Christmas Day Rewind: Harmonicas, Kazoos and Guitars, Oh My!

Emma trying to dig into a gift bag.

Taking it all in.

A Sesame Street potty seat!

Opening a gift just like a boy!

Kendall distributing gifts.

From a favorite DVD "Baby Dance" ..... "Now put your maracas behind your back...."

Clark and Kendall checking out the musical card from Poo Pa.

Kendall with her new monkey blanket.

Emma and her new butterflies blanket along with the new guitar.

Clark's new blanket.  We couldn't get him to pose with it.

The special bread that Kendall and Emma helped Daddy make for dinner.

This girl loves spaghetti!

Clark loves spaghetti too, but chocolate covered bananas are even better.

Christmas morning was fun for everyone.  Poo Pa, Uncle Albert and Uncle Stevie came over and had breakfast with us before we went to work on the presents.  We wanted the kids to be excited about the gifts, but didn't want them to think it was all about the stuff.  Hopefully they will learn that there is more to Christmas then the toys, but we want them to have lots of fun too.
Anyway, back to the day.....
We enjoyed our breakfast and then opened gifts.  The kids really don't understand the concept of presents.  They had gifts at their birthday last January which was SO LONG AGO that things have really changed.  They were definitely more interested in what was inside the gift bags and under all of that wrapping paper.  But it was still "new stuff overload" and eventually we had to move them into the playroom with a couple of new toys and a movie to get them settled down just a little bit.
I have to mention that Uncle Stevie really surprised us with some beautiful blankets for the kids that were handmade by a friend of his.  They are so awesome and Kendall couldn't wait to snuggle up with it and her favorite monkey.  We are SO blessed by this wonderful gift!
They were having so much fun with the new music toys that it was pretty comical.  Daddy bought them harmonicas and kazoos.  I bought them a guitar, bamboo slide whistles, maracas and a toddler electric guitar.  Partridge family LOOK OUT!  The Louis family band is working on a routine.  I think that Clark has found his groove with the slide whistle and the kazoo.  Kendall is great on the electric guitar and the harmonica.  And Emma is a natural with the maracas. 
The kids had spaghetti and bread sticks for dinner.  All three even got to help Daddy roll out the bread sticks before they went in the oven.  It was so precious to watch them "cooking" with Daddy.  And they were very proud of their baked goods when they came out of the oven.  Frozen bananas with Magic Shell (chocolate) were the dessert treat for the day and those were a big hit!
We spent Christmas afternoon and evening with just the five of us, playing with new toys and just hanging out (Mommy and Daddy were recovering from the craziness of the weeks leading up to Christmas).
Our babies are the best Christmas gift ever.  Sometimes it is hard to relax and just enjoy the family because there is always "something" to do.  The holidays are a HUGE reminder that there is always too much to do but the kids just want to have fun and play.  Mommy really needs to work hard to remember to stop and play.
And we have decided that our biggest challenge and most exciting family project is "Declutter 2011".  We have actually gotten a little head start due to the bathroom/closet remodel.  We intend to declutter and simplify in 2011 because we want to spend more time with our family and less time on all of the "stuff" that takes up most of our time right now.  There are so many aspects to the declutter process and I hope to share them with you on my blog this year.  I've considered setting up a separate blog, but haven't quite made the decision to go with that yet.  I'm kind of hoping to just incorporate it here, but we will see.
And some have asked me if I will continue to post once a day in 2011.  Again, we will just have to see.  I feel like I've been able to "document" a lot of normal, everyday events on our blog and hope that I can keep it up.
That's all for my Christmas Day rewind.