December 24, 2013
I LOVE CHRISTMAS! It's my favorite time of year. I love the traditions, excitement, decorations, holiday activities, and the smell of cinnamon rolls baking in the oven. Here's a fraction of our holiday fun…
Christmas Eve
We make cinnamon rolls Christmas Eve so we can eat them for breakfast Christmas morning! This year Natalya helped me every step of the way. She especially loved punching down the dough. Who doesn't?
Christmas Eve dinner is always a treat. We have steak fondue and finger foods. The kids love putting their fondue fork in the hot oil and watching their food cook. Our Christmas Eve dinner menu usually looks like this: Steak, mushrooms, onion and green peppers to fondue, carrots, tomatoes, a variety of cheese and crackers, fruit salad, several different kinds of chips, chocolate mint cookies, and my husband's favorite Christmas Punch - pineapple juice, cranberry juice, Squirt, and vanilla ice cream floating on top.
Our kids do a gift exchange on Christmas Eve. This year Irelynn and Annika bought for one another, and Branson and Natalya bought for each other.
I love Irelynn's expression as her sister opened the gift she gave her. For me, the gift of giving usually makes me happier than receiving.
Irelynn's facial expression was priceless when she opened the gift Annika gave her. Her frown of confusion and pinched eyebrows put me in stitches! When we went shopping together she thought she saw her gift in the cart. So she was expecting a Barbie MegaBlocks set, and she got a movie instead. I spent the next minute or two trying to pump her up about the movie she didn't want.
I'm proud of her for graciously thanking her sister even though she wasn't super excited about it! It was kind of a crack-up!
Branson couldn't be happier! The boy loves sports.
Branson went to Claire's Boutique to shop for Natalya's gift. I was proud of him for choosing something with Natalya in mind. He was positive she would love a make-up set disguised like a camera, purple "attitude" glasses, and mittens that transform into gloves with open fingers. She was totally ecstatic.
My dad reads T'was the Night Before Christmas each Christmas Eve to my kiddles. He always reads the one my grandmother Marian "Gramarian" gave me in 1983.
I love watching my parents interact with my kids. They love Grandaddy and Grandma. Every day when my dad gets home from work, the kids cheer like he's a celebrity. Annika is especially attached to her Grandaddy. She crawls in his lap and pats his belly. I'm glad they're so close!
The kids went to bed at a reasonable hour that night because the faster they go to sleep, the faster they get to wake up :)
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