Opening Presents!

One of the best parts of being a parent is seeing the excitement in your children. I just love hearing Joshua squeal at every little thing. And hearing Joe say, "thank you" after opening his gift. I love hearing Jacob show his brothers how to play with their new toys. I love seeing how all three boys were excited to open little presents for baby Jamie, and were so happy that he had new toys.

One of the neat things about buying gifts for the boys this year was that they all had a shared interest. I'm not a huge fan of television shows for children, but lately the boys have taken a big interest in the show Wonder Pets, and it has been a very positive thing. The show puts a huge emphasis on teamwork, and it has really encouraged all three boys to play TOGETHER and to work together to get things done. Everything they play these days is somehow related to Wonder Pets, and whenever it's time to clean up or do chores, they excitedly ask, "Can we use teamwork?" I like that the show also encourages helping each other...it's really had a positive impact on the boys.

So, finding Christmas presents they would be excited about was pretty easy, lol.

We do things just a little differently in our house. Rather than buy each child a huge mountain of presents, we give each child one special present that is just for them, and the the other gifts are shared things. With having a bunch of boys all in a row, it would be impossible to keep the toys separated into who's is who's, and really I don't like the selfish atmosphere that can foster anyway. Instead, the majority of the toys are just shared, with everyone having a few special things that are just their own. It works well for our family. :)

One of the cutest moments was when Joshua wanted to call Baby Jesus with his cell phone. Just precious!

Hoping everyone had a lovely Christmas, and that the joy of celebrating the birth of our Savior remains in our hearts for the year to come!

Love,