Close Enough

So I really only made 23 cookies, but isn't that close enough?  I just didn't want to make any cookies on Christmas Day.  And so I didn't.  The house and the kitchen were busy enough, and I just enjoyed the day.  The kids were so sweet about their gifts.  We played and ate and rested.  It was wonderful.

This is most of them.  Some, in the general chaos of Christmas, were eaten too fast to be saved.

Santa brought sugar cereal.  My kids have never had those little boxes, so this was a hit.  And an easy breakfast!

Eating with his stocking gifts all lined up beside him.

Love this one.

We gave my parents a shutterfly calendar.  What grandparent doesn't love a calendar full of pictures of their grandchildren?

Opening presents and eating a ring pop.  Does it get any better when you're 2?

This year we did something different that I think we will continue for years to come.  We gave the kids each 4 gifts... something you want, something you need, something to play with, and something to read. We gave less than in past years, and I felt like the kids were more grateful.  They knew just what to expect, and were even (somewhat) happy about a box of socks.  Then we made the stockings from Santa.  It was simple.  In past years, we have agonized over finding a "big Santa gift" for each child.  We skipped that this year, and they didn't even notice.  $6 worth of sugar cereal in the Christmas tree, and they forgot all about it.  Thank you to some sweet friends who passed on this idea to me.