Christmas Eve Traditions

I LOVE the holiday season. Around Halloween I really get excited just knowing it's right around the corner! Once November rolls around & they begin showing Christmas commercials on TV & playing Christmas songs on the radio I am all giddy inside! We bust out the Christmas movies on November 1st and begin putting our Christmas decorations up around the week of Thanksgiving. I load up iPod with Christmas music as soon as I can. I can't get enough of the holidays!!

Christmas Eve is an exciting day in our house, as I'm sure it is in many other homes. Of course, you have the much anticipated visit from Santa that evening, but many other things take place during the day that are fun, fun, fun! Nana & Papa are usually at our house (Our rule is we go NO WHERE for Christmas...Christmas is at our house because of the kiddos & our families are more than welcome to come over, but we celebrate at our house only!), Daddy is off work & we are ready to party!!

One of our usual traditions is for the kids to decorate a gingerbread house. Nana has the job of applying the icing to the house & the kids wait patiently (sometimes) to add the different pieces of candy to it. Each kid decorates one side of the house. It's funny to see their different decorating skills. Luke had a definite plan for his...1 piece of candy for the house, 1 piece of candy for him!

Ready to create the gingerbread house!

Grace's side...

Luke's side...

Proud of their masterpiece!

Later in the day we had to make a last minute trip to HEB. No Christmas Eve is perfect without that trip to the dreaded grocery store to pick up the 3 items you forgot to get the week before! Nana, the kids & I were the ones who were the brave ones to venture out & brave the crowds and this gave Papa & Daddy just enough time to "hang out" (i.e. put together gifts)! We hung out that afternoon and watched Dr. Suess' How the Grinch Stole Christmas...one of our favs! For dinner we have tamales & cheese dip (a tradition since I was a little girl) & then we load up in the car to look at Christmas lights. This year it was fun because there were so many neighborhoods to choose from. We saw lot's of cool decorations & pretty lights.

Soon, it was time to head home & get ready for Santa's big visit! When we got home we found that Samuel the Elf had left us each a gift...new pajamas!!! How exciting!! There's nothing like new pj's for those fun Christmas morning pictures!!

Thank you, Samuel!!

Even Daddy got new pj's!!

After we had baths & were decked out in our new pj's (with the exception of Luke, who refused to wear his new pj's until he was actually going to bed...) we sprinkled reindeer food out on the front lawn in hopes they would stop by & leave us a bell from their reins!! It had just started raining right before we went out so they made quick work of sprinkling the food!!

After we take care of the reindeer food we get Santa's cookies & milk ready. This year we couldn't put them out until right before bedtime for fear that Toby would help himself to a little snack!


Once the snacks for ol' Santa & his reindeer were complete we snuggled on the couch & read 'Twas the Night Before Christmas & The Christmas Story. The kids were soon snuggled in bed with more than just visions of sugarplums dancing around I'm sure! It wasn't long before they were sound asleep & the rest of us climbed in bed to get enough sleep to sustain us for the nonstop excitement that would soon be taking place!

Even Toby listened to the stories...

Right before bed in their new pj's!!