We had a beautiful day today... few "issues"... lots of smiles and thankfulness... many minutes (hours?) taking things out of boxes and putting things together! We say each year we're cutting back and each year it seems we still have lots to open!

Santa gave Liam gum in his stocking which was a HUGE hit! Liam has been told over and over no gum until he turned five (which he'll be on Jan 30), so to get it a little early, he was THRILLED! He had to be taught to put it all in his mouth right away, and would chew a piece for a while and then spit it out and get a new one. It was so funny! :) Here's his first attempt...

They had each asked for silly string when they "discovered" the existence of the stuff recently! Santa delivered, a perfect stocking stuffer!

Grandma and Grandpa got Liam a cheese hat - not for the Packers, but because of the cheese! The kid LOVES his cheese! And I just love Braeden's smile in the background of this picture, so excited for his brother! (He was given the Boba Fet*t helmet himself.)

Olivia was enthralled with the shirt Braeden made! She yelled, "Camp Halfblood!?" So cute!

Liam was excited and thankful for his shirt too...

Braeden has wanted a remote control helicopter for a long time now. I got him one for a STEAL on Amazon a while back. Unfortunately it was more for older kids, and not moms, and the poor kid lost it on the roof when mom tried it before he even got a chance... :( (Notice the white speck???) We're going to ask maintenance Monday but don't know that they can get it. :( He took it well and I felt and feel horrible! :(

Liam had a blast on his new "big boy" bike. (My best steal of the day... $10 on ebay!) It was going to be his birthday gift, but I decided to switch since the weather would be good here to try it out and if I had waited he wouldn't have been able to for a while. So I pulled out a couple Christmas gifts to save for his birthday instead. So funny because it's been in the back of our van for a couple months now and he had NO clue!

Late afternoon found us at the beach. It was a bit chilly and quite windy. Notice all the people in the background! :) The boys took the boogie boards to the water, touched their toes in, and came right back to just play in the sand! :)

Olivia and I were at least dressed for the weather!

Hope you and yours had a Merry Christmas too!