Our Christmas

We'll be going to Jesse's parents' tonight for the annual big get-together. We do a fun gift game (Dirty Santa), and eat chicken and sausage gumbo, potato salad, etc. And of course just hang out :-) The kids open their gifts before we do our game and then spend most of the night happily entertaining each other in the playroom.

Christmas Day we usually spend with my dad, his wife, and my brother's family. It's a 2-hour drive each way so it's a long but enjoyable day!

Since we have a late night Christmas Eve and an early morning Christmas Day, we open presents Christmas Eve when we get back home. We don't do Santa so it works out really well! The boys get to open and play with their gifts while Jesse and I spend time winding down and enjoying the boys' excitement :-)

We don't have to get up super early Christmas Day, we don't have to rush through opening presents, and the boys get to play with their new stuff without worrying about time. Sure, they're up really late. But it's so much easier than having to wake them up early and be in such a rush! We wake them up with the anticipation of going to Grand-Daddy's and Meme's who they only see a few times a year. And they get to spend the car trip sleeping ;-) By the time we get there, they're excited and ready for the big day :-)

I'm sure we'll fine-tune the way we do things as the boys get older, but for now this works out great for us!

Merry Christmas to everyone! Hope you have a blessed time with family and friends, and don't forget the Reason for the season!!!