A boy and his Christmas gifts

Sim had a great Christmas.  He enjoyed all the traditions that the older girls remember well now and that he’s just starting to remember.  He vaguely remembered that they got one gift to open on Christmas Eve, but I had to remind him that it’s one that I picked (because we give the kids new pajamas) and not one he picked.  This was a disappointment, and nearly ruined the pajamas for him.  But in the end, he dealt with it just fine and wore the pajamas.  And he got some pretty cool gifts the next day.

The most dramatic one was his new leather sword.  It was the second thing he opened, and he was most excited.

It’s a bit tricky to catch a very excited 5-year-old boy on camera in the first few moments after he gets a new sword.

This is Sim in mid-jump.  He did some jumping up and down when he got the new sword.

Soon after this photo was taken, he heard Grandpa Larry moving around upstairs.  With a cry of, “I’m going to storm Grandpa!!!!!” he disappeared up the stairs.  Just a warning:  if you want to spend Christmas here, be prepared for armed attackers first thing Christmas morning.  Um…Merry Christmas?

He looks totally pained here, in his new robe, but I just caught him during a sneeze.  I thought it was a funny picture, though.

Hannah, working in her closet and during her free time, made a kitchen for Simeon and Naomi (the idea was from the magazine Family Fun), and decided to just leave it in her closet for them to open, since it’s pretty large.  

Sim had fun helping to pick out presents for his sisters.  Tess wasn’t as fun to watch open her gifts, because she would open one, then play with it for a while (sometimes a LONG while), then think about opening another one.  But Hannah and Naomi were gratifyingly quick and appreciative of the things he chose. 

Once the gifts were all opened, Sim disappeared.  I went to find him, and he was in his room, putting together his new Lego set, listening to the Star Wars soundtrack.  Absolute bliss.