More Christmas Eve

We had a Christmas Eve stew for dinner on Christmas Eve. That was nice but I think our favorite part of dinner was getting our Christmas poppers to snap open and get our prize and crown inside. These were a regular Christmas tradition growing up and this year I found some. I was so excited to get them. The kids were so scared at first to pull on the ends because they were not sure what was going to happen. I had to keep reassuring them that it wasn't scary. They liked the crowns and toys inside. Rachel was excited as well because I put sparkling cider in wine glasses. Rachel for DARE had been on a no pop challenge for 3 months. Well she went a little farther and decided that she would go a week longer than everybody else and go till Christmas Eve. I think she drank 3 glasses full.

After dinner we did our Christmas Nativity story. The kids changed it up this year and were different characters. Jacob was still Joseph but I was Mary. I think that this was the first time that I have ever been Mary. Rachel wanted to be the angel and wise men. Enoch was the narrator and the shepherds. Kaelen was a shepherd as well as our entertainer. He found it more fun to jump off the couch and yell real loud and laugh oh and he loved to run off with baby Jesus as well. If you notice in the pictures we had no Donkey so instead we used a little train. It was old days meets modern days. It was fun. We usually don't do the pageant with so few of us but we had a lot of fun anyways.

Oh yah before the pageant and after dinner I ran to Walgreen's to get some drugs. Thank you 24 hour 7 days a week Walgreen's. Even on Holidays it's open. I have had a really bad cold and cough and nothing I was taking was working. I had gone to the doctors and they said that they weren't going to get me anything. I wanted to get better before we left for San Diego in a week. I got the strong drugs. Well as strong as over the counter drugs can get. I got a bunch of them. It was nice to sleep that night.

Anyways on with Christmas Eve. After the pageant we opened our Christmas Eve presents. Surprise surprise as to what it was. We always open pajamas. We love it. Enoch and I don't really buy pajamas through out the year so it is nice to get new ones. The kids really love having new ones to sleep in on Christmas Eve and then wear the next morning while we open presents. I got matching ones for Kaelen and Jacob. I love that I can buy matching clothes for them and they are still okay with it. I wish that I could have found ones for Rachel too.

After our presents and getting ready for bed we read T'was the Night before Christmas. Right after we were married my Grandpa sent us some money at Christmas and we bought this book for our family. I grew up with us reading it every Christmas Eve. I now have it memorized because of it. Rachel almost does now too. The kids really enjoyed it. Kaelen loved the moon. He kept screaming MOON and wouldn't let Enoch turn the page. He just wanted to see the moon. He is so funny. I am glad that the kids didn't mind looking at the moon on the page longer than normal. In the pictures Kaelen is screaming at the moon and yelling moon. So funny.

We ended the night with the kids by drinking their sleepy hot chocolate. We have hot chocolate with candy canes and chocolates that they throw into it. Everybody loves it. This year I added candy cane flavored Hershey kisses. They were so good in the hot chocolate. Yum. We of course after left our cookies, milk and vegetables for Santa and the Reindeer. One year we almost forgot to leave stuff out so now the kids really remember.

Enoch and I wrapped a couple of presents before we went to bed. Oh and we had to watch some of a 24 hour Christmas Story. A Christmas Story is on 24 hours on Christmas Eve. It is fun to watch it at starting at any point because when it is over you can start watching again. Still not sure why we watch it on TV though because we own it and we could just put it in and watch it with out the commercials.

We had a good Christmas Eve despite me being very sick and 2 Christmas glasses breaking. Oh yah my kids at dinner broke a wine glass that was a wedding present and very dear to me and then a beautiful Christmas glass that we have had since our first Christmas together. Oh well though after being very upset we enjoyed Christmas Eve together and hopefully our kids at one point remembered why we celebrate Christmas.