A Holly Jolly Christmas Eve...

What a fabulous month we have had.  The kids have been excited about everything Christmas related.  They get excited to see Christmas lights, Christmas trees, candy canes, etc! This is the first year that they have been so interested in all the details of Christmas.  They've been singing Christmas songs and telling me for 2 weeks that we need to buy carrots for the reindeer and to leave out cookies & milk for Santa. 

Christmas eve began early... since it was a Saturday and we had the whole day off we decided to head over to Jim's parents' to exchange gifts to try not to overwhelm the kids on Christmas day.  Well Cole decided that he would start off the day by sleeping in until almost 8:30 (the time we planned to arrived at Jim's parents')!  I can't even tell you the last time that he has slept that late!  While we waited for him to wake up, Summer helped me put the finishing touches on the french toast casserole... she was so proud of herself.  She then decided that she wanted to get changed instead of wearing her pajamas to Mom-mom's.  I took out pants and a Christmasy top, but she decided that she wanted to wear a "fancy" dress!  And that is what she wore...

Don't you love the ensemble?!

We finally made our way to Mom-mom's when Cole got out of bed.  Under her tree were a pile of presents from Mom-mom, Pop-pop & Aunt Chele.  The kids unwrapped all of their gifts... Cole then wanted to open everything to play, while Summer decided she'd rather open Mommy & Daddy's presents.  While we ate breakfast, Summer served us all tea with her new Tinkerbell china tea set and Cole chased his talking and moving Chuck the Truck around the house. 

Princess Aurora dress

Cole loved his zoo

We told the kids that when we got home that they could exchange the gifts that they got each other.  They were so excited about this that they started ripping into the packages before Jim and I finished unloading the car!  


Cole got a Chuck truck ramp &
Summer got a Cinderella doll

After a nap... we started getting ready to go to Mom-mom's annual Christmas eve dinner.  Summer said to me "I wear my Princess Aurora dress to Mom-mom's Mommy?"  And in the spirit of Christmas, I just couldn't say no to this request.  She was just so excited to wear it. 

Cole, Aunt Chele & Princess Aurora Summer

We had a great time enjoying both of our families' traditions.  First at my mother-in-law's traditional Christmas eve party and then at 7:30, the kids were still fairing pretty well so we decided to all venture over to my aunt's.  We have not all made it to my aunt's in 3 years so I was extremely happy that we made it together as a family.  Christmas eve was always a HUGE night of traditions in my family.  One such tradition is that we all received new Christmas PJs to wear to bed on Christmas eve.  (I have since adapted this to actually break out the pjs early to do our Christmas card pictures).   

Cousins in the Christmas PJs

Once we got home, we set out carrots, cookies & milk for Santa and his reindeer.  Said goodbye to our elf, Pepper Minstix who has been watching our behavior since just before Thanksgiving.  Then we took a quick trip outside to sprinkle the reindeer food that the kids brought home from school on the lawn so the reindeer would find our house.  Once upstairs and all of our bedtime medicine and brushing teeth routine was completed, Jimmy read Twas the Night Before Christmas to the kids.  A pretty jam packed day.... but truly wondeful! 

The loves of my life!