Oh to be a kid again

At 4:30am the two eldest Jensen children sneaked a peak at their goodies, were caught at the top of the stairs and were hurriedly shewed back to bed by their mother.  At 5:30am, mom hears beeping and other noises and finds little man downstairs all alone playing with his presents.  He goes back to bed with mom and dad until 6:15 and then is shut in his room to look at books and wait . . . until 6:45am, which we tried to make 7, but finally gave up and decided to let the joyousness begin!

How it works at our house:  You are allowed to check out your stockings and your gifts from Santa at your own will, but for all other presents, you must take turns, youngest to oldest.  The kids really don't mind that much, and it kind of makes it funner to know that it is "your turn".  And maybe its just me, but (1) I can't stand the "free for all" present opening and (2) I want to see my kids open the things I got for them!  Plus, I think its important to make sure they know who its from, so they can properly thank them later.  (My husband and I have differing views on this, can you tell?) 

Despite our early start, we had a great morning.  We even took a break in the middle to have a yummy breakfast - crepes!  The boys' favorite!

Cody and Colton loved their play kitchen from Santa, and Grandma Jill had no idea that her aprons would go so perfectly.  They have been put to use many times already.  Daddy loved his mug from the boys that had pictures of them on it.  It will get good use at the firestation.  Cody loves his BYU jersey, since he goes to school there, and would wear it everyday if I let him.  I think Corbin's favorite, at first, was his Diary of a Wimpy Kid book set or his drawing book, but since he figured out his electricity science kit, it has definitely topped all presents.  Colton's favorite and most used present is his toy vacuum - and would you believe, it actually sucks things up!  We will put that to good use! 

And before we went over to Grandma & Grandpa's we had to try out the fingerpaints from Grandma Jill...

 

The rest of the night was filled with cousins and food and games and more presents, of course.  With 14 grandchildren, it was a house-full, but the boys sure had fun!  Thanks to everyone who made this such a wonderful holiday for our family.  We hope everyone else had a day of joy and cheer as well.

 

Merry Christmas!