Shedding Light on The Lamps Family: December 2013

We are truly grateful for those who made Christmas possible this year for our family, with all the medical bills from Ellie's accidents, Ryne's broken arm, Dana's surgery and of course all the normal costs of having a family of 6 we have been strapped. We couldn't have done it without the kindness of others, so thank you, thank you, thank you!

We I spent Christmas Eve baking, the kids had a blast wrestling with each other and of course they had to practice jumping on the bed for later.

Finally the time came to open their Christmas jammies, the kids were thrilled! I have to admit I wasn't sure if I was going to get them done in time since the fabric I ordered didn't get here till Wednesday the 18th, I didn't get to work on them till the 20th, with Dana's help they were completed on time!

After jammies it was time to talk about the real reason we celebrate Christmas, grandma sent the kids a new nativity that came with a book, so we set it up and read the story.

After the nativity story we got comfortable on the couch and read a book we got last year called The Missing Christmas treasure. Last year grandma J sent each of the kids a new Christmas book this one was Ellie's and she never got to read it, so we made sure she got to read it. I have to admit it was very emotional!

Once stories were read the kids grabbed a sock and headed for our bed for our traditional sock shaking and singing of Tis Christmas Ever Dear Santa Claus. I have a video I just can't download it at the moment.

Once the kids were nestled in there beds we waited for the adrenaline rush to wear off so we could get to work!

Putting the presents under the tree was the easy part! We still had to put together the Santa gifts. Kaleb got a Tardis playhouse tent, it was easier to put together then I thought it would be!

The girls got the Frozen castle with Ana (for Ellie) and Elsa (for Ryne), to say they were thrilled when they saw it would be a major understatement!

Mae got a stuffed elephant chair (courtesy of grandma J)

Dana's happy dance! We finished at about 2 a.m.!

Ok so here's a funny not funny at the moment story. I heard noise in the living room around 5:30 a.m. it was Kaleb and Ellie I beckoned them to our room where we kept them busy till 7. Dana went to get Mae up and discovered a HUGE mess in the living room, apparently Kaleb decided he didn't need to wait for everyone else to open his presents! Dana was pissed!!! I was too but I wasn't going to let it ruin our day so I made Kaleb clean up the mess and then made it very clear that he couldn't open anymore of his presents ( all of 4 that were left) and he couldn't play with anything he had all ready opened. So being the mean and nasty mom that I am I made him sit in the kitchen where he could watch everyone else open their presents, he wasn't very happy and honestly neither was I but he needed to learn a lesson!

Ok so that story explains this picture Kaleb was really angry (again I have a video I just can't download it) when I told him he couldn't participate!

I didn't get any pics of the mess after opening gifts mainly because we had to clean as we opened cause we kept getting buried among-st all the wrapping paper!

After presents we put Kaleb to work helping with the big Christmas breakfast. Once breakfast was done we let Kaleb open the rest of his gifts. The rest of the day we watched movies, napped and just spent time together. Dana and I were little cry babies, having our entire family together under one roof safe and healthy was the best gift we got this year!