What We Did for Christmas Eve

I was so looking forward to Christmas this year, not necessarily for the gifts, but more for the opportunity to relax! Both the girls have 2 whole weeks off from school and the idea of being able to sleep in and not lug them both off to school in the morning was really appealing to me. So far I think the earliest I've gotten up since last Saturday was 7am and its been like heaven. I can't tell you how wonderful it feels to get up at 8am and find the girls watching a movie peacefully in Kera's room--the fact that they can wake up and fend for themselves for a bit while I sleep a bit more is great! It helps that they don't do anything but play or watch movies, I think if they tried to get their own breakfast I wouldn't be able to let them be up without me! But they are perfectly content to wait and I don't sleep so long that they are starving, so it works.

So on Christmas Eve we traditionally have a big family dinner (usually soup or chili of some kind) this year I went sort of healthy and did a chicken one which was really good. Erik got me a new crock pot for Christmas and he let me open it early so I could use it to cook the chili. I love that its red! Both my mom and sister coveted it. Ha!

While dinner cooked most of the day, we hung out around the house, the girls played and wrestled with Daddy, while I cooked and cleaned and did a little of my own relaxing.


My little table arrangement. I pulled out all the stops and actually got out the placemats and real napkins! lol

Thanks Deanna for delivering candles on Tuesday so I could have this beautiful centerpiece! I love my new ball candles!

After dinner we open presents and then have a birthday cake for Jesus. I didn't get any pictures of the cake, but it was a simple white cake out of the box and I let the girls help me frost and put sprinkles on it. It was cute and quite yummy. Erik thinks it is silly, but I like have the cake because it kind of helps us remember the reason for the season, even if Jesus wasn't technically born on December 25th.
It was great to hang out with family; my parents, sister, nephew and great aunt were all able to make it. Missing were my brother, his girlfriend and my new niece since they were spending Christmas in Germany (miss you guys!) and my other nephew and his daddy who were in California. So the gathering seemed somewhat small compared to Thanksgiving last month, but it was still fun.



The girls got some fun presents, and like Erik said, they got a lot but not too many, it seemed to be a good balance this year, which is nice. Kera was the example of patience and gratitude, though--we open presents one at a time going by age and so she was last each round, but waited so patiently for her turn and then with each gift she opened her thank you to the giver were so heartfelt and genuine. It was so encouraging and convicting to see her little heart! Lindsay isn't quite so grateful, but we're working on that.
I was encouraged by Erik this year--he's never been too big on Christmas but every year he seems to get better at it. This year he got me almost everything on my list before Christmas Eve (both of which are big steps for him) and he even put a few things in my stocking, which could possibly be a first. I got a couple new cd's (Nickelback & Twilight soundtrack), the crock pot and some fun cosmetics. I was pleased.
After food & gifts and fun, my family all made their way home, we got the kiddo's in bed and then I had to prep breakfast and fill the stockings before we hit the hay too. It was full day and I was tired!