the morning after.

the kids woke us at eight. someone had changed gw's wet diaper and jams. (not surprising, as he pees through his jams and bedding four or five nights a week.) cw had mw's scriptures. they had been downstairs and seen the bounty. after some slight coaxing we rolled out of bed and got to it. i love the calm before the storm on christmas morning. it makes the ferocity of the storm so much greater. mw read from the good book.
the hawley family joined us this year for the holiday.
as payback for a bad picture taken last summer, morgan took this stellar shot of us.
we always had great stocking stuffers when we were kids. i am trying to implement a similar tradition.
bw spent ten minutes going through his stocking. gw wasn't at all interested in what was in his stocking.
molly's best friend, emily, came to stay. and aw couldn't have been happier.
bw opened a toy story three tag junior. he is more interested in sticking his tongue in the light on the bottom of the reader than actually reading the books.
gw loves his chuck the truck. we hate it. i think we all anticipated this.
gma connie sent littlest pet shops. because the seventy-five we have are not sufficient. according to aw, you can never have too many.
cw was in football heaven. he got the mark sanchez jersey he wanted. and the matching figurine.
aw loved the books she opened from cousin em. she can read them by herself. and has. many, many times.
bw loves his magna doodle. so does gw. and finn? let me tell you about finn. any letter we wrote on the doodle? he could read it. he knows all his letters and shapes. and most colors. all his animals. he repeats anything you say. mw drew a picture of a molar on the doodle, showed it to him, and told him what it was. five minutes later, he drew the same thing and flashed the picture. teeth, he said. crazytown.
giraffalaff limbo was a bust. the kids love it. i hid it in the closet.
bw loved the eli manning jersey.
but he loved the lightning mcqueen scooter the most.
mw and i quickly and quietly opened our presents when the kids were done. correction. bw quickly and quietly opened our presents.

the kids seemed genuinely pleased and grateful for the gifts they received. we decided to tone down christmas this year. at least the present part of it. we upped the dosage of treats, christmas music, and family fun time. we tried to focus on the importance of family and being together. giving more than receiving. asking for fewer frivolous things. encouraging requests for true desires of the heart. ironically, we had no lamentations over gifts not received. we watched the kids play together with their new toys. we witnessed true happiness and contentment.