Christmas Eve

This year was our first Christmas in our own home with no family around! While I was definitely missing our families, it was also lots of fun to just be together and do our own thing. We've all been looking forward to this day because it was the start of Kenny's long break from work. We need him home right now, until I get a better grip on this 3 kids thing :). I made some Christmas treats that morning, and Kenny took the kids out to play in the snow. It turns out it was only the beginning, as it didn't stop snowing the whole day and we got a few good inches! It was a beautiful white Christmas! :)

We went around delivering goodies to friends in the early afternoon. That evening I wanted to have our very nice and fancy Christmas Eve dinner of ham, augratin potatoes, rolls, peas, and sparkling cider. I got out the little flameless lights to have a nice low-lit meal. And I think the set-up was very nice, and it started out with the best of intentions.

But here's how the dinner really went down...

We sat down and Brynlee immediately needed the glass plate taken away from her, replaced with a small pink, plastic one. She ate the food well, but she made a huge mess all around her...and no she isn't wearing a shirt. I can't keep clothes on that girl to save my life. She's always either undressing or dressing up in weird outfits/hats etc. At least she was happy.

Tyler complained the whole time about how he didn't like anything we were eating and he was NOT going to have what we were having (this is a daily battle, by the way). So we, and when I say we I mean mostly Kenny, worked with him for long after the rest of us left, getting him to eat the food haha.

And Kenny and I took turns holding/trying to comfort crying Madison for the first half of the meal, until she finally slept soundly (but only as long as I held her).

I just had to laugh at my silly kids. No matter how nice and quiet of a meal I wanted to have, this is how it will always be with young kids in the house. And ya know, I'm okay with that. In fact, I love it.

After dinner we acted out the traditional nativity scene. Tyler really knows it well and got into it. Brynlee just enjoyed riding the donkey, or her dad. But my favorite part was when Tyler switched roles to a wise man and all of the sudden pulled out the vacuum hose extension and started "fighting all the bad guys". I don't remember that from the scriptures, but it was a nice conclusion to our Christmas story :).

Next was the traditional Christmas pajamas. I decided to buy Kenny pants instead of make his because then he would actually wear them. And I lost the pattern for my own and then Madi was born and I never got around to buying another one and making myself some, so I bought mine too. But the kids' pajama pants are homemade and matching, and that's what mattered most to me.

And we didn't forget to leave out cookies and milk for Santa. I got this cute plate at Kohl's :)

We had such a fun evening together and it was the best to watch how excited they were, especially Tyler. Although I think I was just as excited and giddy about the whole thing as he was. Christmas is way awesome when you have kids of your own! :)