Christmas Eve Day

With Christmas falling on a Sunday this year, things in the present-opening-department went a little bit differently.

Backing up to Friday afternoon, I got a huge surprise when I walked in the door after a couple
of afternoon errands.  Shane had bought, picked up, and installed a new hutch for me in my
dining room while I was out! It was one I had seen months ago and commented on.
We both really liked it--needless to say, it was a wonderful gift.
Shane was ready for me and got a great shot of the shock on my face!

The next day, Saturday morning, we decided on a whim to open presents that day.
We didn't want to have to rush through everything to get to church in time and have it be hectic;
we were so glad we did that!
We did stocking first. Lola was so excited!

The boys had the opportunity (at school) to spend some of their money in 'Santa's workshop'.

Our PTO puts it on, and they have some really cute things that are very reasonably priced, 

so that the children can pick out their own presents for Dad, Mom, or siblings. 

Colin used his very own cleaning money and bought me this ornament 

(as did Cameron--so I am very luck to own two of them!)

And he also used his own money to buy Lola a very special necklace.

It is a black rope style necklace (perfect for the breakage factor) with a pink cross on the end.

She loves it and wears it all the time!

Then it was on to the boys' gift for their sister. 

They all picked it out for her and couldn't wait for her to open it.

I love the look on her face when she saw all of the dress up inside!

Immediately, the items had to be taken out and put on Lolee. They just could not wait.

The boys opened up lots of goodies. I love to shop clearance all year round, and stash it away in a box. When Christmas came this year, I felt like I hardly had to buy anything because we had so much already and had gotten it all so inexpensively! Two birds with one stone. *grin*

Anything BEARS always brings smiles to their faces!

I found these great gift sets last year, late winter, for $4 apiece! 

Each came with a t-shirt, a hat, and a football. Score!

Ethan was so cute. All day, anything he got had to be immediately put on. 

Hence, the Mario pajama pants!

And the Bears sweatshirt...I could have posted five different shots of him wearing different things!

Cameron, just having opened a new Bears sweatshirt

And Colin, with his sweatshirt!

The Lolee girl opened up her second big present:

A Veggie Tales Nativity set that sings her favorite song, Away in a Manger!

She saw this in the store and loved it immediately. 

I knew we had to get it for her and she plays with it all the time.

The boys have had so much fun with this Crayola crayon maker. Hours of creativity.

Love Ethan's face. This child absolutely adores anything Imaginext!

At the very end, we gave Daddy his gift. Does the shape give anything away? *giggle*

A new guitar! Shane has been asking for one and if you remember, even Cameron asked Mrs. Claus for one for Daddy! The boys wanted him to take it out right away, and as we suspected, he loved it.

We had so much fun Christmas Eve day....after a few hours playing with all our new fun things, it was off to our Church's Christmas Eve program! 

To be continued....