Celebrating An Early Christmas

I left home on Tuesday packed with our Christmas presents for Chicago all wrapped and ready for December 25th.  I might have been a little proud of myself for accomplishing both the shopping and the wrapping since normally I'm scrambling on the Saturday of Thanksgiving to get the gifts ready for the Grands to take back with them.

Imagine my thrill then when my in-laws announced that we'd be celebrating an early Christmas on Wednesday evening as they normally don't get to see the kids/us open our presents.  We are usually hundreds of miles away from each other and only connect by phone and photos.  Yeah, I was ready with the gifts and the kids were of course more than ready to open gifts.

Of course, later I realized my father in law's "stocking stuffers" were sitting on my scrapbooking table at home.  I never said I was perfect. I viewed it as a way for B&B to have something to open on Christmas!

What a fun Christmas celebration we had in November.   The kids got to see Bestemor and Bestefar try on their new presents and the Grands got to see and hear the giggling and laughter that always accompanies present opening in our family.  I won't even hold it against the kids that often my husband and I were passed over when it came to turns; they were just excited.

Little did we realize just how handy all the new knitted hats and gloves along with our winter parkas would be in just a few days.   I didn't even mind it too much when my son said that I looked like Paddington Bear in my new knitted Red Felt Hat with a brim.  My husband quickly pointed out what a term of affection that must be considering how much Mr C loved his Paddington.

All in all, I'd say our early Christmas celebration in Chicago was a great way to kick off the season and great reminder of all the fun children can be at this special and magical time.  I loved getting to "see" the kids opening presents and showing off their new things to their grandparents.  Totally worth the time in the fog spent to get this place!

From Mr C's new down vest to Miss A's one in kind handkerchief with the Letter A embroidered on it direct from her great-grandmother's dowery (the first Cecilie) to Miss M's french blue hat, it was  perfect evening.