Christmas Eve began as usual: cookie-making. We had things to do, people to see, but Santa's cookies needed to be made before all else. When this girl was done, it looked like flour had exploded in the kitchen.
We headed to church with Grammy & Kylie for Christmas Eve service. And this, just, oh. It's my favorite part. Silent Night by candlelight. My favorite church tradition.
We scattered reindeer food on the driveway, and settled back in the warmth for The Night Before Christmas and the BEST Santa book in the world. Go buy it.
With the babes tucked in bed, I made a cup of coffee, and Santa and I headed downstairs to the workshop.
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I have seen this meme (may-may for Maren) that says, "I used to think being a kid on Christmas was the best thing ever, but it turns out having kids on Christmas is." It's cheesy, but OMG, you guys. It's freaking true. All of the "only ___ sleeps 'til Santa comes," the copious amounts of Christmas cookies that HAVE to be made, the matching Christmas jammies, Bing's voice floating in the air. It's more than my mama heart can take. I mean, it's absolutely mass chaos, and Jax swiped every toy and hoarded shit, but it was still magical.
That was actually for your brother, punk.
He got the feels mid-present-opening.
Maddie "gets" it. She's old enough to know that we put out cookies for Santa. She gets to see him and tell him what she wants. She knows the countdown. She knows to anticipate the greatest day of the year. And it's so fun to watch it unfold for her. She didn't even know where to start because it was so overwhelming.
My lobster has wanted a tablet all year. We have talked about it, made plans to purchase after Christmas with Christmas money, but I schemed. This year was good to us. REALLY good. Young Living is changing our lives in terms of health, and now, financially. Without even batting an eyelash, I was able to buy this gorgeous tablet for him and I didn't have to scrape it up over a few months. We laughed about how, in years past, we couldn't really afford to get each other gifts, but this year, we got everything we REALLY wanted.
Last year, he didn't do a good job. It was bad. So, this year, he wanted me to sweat a little.
But then, this beautiful box appeared and I told him he could stay. These boots. I've worn them everyday since Christmas.
Then, we pulled out the big guns. Santa surprised the kids with their very own playroom equipped with a jump house. They were giddy. They jumped until the boys needed a nap and we had to head to the parents' house for Christmas 2.0.
After cinnamon rolls and flavored coffee, we snuggle up for the Christmas story. Grammy has a great pop-up book for the kids to follow along. I don't remember a single word of this because I was running back and forth, diverting the boys from pulling down hot cider, electrocuting themselves, screaming, and pulling down the cheese platter. I had good intentions.
After some sappy stuff, we put the boys down, and they slept through their second Christmas. The rest of us ripped into our presents.
Nothing significant about this moment. He's just hot with that plaid and that beard.
I have a thing for making layer cakes. It's my only baking talent, but I love it. Gingerbread layer cake with cream cheese frosting and sugared cranberries. Doesn't it look impressive AF?
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