This year John didn't have to work Christmas Eve, so we started the festivities a little earlier than usual. The kids woke up bright and early, as usual, and Roman was so excited to open his gifts. He quickly shredded through his and proceeded to help Bianca with hers. I think we could have just wrapped empty boxes for him to open and he would have been just as exited. Until he saw the anyway. We bought Roman a Playmobil street sweeper and he thought it was the coolest thing eve, and immediately tried to tear into the box. Bianca got a V-tec unicorn and she was less than impressed, which is par for the course with a 1 year old.
We also bought them some Learning Resources dishes and food. These products are great quality. The playgroup we attend has this food and it's almost indestructible, which is awesome! These gifts lead them to the last surprise for them on Christmas Eve, their very own playroom! John and I have planned to turn this room in our basement into a playroom since we bought the house. We thought this would be the perfect time to finish a renovation and gift it to the kids. It took a few long nights, and a few cuss words, but it turned out amazing! I also bought a used entertainment stand and turned it into a kitchen for the kids. If you want to see the whole playroom process, click here! Roman went crazy when he saw the playroom! He was totally shocked! I know the kids are going to get a ton of use out of this space.
Once all the presents were open it was time for breakfast! After seeing an old blog post I shared on Facebook, John decided to make a special Eggs Benedict breakfast for us! It was sooooo good! The entire process was much easier for John too because both kids were occupied with their new toys.
After our bellies were full, maybe a little over-full, we all suited up to hit the grocery store. Crazy right? It actually wasn't too bag because we were there pretty early. For as long as John and I have been together we have always had a seafood feast on Christmas Eve. The feast usually consists of shrimp, lobster, sometimes scallops, rice and veggies. This year we decided to make it a little more fun for Roman and we bought a couple live lobsters. We made sure to explain to him that they were not pets and that we were in fact going to eat them. He is after-all my child, and I know he will make a pet of almost anything. We spent the rest of the morning playing with toys and doing all the fun things you want to do on Christmas.
After the kids had a much needed nap, it was time to start preparing for the feast! This has always been John's baby, so I sat back and kept the kids busy while he filled the house the smell of delicious seafood. We're pretty lucky in that our kids will pretty much eat everything. Roman loved digging the meat out of the lobster's shell and was even more excited to dip everything on his plate in the melted butter. Bianca couldn't get the lobster into her mouth fast enough and enjoyed every bite!
Why can't kids always go to bed as easily as they do on Christmas Eve? John and I were thankful that they went down so easy because we had a lot, I mean Santa, Santa had a LOT of work to do. While Santa was busy inflating and wrapping some last minute gifts, Mrs. Claus was filling the stockings.
Nothing is better than being a parent on Christmas morning! I love seeing how excited Roman gets (and soon to be Bianca I'm sure) when he wakes up. The first Roman did was check to make sure that Santa and the reindeer had eaten the snacks he left out for them. Once he was satisfied that he had done his part to fuel Santa and his team, he made a dash for the tree. He was extremely excited that Santa had brought him the Scoop toy he had asked for, and Bianca received a toy purse. But no gifts were a match for the farm hoppers. These things will be enjoyed for years to come.
Once the presents were opened, and the paper cleared away, I headed into the kitchen to get the turkey into the oven. I seasoned it with some salt, pepper and thyme, and tossed a halved orange into the cavity. Normally I would have used a lemon but I didn't have one on hand.
A few hours later, Grandma, Grandpa and Uncle Selby arrived. The kids were both excited to have new people to play with and share their toys with. Uncle Selby won the "most annoying toy ever" award this year, when he gave Roman a whistling tube. If you're a child of the 80s/90s you'll remember these rather pointless toys. Turns out it the most amazing thing to a 3 year old. Selby would whirl it in the air as fast as he could and Roman would attempt to match the pitch of the whistle with his scream. I'm sure you can feel my enthusiasm for this thing oozing through my words. Insert eye roll here.
Time for more food! I really did mean to take a photo of the food beautifully arranged on the table, but I forgot. So instead you get a photo of all the leftovers. We had turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy and roasted vegetables (brussel sprouts, beets, onion and squash).
For dessert, I made a vanilla cake in the bundt pan and covered it with a layer of buttercream. Then I covered the whole cake with buttercream flowers, pinecones and leaves. I'm not sure how many people I thought were coming over for Christmas because I made waaay too much cake. I didn't even know that was possible...
Christmas is by far my favorite time of year. Spending an entire day with family and not having to worry about getting other things done is the perfect way to spend a day.
Thank you for supporting my blog of the past year and I hope you enjoy 2017! Happy New Year!
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