Christmas is coming

We had our little family Christmas last night, for various logistical reasons (one of which is that we're not hauling all these gifts to Montana!). It was the sort of night that makes me think how easy it would be to buy everything our kids could ever want, just to see their happiness and joy. It was so fun to watch these two open their gifts. I don't think these pictures really do the experience justice, but here you go...

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^"Wow - a razor scooter; I've been wanting one of these FOREVER!"

Watching Zach open his gifts was entertaining. Anything that wasn't instantly recognizable was immediately set aside; he was constantly anticipating (and begging for) the next gift. One example was a "Batcopter" we got him; he was unimpressed when he opened it, but later, once he spent time actually checking out what it was, declared it one of his favorite gifts.


^Friends of ours very generously gave Zach a Nintendo DS, something they had purchased for someone else but for various reasons didn't end up giving it to her. They asked if we thought Zach would want it... if he'd mind that it was pink. Pink??? That's his second favorite color!!! We got him his favorite game (Mario Kart) to go with it, and he was in pure video game heaven.


^Shopping for Charlie was fun. We picked his gifts based on his reactions to toys he'd been exposed to at ECFE classes or while browsing at Target on outings with Dad & Zach. We picked this little cat because he's fascinated with cats; there's one at our ECFE class that he always picks up and snuggles. And his reaction did not disappoint!

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^Charlie is at the age where pushing buttons is a thrilling experience. He also loves music, so we were delighted with how much he loved this little guitar we got him. He opened it first, and I think would have contentedly played with it the rest of the night if we hadn't forced more gifts on him. Not pictured is the enormous teddy bear we got him. I never thought I'd be the parent who'd buy one of those things, but since every single Wednesday he runs straight to the big bear in our ECFE classroom and dives on it for a hug, we couldn't resist.

And to think, we aren't even done with the gift-giving...!

This last picture isn't even slightly Christmas-related. I couldn't resist snapping it this morning, when looking at my two boys on the couch, glassy-eyed as they stared in complete rapture at the tv. I should probably be embarrassed by how much they are hypnotized by the tv, but instead I'll just laugh...