Presents from Mommy & Daddy

We opened presents with our kids on Christmas Day afternoon. We enjoyed a lovely Christmas morning church service--on Christmas Eve the sermon was about Jesus being the light of the world and on Christmas Day we were encouraged to be the light to the world. Great message!

For gift giving, we keep it simple. Three gifts each. That's it. One item is usually clothes, one item is usually a toy and the last item is something educational (usually a book/game--but this year I did puppets).

Ephraim picked which gifts the kids should open first (since I'm a little OCD that way--if the girls are getting the same thing, then I want them to open it together).

They would open their small package first. What's inside? Glove puppets that they helped me pick out a long time ago in one of our homeschool catalogs. What's a glove puppet? Not to be confused with a hand puppet. Glove puppets use each finger--like a glove--to operate the puppet. Ephraim got a horse & t-rex. Emmet got a fawn and pterodactyl. Eliza got a ladybug and duck. Eden got an owl and giraffe. The kids love them!

Showing off their puppets.

Next, it was time for their toy.

Emmet had requested a new remote control toy since his other one is broke. So, I got him one from Discovery Channel. It's a four wheeler Orca remote control and he is thrilled!

Eden's toy is a hair accessory set for her dolls. It comes with rollers, a cart, a cape, pretend shampoos & creams.

And Eliza's toy is a large pony!

And Ephraim is excited about his 4D Shark skeleton/puzzle from Discovery Channel, too. He's been eyeing this in the catalog for a year or more, but I was waiting for him to get a bit older--and for his siblings to get a bit older, too. Now Ephraim can tell you all about the insides of a shark.

And then it was time for their clothing item.

The girls got a comfy/cute outfit from Gymboree that I bought on clearance a long time ago.

Emmet got a green John Deere hooded sweatshirt. The boys loved the hooded sweatshirts I got them last year that were Case IH, so this year I went with John Deere.

And Ephraim's is gray.

It was at this point that Eden launched a full range tantrum about wanting more presents to open. She was hysterical for quite a while. Sorry, honey. Three presents is more than enough. If we bought more, they wouldn't appreciate all the gifts. Three gifts was good enough for Jesus, it's sufficient for my kids, too.

Seth and I did exchange a few gifts too. Seth now has a magazine subscription to Answers in Genesis (Ken Ham's creationist publication) and some DVDs of Dirty Jobs. We don't have cable, so it is nice to buy the Discovery Channel DVDs and enjoy them at home, whenever we want, as many times as we want. Seth got me a new pair of outdoor work boots and some pajamas.

We finished out the afternoon playing cards and watching movies with my parents and Paul.

Truly, what a Merry Christmas it was!