Christmas Preparations

It has been such a joy to get ready for Christmas this year. Not that it wasn't last year, but I was 8 months pregnant with Abby so I was huge and moving a little slow. Bryce and Caleb are beyond excited about every aspect of Christmas this year. They loved looking at all the ornaments and decorating our Christmas tree. I had bought a little tree for them last year and since Abby is so mobile we decided to let them put it in their room. They decorated it with the little ornaments that we had but decided that it needed more so for about a week now they have been making ornaments. They color pictures out of their color books and then we cut them out and put string through them. Their little tree is hilarious! I has so many paper ornaments you can't hardly see the tree!
Abby loves the Christmas tree and the lights. Everytime she sees our tree she points her finger at it and says "Oh". It is adorable. For how much of a go getter she is she has really done pretty well with leaving the tree alone. Of course she has two little boys that tattle on her if she gets too close.
Bryce and Caleb have been asking "is it Christmas yet?" everyday since we put up the tree so we made one of those paper chains to help us count down the days. Every morning Bryce makes sure we take off a ring. He would hate to delay Christmas!
Robb and I have been done Christmas shopping for the kids for awhile now but you know how it is. You see cute things that they have to have but for the most part we are done. We took the kids to Toys R Us the other night and we each took a boy and had them shop for their brother. This was pretty funny. Bryce found about 5 things that Caleb needed and had a hard time deciding which one to buy. Caleb on the other hand found about 100 things that he would like and could share with Bryce. At the end they both picked out a very nice thoughtful gift for each other. Awhile back they had decided that Abby needed a soft blankie like they have. Of course they got those blankets 3 1/2 years ago and I couldn't find a pink one like it so I had a friend at work that sews replicate their soft blankies and they are very excited to give her that.
On Saturday I had a work party that Santa was coming too. Bryce and Caleb were very excited! We got there and Santa was already handing out gifts from his bag and the boys seemed a little nervous at first. When their names were called they were quick to go get their gifts. Bryce got a Hulk and Cyclops figurine and Caleb got racing motorcycles. They loved their gifts. Even Abby got a gift from Santa. She looked pretty terrified when I sat her on Santas lap but I got one okay picture before you could see she was ready to start bawling. Later on I got a picture with Santa and all three kids. The boys were very curious about Santa after they warmed up to him a bit, they had to ask where the sleigh was, where the reindeer were, and what do reindeer eat. We now not only have to leave cookies but apples and carrots too.
I put up my nativity scene last night and this morning when the boys got up they were asking questions about it like: Why is that Jesus baby in a barn? Which one is the doctor? Were the animals nice to him? I loved this. This time of year we tend to get caught up in the Santa thing and giving gifts, I really want to take the time so my kids know the true meaning of Christmas.
Merry Christmas