Christmas 2009

Christmas 2009 was a huge success! I kept the kids home from daycare on Christmas Eve because their school and my office both closed at noon. I figured that by the time I spent two hours getting everyone dressed/fed/into the car and to school/work it would be time to go home. So the four of us hung out at home while Gyasi went to work. I had a few last minute gifts to get so the boys and I headed out to Target. This was the FIRST TIME I had ever taken all three of them anywhere by myself. I'm fine to take two of them (any assortment) but three just seems to cross the line of being reasonable. However, it was Christmas Eve and duty called. I somehow managed to carry the twins into the store whle holding Amare's hand in an effort to prevent him from running wild in the parking lot. Inside the store I was able to locate one of those awesome Target carts that has two red seats and then the regular seat in the cart basket. Fast forward 10 minutes of getting everyone strapped in and we were shopping! When we came out of the store, it was snowing! Living in Texas, we never expect to have a white Christmas--it isn't even anything we ever wish for because we know it is so unlikely. However, Christmas 2009 had something special in store for us to give snow!

We got home and Gyasi managed to come home early! We ordered some pizza for dinner and wrapped presents after the kids went to bed.

We planned on spending the morning with our little family of five--opening presents, cooking, taking a nap (hopefully), etc. Our friend Elle and her mom were coming over for dinner that afternoon. The boys woke up at 6:15 as they normally do and we made a big holiday breakfast. Then it was time for presents and the boys LOVED it! There was wrapping paper everywhere, lots of excitement, and they were all eager to play with their new toys. Below are some pictures!
A sea of wrapping paper (A in blue bib, J in orange bib)

We couldn't get Amare to sit with us for a self-shot photo of all of us...

Julius riding on his new car

Adrian and his fighting penguin...it won't fall over even if you hit/punch/kick it. Amare is quite a fan of this penguin!

The play table was a BIG hit with all 3 boys...not even out of the box yet and already captivating them!

Amare got some new shoes! I can't believe he is wearing a size 9. They are big but still...

Amare kept singing Happy Birthday--he associates presents with birthdays!

We ate dinner at 4pm--I made a turkey, mashed potatoes, homemade stuffing, corn, candied yams, homemade macaroni and cheese, and green bean casserole. It was delicious (if I do say so myself).

The kids went to bed at 8:30pm and we were exhausted--but all in all, it was a great day!