Our little, quaint Christmas

We returned home from Orlando on the 23rd, which gave me the 24th to get everything ready for Christmas day. Our main gift was Disney World, and we knew the kids would be getting gifts from friends and grandparents, so we decided to buy them each one thing. We hadn't even gotten a Christmas tree yet.

Rewinding a day, the day before we left Orlando, J and I wanted to do something to help the kids feel the Christmas spirit of giving, since we were only playing the whole week before it was Christmas, and believe me there was so much to see and do, we didn't have time to stop for 5 minutes, as soon as we got home we were in bed and asleep.

So the last day we were there we told the kids we would take them to Target and they got to pick out one toy that they wanted, and then we would take it to a child who wasn't getting anything for Christmas. At first I thought it might be hard for them to do and was kind of mean because they are too little to understand, but when we got to the store, I was more hopeful that they could understand the purpose.

Sierra had the hardest time. I knew what she really wanted, so I knew her weakness. I didn't know what toy the other kids were as passionate about as Sierra is about an iDog. Plus there is previous history about one she had and traded at school, a lesson of choice and accountability she learned the hard way.

She got excited about the iDog at Target thinking she would keep it, but then realized she couldn't give it away so she told us all she had to do was pick out something she didn't really want and it would be easy to give away. Then we had to explain if she didn't really want it, then why would another 6 year old girl want it. We wanted her to give another child something that she really wanted for Christmas. We made her get the iDog and Billy picked out a Buzz Lightyear (which he is really into these days) and he was excited about sharing his toy with another little boy. He kept telling me he wanted to share. Sydney was the same way.

Sierra cried and whined and played with the toy all the way to the shelter. But at the last 5 minutes, I think she finally got it and her whole attitude changed and she realized it was something she could be happy and excited about and feel that spirit of. I was so proud of all 4 of my kids who walked in with new toys and laid them by the Christmas tree, to then walk away from them so another child would be blessed with them.

Sydney was a little sad when we left because she thought we were going to the children's homes and she wanted to meet and play with them.

While in Target I followed behind with a separate basket and grabbed each of the toys that they picked out for the shelter. A trick I learned from my mom:)

So come Christmas morning they all though they had given away the one thing they really wanted so they weren't expecting to receive it. Sierra was so excited to learn that she was blessed with something she wanted because she had sacrificed something she had wanted to give a blessing to someone else.

We picked up a Christmas tree on the way home from Orlando and did all our touch up shopping on the 24th and had a simple, fun Christmas. Minus the snow:)

Sierra's News

Sierra has lost her 4 front teeth. She needs dentures! And the Tooth Fairy is going broke.

She has also finally learned to ride her bike without training wheels. She was tired of being the only kid on the street who had training wheels. We had worked with her for a while so she could ride alone, but something just wasn't right. Before we left for Florida she decided it was time. I found her in the garage taking the training wheels off with a wrench because she was tired of waiting for dad to do it. I didn't think she would accomplish this task. Before I knew it she had them off and was in the street trying to ride. I let her go a couple of times, but she couldn't quite get it. It looked like her seat was a little too high, so I lowered her seat and she took off riding alone. I couldn't believe it! It was amazing.

Our Disney World Chrismtas

I am really behind in updating our life events.

So much has happened in the last month. Since we now live only 6 hours from Orlando and we get a military discount, we decided to take advantage of a trip to Disney World. We heard it was amazing at Christmas with all the decorations and lights.

So we drove our 5th wheel down there and camped for 7 days. It was an amazing trip.

J and I learned a few lessons:

1. With kids this young, we will never have a vacation, even when we are on a vacation. It was a lot of hard work.

2. We really do have a great little family. As much work as it was, the kids were actually well behaved and enjoyed each other so much.

3. When driving on several buses over 30 minutes, don't ever forget the tickets!

4. Christmas is definitely so commercialized. We heard one person talk about the birth of Jesus.

5. Ariel, The Little Mermaid, is really not worth waiting 2 hours in line to see, I don't care how real the kids think she is!

There were lots of falls, bumps, tired legs, happy faces, laughing giggles, and rocking out in our trailer on our trip. Even Sophie enjoyed it more than we thought she would.

There are too many pictures to post on here, so I will have to send them in an email.