Christmas Time

I know I'm delayed in posting, but I'll give a quick recap...
Christmas was wonderful!! We had so much fun this year. The kids were a blast. Kaden was so into the "magic" of Christmas this year that it made it a blast. At my mom's house on Christmas Eve all the kids were "eating" (if you want to call it that) dinner. Since they weren't eating very well, Grandpa called Santa. Santa was put on speaker phone for all to hear. You should have seen those kids eat!!! As the phone call was coming to a close, Santa told them they had to eat at least 10 more bites, then said Merry Christmas and hung up. Well... the other kids must have forgotten the rule and got down from the table and went to play. Soon after, I realized that Kaden was sitting at the table all by himself. This is unusual for him because he's a TERRIBLE eater and he loves to play with his cousins. I told him he could go and play and he said, "But Santa said I have to eat 10 bites and I've only had 1" Oh my gosh!!! My heart melted! It was so cute. So there he was, all alone, trying to swallow down his food even though he really didn't want to. He sat there for a good 20 minutes until he finally got 10 bites down. What a cute kid!! I wish I would have taken a picture of him sitting there.
As for Christmas day... we had a great time as well. Cute Avery... unlike her brother LOVES to eat. I think she was more worried that she hadn't had breakfast than she was about getting presents. I got her a bowl of dry cereal and she would put it on her presents and eat it as she casually opened gifts. It was pretty funny.
The best part of Christmas for me is always our "Love Presents". To make a long story short... it started when I was a kid and my dad was out of work. We didn't have enough money to have a big Christmas so my parents came up with Love Presents. We had to make a hand made gift for each of our family members and then attach a "Love Note" or a letter of appreciation to each person. This has been a tradition we have continued to do for over 20 years now and we have continued it in our own little family. Kaden was so cute about his love gift to his dad. I had taken him to get some rockets that Brian and Kaden could build and blast off together. It was so precious to see Kaden Christmas morning. Here there is a huge spray of presents under the tree and he didn't even care about that. All he wanted to do was give his "Love Present" to his dad. I was so touched that at such a young age you could understand to love of giving.... especially to those you care about. His letter to his dad was simple but so sweet. I treasure it always. My kids continue to teach me about the real purposes of life every day. Their innocence and excitement are more profound than any book of literature that teaches us how to live sucessfully. I am so grateful for them.