Today began with the slooow gathering of the family around the living room.  It's funny, when the kids were younger the presents were less expensive and Christmas seemed to begin at the crack of dawn.  Now that our house is inhabited by teens alone, all of the presents on their wish lists (NOT my shopping list, I must say) seem to have price tags with three (or more!) digits and our day is lucky to start by noon. 

But anyway, I digress.  Our day started out slowly in the ritual take-turns-at-opening-gifts-so-we-are-suitably-thankful-to-the-giver way.  We all parked in places that are becoming eerily established:

Josh and Dad on the couch:

Elizabeth and Rebecca spread out on the floor:

Papa in his chair:

And Aunt Shell and I on the love seat.  As anyone who has read this blog more than twice will know, I'm  not the world's best blogger and so I don't actually have a picture of Aunt Shell and I on the love seat, so here is Aunt Shell and I'm sitting next to her wielding the camera.  (You know, just be glad I remembered to TAKE pictures!)

After all gifts are unwrapped and the living room looks like a paper tornado hit it, everyone files out to the front yard for the annual..........................................

SILLY STRING FIGHT!

This uhm.....tradition.....started many years ago when I bought my dear husband a can of silly string to put in his stocking with rather vague notions of it somehow being part of some science lesson of some sort.  Of course he saw it as a WEAPON and one to be used immediately against his nearest and dearest......his children! 

This led to great hilarity and the children clamoring for their own Silly String.  Of course the next year everyone got a can and a tradition was born.  Eventually we did have to move it outside and we have increased the number of cans to two per participant.  It is definitely a highlight of Christmas morning.....er......afternoon and this year's hilarity was loud enough to bring the neighbors out to see what the uproar was about!

After the fun is done and the mess cleaned up, the cooking begins.  This year I had it a bit easier, however, because we got a Honey Baked Ham--Yum!  The girls and I cooked the usual holiday dishes and Josh, who chose NOT to help with the cookin', did the cleanin'!  Yay!

P.S.   Yes, it was actually warm enough for my dear daughter to be outside in her PAJAMAS!