Tech the Halls ~ Christmas 2011

Well, it's 7:00 p.m. and Brynne and I are laying in my bed with the doggies.

Rick is sacked out on the couch. Dawson just ran out to go to his best friend's house who lives two streets away. Eli is in his room. We are tired from a day of doing absolutely nothing. Brynne is currently playing with her new Nintendo 3DS, making Miis of all her family members. Eli is watching America's Funniest Home Videos on Netflix on his new Nintendo 3DS. My new iPad is re-charging from being played with so much. Dawson's Xbox 360 is smoking from all it's usage! We just might have to get a bigger modem to support all of the new Christmas technology.

Yes, our Christmas was a techy one. We kind of went big this year. I read about lots of families who were scaling way back, some who were doing the three gifts to symbolize the number of gifts Jesus received from the wisemen. We did the opposite, really, and I am not ashamed of that. For many, many, many years we have done Christmas the lean way. We don't buy a lot for the kids throughout the year. They have to wait until their birthdays, which are all right before Christmas, to get bigger ticket items. Our kids have been exceptionally good this year. They have done excellent in school. They have grown in leaps and bounds in treating each other with kindness. We wanted them to have a great Christmas. Really, they each only asked for two or three things. But I knew many things they wanted that they didn't ask for. They aren't greedy kids. They deserved to be rewarded with fun.

They slept in until 9:00 this morning. We were planning to go to church at 10:00, but didn't make it. Instead, we stayed in our pajamas all day! I made cinnamon rolls and biscuits and gravy and we opened gifts. Here are pics of the haul ...

A saucer gaming chair (that he's sitting in, and a futon couch not in the pic), Totes slippers, a sterling silver guitar pick necklace, a box of clothes from American Eagle, Hollister, and Pac Sun, an Xbox 360 one-year Live contract, a light saber, a Hurley shirt from grandma, and two video game posters from Eli and Brynne. (From Kyndal he got some guitar pics and a Capo). In his stocking was a Hurley leather wallet, Hurley socks, underwear, and candy.

A Nintendo 3DS, light saber, Mad Season 1 DVD, Mario 3DLand game for DS, Fossil Fighters DS game from Dawson, Mario and Sonic at the 2012 London Olympic Games game for Wii, a new sled, a board game and gun from Brynne, Bop It! XT from grandma, new pjs from Kyndal, and in his stocking was new slippers, a Finn McMissile car, a Sonic Boom character for his Skylanders game, underwear, a stocking cap, and candy.

A Nintendo 3DS, Kirby Mass Attack DS game, Barbie and the 12 Dancing Princesses dvd, Barbie and the Princess Charm School dvd with Blair and Delancey Barbies, Just Dance 3 for Wii, a pink lap tray with marker tower, new colored pencils and crayons (not pictured), Jenga from grandma, three Barbie puzzles and a coloring book from Eli, and Barbie clothes from Dawson. Kyndal got her new Hello Kitty pj bottoms. And in her stocking was a Hello Kitty DS game, puppy stocking cap, underwear, more Barbie clothes, and candy.

Daddy got an RCA internet streaming device (like a ROKU), a rechargeable flashlight (because he can never find one with batteries), a brushed oil bronze hand towel rack for dishrags (because he cleans the kitchen at night and hates not having anywhere to hang the dishrag), a golf book, some pj bottoms, a Dr. Pepper t-shirt, some new undies and some jalapeno stuffed green olives. Oh, and he's taking a 5-day vacation by himself in a couple of days to go to the Fiesta Bowl game in Arizona.

Mama was happy! She got all of her favorite things: new pjs and slippers from Dawson, a cozy green plush blanket from Brynne, an electric candle warmer (like Scentsy) from Eli, a personalized "T" button picture made by Eli, some thermal pants and top from my mom with a book, and from my sweet hubby a new iPad 2 and $50 gift card so I can get accessories for it!!!

We all also got money from my mom and dad, and the kids got GameStop giftcards from my sister.

Kyndal wasn't here, but we got her new Ugg boots, a wand curler, a pink blow dryer, a pink personal back heating pad, an Ed Hardy belt, a smokey eyes makeup kit, undies in her stocking (a tradition), a crocheted headband, and new gloves. We also got her a plane ticket to fly to Pensacola to visit my family for the last half of her break.

For lunch we had candy and more breakfast.

I had planned to make an elegant dinner of filet mignon, potatoes, green bean casserole, rolls, and pumpkin pie. Rick and I decided to just eat leftovers from Christmas Eve and Eli and Brynne had macaroni and cheese.

What were the favorite gifts? Mine, of course, was my iPad. That was Rick's favorite gift, too. He'll be playing with it often, I know. Dawson loved his new blue light saber. He's had it in his hands almost all day. Eli's favorite gifts were his Nintendo 3DS and a $1 gun Brynne got him at the Dollar Tree. Brynne's favorite gifts were her Nintendo 3DS and her new puppy stocking cap. She also spent lots of time playing with her Barbies.

To me, this was just the best day ever. I think everyone in my little family agreed. We'll be enjoying it all year, too.