Merry Christmas!

Here's a picture of our tree Christmas Eve before the boys went to bed and one Christmas morning when they woke up! Looks like someone arrived overnight to deliver wrapped packages!

And what do you know, he ate our cookies and drank our milk?!?! I loved Joshua's smile when he saw that the milk and cookies were gone!

Caleb insisted on wearing his cowboy hat that morning. And since it was Christmas, we let him! :) :) :) He asked us to call him Woody. So, we did.

We tried to get a couple pictures of the boys in their PJs in front of the tree and packages before they were all torn open. I think the suspense was killing the kids!

How I love my little men! How blessed we are to have them in our lives! How special children make Christmas. :) :) :) There is nothing better than waking up in the warmth and comfort of your own home Christmas morning with a healthy family.

Shawn & I were sleepy but in good spirits. For anyone who knows Shawn, you know he is NOT  a morning person. He functions best after lunch time and a lot of caffeine.

We let the boys start opening their gifts, one at a time. Our presents were organized by color, and I even insisted on numbering them so we knew which gift was being opened when (just like my parents did when I was little). Shawn is a meticulous wrapper and wrapped all the gifts except his own, which I did of course. I am so thankful for my husband and his unique talents (and willingness to use them)!

Joshua opened a game for the Wii and then Caleb opened a game for his Leapster that we knew he was getting from Mamaw. He plays Joshua's all the time anyway, so he was excited for the game.

Ryan's first gift was a ball from Santa. All the boys love it! :) Notice my PJs have changed. We opened our gifts from Mamaw & Papaw and found brand new PJs for Shawn & me. They were both perfect! :) We changed immediately.

We got Caleb a Toy Story Operation Game, and Joshua a "Rory's Story Cube" game, which was a huge hit. The boys call it a "dice" game, and you take turns telling stories based on the pictures on the dice you roll. We have played it a ton!

Caleb opened his helicopter and Joshua opened his smaller Francesco car.

The boys also got pencils, orange play-doh (which Joshua had specifically asked for), a tractor trailer truck, and fire rescue vehicles that had stickers and a coloring pad with it. Joshua had another Toy Story Mania Wii game that we gave him.

I loved Caleb's expression as he opened his helicopter. So sweet!

And here's Ryan opening his music cube.

The boys opened their bigger gifts, which was a huge tool set for Caleb (that Daddy has to set up in our garage) and the big race track for Joshua with the shake 'n go Francesco car that he begged for. It has been a big hit. The kids LOVE to race the cars on the track. We set it up immediately. FUN!

This was Ryan's first Christmas. I think he had a good day. :) We took the boys shopping individually to pick out presents for each other, their baby brother, for Mommy and for Daddy. Caleb picked out the stuffed fish (pictured) for Ryan and Joshua picked out a little plastic tiger that Ryan absolutely LOVES to play with (and chew on).

Caleb picked out these "blocks" for Joshua that you can see him playing with - Caleb loved them as well. If you remember the type, as you hold the next block down, it becomes the top block as they shift, etc. They both enjoyed it. Joshua picked out a bag of small sharks for Caleb.

Joshua picked out a marshmallow snowflake for Shawn (similar to the "Peeps" he enjoys at Easter) and Caleb picked him out a bobble-head Frosty the snowman filled with bubblegum. I had also gotten Shawn the Frosty book, socks and underwear from the boys as well. :)

Shawn took the time to say a special thank you to each boy. They were thrilled that we liked the presents they picked! Joshua gave me an entire page of magnets that look like stickers, saying things like "Great Job!" and "Well done!" I love them, and immediately put them on my fridge where I can hang their artwork with these neat-o magnets.

Caleb picked out a snow globe for me. I love how much he loves any type of snow globe, so when I look at it, I will always think of him. :) :) :)

After the kids were done opening their gifts, we opened our gifts to each other. I got Daddy a new pair of khakis, a black sweater, some Glucosomine Conjointin something-or-other that's supposed to work wonders for joint pain (I've heard from several people how amazing it is), Brita bottled water filters, workout gloves, Red Bull, and a few other odds and ends.

He gave me a Keurig he got off Craig's List (awesome!) and some chai k-cups, along with a new Jillian workout DVD I had asked for. I love it! He also got me some Mentadent toothpaste, which I love and the stores have stopped carrying it. He found it online, which I thought was great! :) I'm sure there was more, but my memory is not fantastic. We had decided to go light this year since our gift to each other was our new king-size bed. All in all, it was an excellent morning and the gifts were all wonderful. :) :)

When we were almost finished opening gifts, we got to do some "face time" with Mamaw & Papaw and Aunt Erica from Florida. The boys were literally in the middle of opening their gifts when they "called." I honestly have no idea how to set this up, but Shawn worked it out with Erica the night before so that we could see each other and chat. They sent these cute sweatshirts up for the boys. Caleb got a great helicopter (it's actually better than the one we purchased, so it worked out well!) and Joshua got a laptop computer and all three got new clothes, etc. We were very blessed.

Then my dad called. He was at Jen's and would love to see the boys for a few minutes. I cringed, and Shawn reminded me that it's family. I enjoy having some time with just our family Christmas morning, but I knew Shawn was right. He saw the gifts that the boys had opened as I was taking our cinnamon buns out of the oven. He had already eaten breakfast with Jen, but I was making him a cup of hot tea when I heard a holler and turned around to see my Dad sitting in the chair, falling backward ONTO Joshua.

I SCREAMED! I think we all screamed. It was a surreal moment when we realized we couldn't save either one. Josh had been tickling Grandpa's neck in teasing, who went to reach up behind him to grab the Bean's hand (again teasing). But, when my Dad rocked back on the two legs of the antique chair, the wood part of the back snapped and he went flying backward. Shawn helped get my Dad up, and his glasses were all awry. Then I scooped up Joshua. I was shaking - I feared that he was crushed. He was bawling, but he didn't sound hurt. I was so upset that my knees were knocking, so I took my Bean and sat down on the couch and asked him what hurt. He said "Nothing." He was simply scared. He thought he had hurt Grandpa.

Dad wasn't hurt either, amazingly. God protected them both. Joshua was behind Dad (pinned in by the high chair and the exersaucer we have there) but he was able to straddle him and the chair as it came back. Dad said he wasn't hurt (and for as big he is and as old as he's getting, I wasn't sure he'd be able to walk thereafter). Praise GOD! Our chair is beyond fixing. But, it's a chair. I cried about it later that day, but most of all I am so thankful that God protected our son and my father. Truly, that entire experience could have been fatal for either one. It was horrendous to watch.

Grandpa didn't stay terribly long thereafter - he sat with us while we ate breakfast and then took off when we decided that it was time to get dressed. We played and the boys took a short nap before getting ready for Grandma's house that afternoon. :)