Christmas Traditions & Christmas Morning

We have several Christmas traditions in our family. One is decorating a gingerbread house. I always buy one of those cheap kits, and Owen loves it. This was the first year he and Buck had to actually assemble the house and not just decorate it. I'm sure next year Luke will want to be in on the fun as well.





I love dressing the boys in Christmas-themed clothes. I know I can only get away with it for so long before they will be refusing to wear it! This year I bought some iron-on ties off of Etsy, and I thought their shirts turned out very cute.




We started a new tradition this year. I bought 2 recordable storybooks from Hallmark and gave them to the grandparents so they could record themselves reading stories for our boys. My parents read Twas the Night Before Christmas, and Buck's parents read Frosty the Snowman. I thought it would be neat to get those out every year and listen to. Below Owen is listening to one of them.




Here's my attempt at getting a picture of myself with both boys in front of the Christmas tree. Luke kept turning to look at the tree, and Owen was acting goofy.





Last year I let Owen have a little tree in his room, and of course, we had to do that again this year. I let him decorate it however he wanted. We decided Luke would get to have his own tree next year. Yesterday at Big Lots I found one for him for $10. Yay! Oh, and this year Owen enjoyed counting down the number of days till Christmas with this little chalkboard I found at the Dollar Store.




Christmas morning Luke was up and ready to go at 5 am just like any other day. He couldn't quite understand what all these toys and presents were doing in the living room. We waited till 6 am to wake up Owen. Santa brought a wagon for both boys. Here's Luke climbing in it.



It took Owen a few minutes to wake up and get over the shock and then he was so excited that Santa had come! He had a great time opening his presents and going through his stocking. Luke, on the other hand, had no interest in opening presents. He just wandered around mostly playing with the wagon and the wrapping paper. Next year will be different I'm sure.



Santa's big surprise was a Power Wheels truck for Owen. He'd been asking for a "battery car" for over a year, and he was so happy to get it! Plus, he was excited it was a Ford truck like Daddy's:)



Oh, and of course, the boys always get a toothbrush in their stockings. Sometimes it's the simple things that are the best!