Christmas day is always special, but with three kids it takes on a magical feel. All the kids still believe in Santa and I know this may be the last year this is true. We even watched Polar Express for the first time and Adam, who had been expressing some questions on Santa’s existence, was back to being a true believer. In the movie all the little boy wants for Christmas is a reindeer bell from Santa. Adam also requested this (three days before Christmas when we watched the movie). Living abroad means Santa and all gift givers in our house have to get their acts together and order presents well in advance to arrive in time. After 7 years of holidays and birthdays abroad I have learned to order presents two months in advance. A missing bell situation might have been the moment that Adam lost faith in Old Saint Nick, except that Aunt Sandra had magically gifted Adam this same reindeer bell two Christmases ago and I had squirreled it away with our Christmas stuff. It was pretty magical to see Adam’s face when he opened the bell and rang it. According to Polar Express, only true believers can hear the bell ring.
I love Christmas eve, when we can set out all the kids presents and be ready for their excited little faces. We baked some cookies for Santa and left some carrots out. Thank goodness for Randy who always takes one for the team and eats the cookies.
I forgot to order stocking stuffers (one of the moments when I miss Target dollar bins the most) and filled them with candy and chocolate from the local chocolate store. What a big success, maybe I will do this every year.
The magic of belief (thank you Aunt Sandra!)
Adam’s face when he opens presents is the best! Here is unwrapping a watch. He wanted a watch like daddy’s watch, which thankfully on Amazon can be replicated inexpensively.
I have the kids unwrap presents one at a time so they can be excited for each other. Here is Miral opening her Elmo alphabet from Lauren and Beckham (oh and Aunt Das and Uncle Nooj who get little credit these days)
Maria got the boys awesome beyblades and a super cute backpack for Miral.
The boys got some cool new legos from Santa.
And then for the win, Randy had the great idea to re-gift his PlayStation that he had in Pakistan to the boys with some fun new kids games. I was hesitant but it ended up being a great idea. The boys loved it and they play it only on the weekend for a little bit.
It was a great day, we had a yummy breakfast still in our pajamas, played with all our new toys. We got dressed up for a yummy lamb dinner and decorated some Christmas cookies.
We set the table and ate in the fancy dining room with some candles to make it extra special.
It was a great comfy family day that we loved. I will leave you with some wintry Kyiv photos. Such a beautiful city, even in the winter months.
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