Christmas Eve/Day: Guthrie's

 This is going to be a LONG post. So glad I'm finally done uploading all of the pictures so I can write!

We drove back up to Gilbert the afternoon of Christmas Eve to spend Christmas with my family.

When we got there, the kids were really loving K Bear's race track. Luckily, Spidey had been given 7 matchbox cars so each of the kids got to play with one.

 Petey had been waiting to open her Hello Kitty matching game all day and has been playing with that a lot ever since.

After the traditional pizza, this year courtesy of Papa Johns, we played games and watched Christmas movies together.

 At the end of the night, we had one unhappy baby...

 ...and one super happy baby. Ironically, those roles are usually switched since Ellie is usually serious around me.

 We gave the kids their Christmas pj's to wear to bed. As you can see, Spidey was throwing his everywhere because he was so excited!!! Petey got the exact ones she had been asking for so she was a happy kid as well.

 They wanted to pose with Aunt Andrea for the first picture

 but I did get a cute one of the two of them together with their new jammies.

 Playing Santa is even better than being a kid on Christmas. I love setting up everything for the kids.

 These are their Santa gifts this year.

 My parents tree was overflowing with gifts.

After we put the kids to bed, we stayed up and played Rook with my sister, her husband, and my mom. I know everyone thought we were weird for staying at my parents overnight but I don't get to see my sister often enough and it was so fun to stay up late together.

 The next morning, the kids were excited to get up those stairs and see what Santa had left them.

 They sure lucked out this year. If I can remember correctly, Petey's stocking had a Minnie Mouse beanie, Hello Kitty underwear, necklace and drink, gum (specifically requested by her), and some candy.

 Spidey's stocking had a Sparky beanie, Ninja Turtle underwear, a Spiderman drink, a slinky, and candy.

 K Bear was a happy kiddo with his stocking also. I think that squishy ball was a favorite for him.

 Here is Spidey with his slinky. He LOVES that thing and I'm actually surprised it isn't broken yet. :)

 Petey has been waiting for Christmas morning to see if Santa had left her exactly what she asked for; Hello Kitty bedding for her new room. Are you seeing the theme of what her favorite character is right now? She was SO excited that Santa came through with her request and even threw in a Hello Kitty doll and poster.

 Since Santa found such a good deal on Black Friday, he went with the theme and got Spidey Avengers bedding. That kid was SO excited as well since all he had asked Santa for was "something Avengers".

 K Bear had been asking for a giraffe since his birthday and Santa came through with his request as well. We had 3 happy kiddos in that living room that morning.

 We got Petey a Hello Kitty lunchbox with Hello Kitty pez dispensers in it.

 Spidey was so excited when he opened is new Veggietale.

 Ellie woke up a little later than the other kids {since she was up in the middle of the night} and she was so happy with her Santa present.

 Petey loved her new Veggietale as well.

 My husband is the weirdest the best and got my dad a pineapple corer but decided it would be hilarious to wrap it in this Victoria Secret bag that said "To Dale, Love Davey". It was.

Spidey's big present from us were these Avengers action figures. He was so excited and has been carrying the around ever since.

We bought a couple of family gifts for the kiddos, new movies, that Petey got to open since her brother's present from us was wrapped in 4 separate boxes. That way, they both felt like they had the same amount of presents to open.

And even though Boss and I had gotten our real Christmas present on Black Friday and have been using it since then, I surprised him with a trivia game based on our favorite tv show, The Big Bang Theory.

It was a wonderful Christmas morning and we are so grateful to be able to spend holidays with two of the best families in the world.

Christmas Eve: Maughan's

We woke up early Christmas Eve morning to head up to Tucson to spend most of the day with Boss' family.

The cousins were super excited to play with each other.

Well, Spidey just wanted to play on the iPad but oh well. He played with the girls for a while. :)

After breakfast, the kids were really excited to open presents.

Leezer got Petey nail polish and a princess purse.

Miss B got Spidey a set of matchbox cars. He was super excited and has played with them a ton.

My kids each picked out a book and a princess water bottle for their cousin gift exchange.

Then it was time to open some presents from uncles and grandparents.

Uncle Benny got the kids a matching game. He also got the girls princess purses that they could color themselves and the boys got two matchbox cars.

Nana and Papa got the kids new puzzles. Those have been a favorite at our house.

The sock monkeys were also a big hit. Spidey sleeps with his every night.

As you can see by the look on Petey's face, my kids LOVE games. :)

And lucky Boss got a tool set that used to be his grandpa's, plus some new tools his dad got him.

I lucked out with a fancy griddle among many other things. We were spoiled and blessed and are so grateful that we could spend some time with Boss' family before starting the craziness of the rest of the week with my family.

Stay tuned for the Christmas Day post. I'll get around to it soon enough. Maybe even tomorrow {since you're all on pins and needles waiting for me to post it, right}. :)

Christmas Present Crafts

There were a few things that I made my kids for Christmas that never made it to tutorials on my blog...sorry!
I decided to post them here and send you to the links of where I got the original tutorials.

First up, Petey's new crayon roll. I found this tutorial on Make It and Love It and Petey LOVES it. I knew my sister in law was sewing quiet bags for my kids to take to church so I tried to find ideas that would go along with that.
The next present Petey opened was a quiet book for church. I found the tutorial for this on my friend, Leah's, blog.

The last project that I forget to mention on my blog were these awesome snakes I made for Spidey. I have no credit to give to another blog but have seen the idea in many different places.

Basically, Boss donated 2 of his old ties to me and I stuffed them. I hot glued both ends shut, hot glued a piece of red felt for the tongue and glued the eyes on.

Super simple and my boy LOVES them.
He sat in church on Sunday and just sucked on the snake's tongue...gross but it kept him quiet. :)

There's the surprised face again. I love this boy.

And that's how Suze crafts it.