Christmas in Illinois...

...looks a lot like Christmas everywhere else we've been. We're pretty stuck on our traditions.

We decorated the tree

We made "gingerbread" houses

We chatted with family whenever possible

We hung out as a family whenever possible

We had our shish kabobs on Christmas Eve (broiled in the oven because we got rid of our grill when we moved...not ideal but they turned out fine)

We read Luke 2 and ate our gingerbread houses, then shooed the babies off to bed

The girls let us sleep in until 7ish. It was lovely. Then the unwrapping ensued.

Funny story. Keira opened her present from Grandma Anderson and found this:

She very quickly got excited and said, "Ooooh, do I get to make it?" She doesn't like to eat Hamburger Helper, but she loves to help in the kitchen. Grandma didn't actually give her Hamburger Helper - it was a box for a collection of fun things - but I thought it was so sweet that Keira was grateful for a $1.00 box of food.

We ate sticky buns and breakfast casserole

This girl had her first Christmas

and liked it.

We did some puzzles. The girls loved finding their faces in this one from my sister Irene.

And finally we ate a lovely Christmas dinner...in our pjs because we were too lazy to get dressed.

We tend to like our Christmases simple. This year I instituted the 4-gift rule: something you want, something you need, something to wear, and something to read. I loved it - it gave me a focus while shopping and kept the season a little more relaxed for me. The girls were very anxious to give gifts to each other and it was so fun to watch them be more excited to see their sisters open what they had picked out for them than for their own gifts. They were grateful and happy. I sure love these good girls of mine. Grandparents and aunts and uncles were generous. We also recognize that Christmases may be different in the future with Ed's new job and were grateful he was with us this year. Just feeling blessed. Merry Christmas everyone!