Christmas Eve

Gasp, I know, I am making a blog post. I promise this won't be quick, but I have had tons of people ask me where I went. Life is where I went. I am busy training (about 12-16 hours a week), chasing 3 kids, cooking, cleaning, selling our house, you name it. I will start from where I left off and that is Christmas Eve.

Christmas Eve was always a big deal at my house growing up. We have decided to keep it the same. That means a big fancy meal so mom doesn't have to actually cook on Christmas. I worked that morning and so did Blake. He got off early and I spent the rest of the afternoon in the kitchen. I made a delicious ham, twice baked potatoes, and broccoli. You can tell 3 little boys enjoyed themselves.

I let the older boys drink raspberry lemonade out of champagne glasses. We also collected all the candles from around the house and ate in the light of the candles.

It was extra special. I even made rainbow jello. This is no easy task, it honestly takes around 4 hours to complete it. Worth it!

My lovely boys!

After dinner, we let the boys be Santa. They got to bring all the presents down from our room and put them under the tree. In the meantime, we had a huge box filled with presents from Gma/Gpa Barnett. The boys spent a good hour playing in here. 

We read Luke 2 and acted out the Nativity story. I am sure this will be an even more fun tradition as they get older. And then for the one gift. Yes, they get to open one gift on Christmas Eve. Jammies, of course. Matching, even better!

After a nice long bath, the boys headed to bed to await Santa's gifts in the morning. I wanted to make cookies for Santa, but Braden told me that he would be sick of cookies and would just prefer some good left overs (thanks Megan- a friend from the gym). Braden had been asking for a razor scooter like Micah (his cousin) or a drum set like Isaiah. I am sure you didn't have to guess which one Santa brought.

He actually brought one for both boys.

Hunter got the same gift that each boy got for their first Christmas. The ball popper.

Even with a really tight budget (due to medical bills, thanks boys!) we were more than blessed this year. We have grandparents who spoil the kids and us. Blake and I couldn't wait to see the kiddos faces in the morning.