Merry Christmas!! 😀

The stockings are emptied, the presents unwrapped and my children are happily playing with their gifts whilst munching sandwiches and potato chips (my simple Christmas lunch!).

I am happy because I feel like we succeeded greatly with keeping Christmas simple and frugal, with the emphasis being on family togetherness and not what we each got!

Once the wrapping paper was cleared, I was thrilled to see  everyone’s reasonably-sized piles of gifts from this year’s haul!

All in all, a great holiday…everyone is happy and I don’t feel like we spent excessively!  All the kiddos got two pair of PJs, a set of books, a game, a set of DVDs and a few much-longed-for toys.  And tons of candy! For our oldest the toys were a huge make-up kit and an iPhone 4S but hey, she played with them for hours, so great toys! 😀  The kids also played together a lot with their new things, which was music to this mama’s ears. 🙂