll - an ice skating outfit.

Natalee had Xavier's name and she gifted him a Lego Technic set.

Zayden had Natalee's name and chose for her two books from series that she loves and a pair of fuzzy socks to wear after swim meets! 

Evalynn had Zayden's name and she gave him a Lego set. 

I think the sibling gift exchange is my favorite part of our Christmas.  From the choosing names to helping each one budget their money and pick just the right gift, it's so much fun.

Xavier also had made up his mind he wanted to get this Milwaukee screwdriver for his dad after seeing it in a local ad.  We had a time getting it, as the local store didn't actually have it, but we persevered and it was a successful gift!  Xabe could not wait for him to open it!

Then it was time for gifts from Mom and Dad.  We did something you want, need, and to wear first, so each kiddo had 3 boxes under the tree.  I keep it to this system because it's how my brain can organize it, however in each box there is often more than one thing (for example, the wear box for one kiddo might have winter gloves and clothes).  This keeps things as balanced as I can, while still thinking about each child as an individual and catering to their likes and needs.

Evalynn's something you need was a scooter.  Need might have been loosely interpreted, unless you're 2 and everyone else has a scooter.  She sure doesn't mind getting to go first, though.

All four of the oldest kids got a new stainless steel insulated water bottle in their color for their something you need.  The bottles have a carrying bag with a strap for when we go on walks and a flip top lid and screw top.  Mom thought real hard about this purchase.

Helping Daddy take a turn.

Ev's something you want was a set of Honeybee Acres pals (like Calico Critters) and a van to go with it.

Zayden found his something to wear box....he needed long sleeve shirts and new winter snow gloves and I tucked a set of sweatbands in for basketball!

Xavier needed longer sweats/lounge pants in his something to wear package, but also a new fitness watch.  He was very excited about it.  Because he had a large box that was obviously clothes, I don't think he thought he was getting the watch.  He loves counting his steps and the band broke on his old one and couldn't be replaced.

Evalynn's something to wear was a helmet and tie dye bell bottom outfit.  Helmet....because of the scooter.  All the ones we had were too big.

Natalee had quite a few clothes in her something to wear box, along with new winter gloves.

Magnet marble run to go with our magnatiles and another set of magnatiles for bigger builds for Zayden's something you want.  He never has many ideas for what he wants, so he's both easy and hard to shop for.  Ev is his magnet block buddy so she was excited to see more blocks.

Mia's "want" included a gymnast outfit for her Wellie Wisher and a hair styling head with styling tools.  Her wear both included fresh leggings with no holes in the knees and long sleeved shirts.

not creepy at all...

Xavier's want!  Roller blades with a set of pads.

Natalee also didn't have many ideas for "wants" this year but was hoping for a Playmobil set.  She also had scented pens in her box since the ones she had were used up, and a couple more clothing items.

Every year I go overboard with something to read.  Books are easy for me, important to our family lifestyle, and I just can't help it.  This year I wrapped each child's books in wrapping but then put them all in one large box that was stored in our room until time to open.  We told the kids that they were wrapped together to "symbolize" that more than one child might like the different books being unwrapped so they needed to share with one another.

We had a midday meal and snacks all day and spent the rest of the day playing and spending time together.

Did I mention the beautiful weather?

Did it without falling!

Mike and I sat on the porch swing and enjoyed the day for a few minutes while the kids played.

Back inside to build magnet blocks.

We ended the night with our Jesse Tree devotions.  It was a perfect day.