Christmas 2014

Towards the end of last year, we started something with Makadie called the Warm Fuzzy Jar.  Basically it's just a way to reward/reinforce positive behavior.  Anytime she did something we asked the first time, helped without being asked, was nice to Trey, etc then we would give her a warm fuzzy (a little pom pom) to put in a jar.  We told her that when the jar was filled up, she would get a special surprise--her own ice cream cone from Macey's.  Well, it just so happened that her jar was full on Christmas Eve so we took her to Macey's and she got her very own ice cream cone.  She was so happy!

When we got home, it was time to get ready for bed.  I like the tradition of giving new pajamas to open up on Christmas Eve so we let Kadie and Trey open theirs up.  They were so cute wearing them together.  Kadie was especially excited because this was the first year I think she really started to understand Christmas.  We put the kids to bed and cleaned up the house since we were hosting Christmas morning.

The kids were up around 6:30 or 7, so not too early compared to what time a lot of my friends' kids got up.  We opened presents, took pictures, played with new toys and just relaxed.  I think one of my favorite gifts that was given was the gift the kids gave to Covey.  It was a little metal engraved card that said, "A girl's first love is her daddy.  A boy's first hero is his dad. Love, Makadie and Trey".  It is about the size of a credit card so he can carry it in his wallet.  My favorite gift we gave to Makadie was a book I made with Heritage Makers (a digital scrapbooking company I used to work for).  It is the story of Princess Makadie and her best friend, Prince Trey and their adventures.  She was so excited to have a book about her and she asked us to read it to her right then.  She still loves the book.

About mid morning, my sister's family and my mom got to our house for breakfast and presents.  It's always a little bit chaotic with all the wrapping paper and presents and pictures and laughing, but it's a lot of fun too.  The more Christmases I have with my kids, the more I understand how my parents felt about Christmas with us.

After lunch and naps, we drove up to Herriman to spend the second part of the day with my dad and step-mom and other extended family.  Once again, the kids had fun playing together and they were both exhausted by the time we loaded them up into the car and drove home.