Christmas Eve Fun

This Christmas was the best yet.  We had fun getting ready for it and when it finally came, it was all we hoped it would be.  This year, we had my family’s Christmas Eve party at our house so I spent the week before decorating, making decorations and finishing up the unpacking (yes, we were still unpacking!).  Of course, when I say I finished "unpacking", I mean I waited until the last minute and then just threw everything in the garage  :-D

I didn’t want to spend lots on decorations so I got crafty with paper.  Lots of snowflakes (like 60!) and paper fan flowers made from scrapbook paper that I found in the dollar section of Target.  They turned out really cute and I love the way our house looks at Christmastime.  This house has an especially homey feel to it (just ignore the, uh, 70s-chic kitchen...), so that makes it all the more comfy.  So I took what pictures I could get in the week before, but I didn't get a before picture on that day of the buffet or table setup with the yummy food; only an after...it all happened so fast!

Our beautiful tree!  Notice the empty patches from all the - ahem - mysterious rearranging of ornaments that went down...

Mia's very interested in the story of the real reason behind Christmas.  She keeps taking pieces of the set and coveting them lol.  She also thought Jesus should have a birthday party with balloons and cake.  How sweet.

And the party was so much fun.  I loved spending time with my family and watching the kids open gifts.  Among other goodies, Mia got cute clothes from her Mimi and the awesome skates she wanted from her Aunt and Uncle.  She kept saying, "Just what I wanted!  This is awesome!"  She had more appreciation for her gifts this year, which is a relief for us.

Mia and her Daddy left for a while so she could go exchange gifts at her GG Carol’s Christmas Eve party.  She came back with cute books, colors and PJs (which she just had to wear that night) and the most adorable fairy ornament ever.  It resembles Mia with her pale skin and complicated blonde/brown/red hair  :o)

...and yeah, that's me in the corner there...my four-year-old mad-scientist grin.  So that's where Mia gets it from...  >:-D

By the time they got back to our house, Mia was pretty done!  It had been a full day of excitement and she was ready for sleepy time.  But first, we finished our gingerbread house.  Liz did most of it, but there was lots of supervision – er – suggestions on what to do :o)  It turned out great except for that one ghetto window on the second floor.  Ezra said there wasn’t a chimney, so Santa had to break a window!  Lol…there's something wrong with that boy.  Kidding.  It was a lot of fun.  The only thing Mia did was put a few stepping stones on at the very end because her and Abi were busy with coloring.  Coloring on what is a different story…

So all good things must come to an end and everyone went home to get ready for the big day.  And it was off to bed for the little ones until the morning when it was finally Christmas!