Merry Christmas!

The presents have been opened, and mostly cleaned up. Toys have been played with. Soon it will be time to make dinner. It has been a quiet, peaceful, but very enjoyable Christmas morning. Here are some pictures:

Here is the tree on Christmas Eve before we went to bed.  The cats were sequestered in the bathroom (with food, water and litter box) for the night so they wouldn't shred the wrapping paper or eat the ribbon.

Here is Steven on Christmas Eve, preparing the cinnamon rolls for our breakfast.

Hannah received yarn and knitting looms, crochet hooks, knitting needles and a book on How To Knit. She also received a "Sew a Teddy Bear" kit, pens, and lots of felt.

 This is a nativity scene that Hannah created out of a shoebox, a manilla folder, toilet paper rolls, scraps of fabric, pipecleaners, etc. She is very creative!

Grandma sent John drawing pads and markers. He also got science kits, a puzzle, modeling clay and a Skip-bo game.

Here is Joshua after opening the treasure chest and map that I made for him. I stained and varnished the chest and created the map (including designing it on Photoshop, printing it out, burning the edges, rubbing oil into it, etc.) Other gifts he received included several dress up items: a superhero cape and mask, a pirate hat with hook and eyepatch, a compass, an apron, sunglasses and bandanna.

 

Here is Peter with his Buzz Lightyear action figure. He also got a big red rubber ball, a backpack, and a school book.

Each of the kids received a stuffed animal/puppet, and after all the gifts had been opened, they enjoyed dressing them up with pieces from other gifts. 

It has been a great day so far. I'm looking forward to the ham and pies later. What a wonderful day!