Christmas Eve

The morning of Christmas Eve, we decided to do the things we had hoped to get the last couple of days that we had been too sick to accomplish. First, we ate breakfast and then went to Starbucks where the person in line in front of me paid for my chai. I told the gal that I would pay for the person behind us, and she responded that they had already done that as well. So, I took my drink and wished her a Merry Christmas. :) :) :)

Then we took the boys to the Dollar Tree and gave them money to pick out gifts for each other, their baby brother and for us. I took Joshua first, and then we switched in the front of the store. The clerk realized what we were doing and double-bagged our gifts so we couldn't see. She thought the boys were cute.

When we were leaving, an old lady told us to wait and she had something for our boys. She came back from her car with these little sleigh things that she said are candy bars underneath. She told us how many children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren she had (I remember 19 great grandchildren!). She seemed sweet but very strange. Shawn said he didn't think we should let the boys eat the candy that was wrapped under the paper. Funny how we'll let them go trick-or-treating, but I knew what he meant. She was a bit odd, but the boys were happy to receive the gifts.

 Here was the sleigh:

We came home and baked cookies for Santa - Daddy's favorite chocolate chip. We didn't make our typical sugar cookie cut-outs because we didn't want the calories and we didn't really have time. And, truly, Christmas isn't about cookies. We made a single batch and that was good enough. When the cookies were finished baking, we got ready for church.

Ryan was in the nursery, but the older boys were in the service with us. We sang Christmas carols, and the pastor called all the kids up on stage to read to them the story of Christmas from the Bible. Afterward, they passed out candles, and Shawn & I discussed whether the boys were ready for real fire yet. I said we should let them try, explaining the expectation first, and then if they couldn't handle it, we'd blow them out and take them from them. But, both kids did GREAT! They held them upright and were very careful not to touch them or let them touch anything else. We sang "Silent Night" and held the candles up high as they turned out all the lights, so we saw all the candle lights across the room - a representation of the light of this world living in the hearts of each person there. It was very neat! When we got out of the service, we saw that it had started snowing pretty good while we were there. Our car was covered. This is what our house looked like when we got home.

We let the kids watch a movie while we finished wrapping gifts. It wasn't supposed to be so last minute, but sickness set us back a few days. Thankfully Shawn is a much better wrapper than me! We ended up ordering Chinese take-out for dinner so we could get things done. :) :) :) And the boys were excited to see the Polar Express, so it all worked out.

Then after we ate dinner, we did our traditional gift exchange between the kids and stockings, which Joshua was super excited for. In fact, that morning when he came in our room, he prayed that everyone would feel well so that we could open stockings that night and have a good day. It was a sweet prayer, and it was answered (thank you, God!).

Joshua picked Oreos for Caleb, a truck for Ryan, and a ball shooter toy for Daddy while he was with me in the store. Caleb picked a bottle opener with flashlight thing for Shawn when it was his turn to come with me. Caleb got Ryan a Buzz & Woody board book and a Green Lantern superhero activity book for Joshua and highlighters for me. Joshua picked me out a set of necklaces that we all took turns wearing that night.

I love this quiet time together as just our family. Shawn lit the candles in the fireplace so the room would smell good, we plugged in the holly Christmas lights around the fireplace and I turned on the battery operated tea lights in the little snowmen the boys had made so the room was filled with warmth and cheer.

 We thanked the boys for our gifts! Then we gave them their first gift to open from us - new pajamas!

I only got them for Joshua & Caleb - is that bad? I thought I should have bought some for Ryan when I saw how cute the older boys are. I had several pairs of PJs in his size, though, so I hadn't when I was shopping. Ryan knows all the Mario characters, though, and may have enjoyed these. I bought them when we were Black Friday shopping.

 

Then we put the boys on the sofa with their stockings and tried to get a picture before they opened them.

They all had goldfish. Ryan got a new toothbrush, and the older boys got new action figure cups and gold coins (a favorite chocolate snack). I can't remember if there were other little small items in them or not.

Then we set out the cookies and milk for Santa. Shawn suggested one cookie for each person in our family.

Afterward, while Shawn kept wrapping, I took the boys upstairs and watched a Charlie Brown Christmas with them in our bed. They were SO excited, but I reminded them that Santa only comes to little boys who are sleeping. Ryan was asleep and Joshua soon fell asleep in his bed, too, but Caleb kept coming back over to our room (in the meantime, Shawn had finished and was upstairs chatting with me while we waited for Caleb to fall asleep). Finally he did after 10 pm, in a very goofy position like he was fighting falling asleep but just couldn't keep his eyes open anymore. This was our tree before the kids went to bed.

 And this was our tree later that night... Santa ate all the cookies and Mrs. Clause drank the skim milk.

At 4 am, I heard a noise in our room. I sat up and discovered Caleb at the foot of our bed, who came in telling me he was just too excited to sleep. I asked him if Santa had come yet, and he said he didn't think so. I told him to snuggle in my bed and we could wait together. I thought he'd fall back to sleep, but an hour and a half later he was still jittery in our bed. I reminded him that Santa only comes when kids are asleep so finally he went back to his room to try to get a little shut eye, which I desperately needed. But, I was happy that he was so excited for Christmas. I love my little men!