Christmas traditions are a must and we definitely have our share...
on Christmas eve my sister's family and my dad and stepmom come over and we celebrate with a big prime rib dinner. a definite favorite of the men!
we always, get a {Christmas ornament} from dad and janice and the older kids do a gift card gift exchange. we make it alittle fun by doing a scavenger hunt in order to find the gift cards and then they do the dice thing/white elephant thing to see what card they end up with.
in the end, i think suz and i end up with the cards and the kids get our cash...
the evening ends with me reading {The Night Before Christmas} a 12 year old tradition
and the sprinkling of reindeer food on the lawn, again a tradition that's as old as gavin.
after everyone leaves i give the kids their Christmas Eve present...Christmas pj's!
ok. so here's this year's drama...
i ordered all (but gavin's) pj's online at old navy
i ordered a 4T for nolan and apparently his {muscles} were too big for the stupid arms.
he cried and cried that the pajamas were too tight, but when i told him to take them off, he cried more! so. i did what every mom would do and i cut off the sleeves!
ThEn...he cried and cried that the feet were too tight. so. yep, i cut off the feet.
well. it worked. he was happy and in the collage below you can see him flexing his big muscles.
oh yikes!
{and one more thing...notice his hair. in fact, take notice of both the boys hair...
i cut their hair. always have. but for some reason i absolutely, positively MeSSeD up BoTH the boys hair and all i can say is that i was tired and delirious and i shouldn't have been given scissors! Gavin was so mad at me that he didn't talk to me until the day after. UgH!}
back to traditions...
cookies for santa. always.
this year masyn decorated one of the many {gingerbread houses} that i made and gave it to him. chocolate milk accompanies the tasty treat.
Christmas morning begins at the crack of dawn!
stockings, presents, a huge mess, dad's breakfast, and laughter.
happy birthday Jesus!!!
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then it's off to nana and pa's {next door!}
all the aunts, uncles, cousins, and extended family come and the boys TrY to stay out of trouble! {we DON'T SHOOT PEOPLE with BB GUNS!!!}
{PleAsE note NolaN's HAIR! yep i got SO much grief from EVeryOnE that i took Nolan ALL THE WAY HOME and had shawn shave his head too!}
after nana and pa's, we walked back home and got ready for mom, george, derrick and my sister's family to come for dinner.
turkey, ham, cheesy potatoes, pretzel jello salad all are a must.
mom made suz and i cheri's newest pattern black lovely! very LoVeLY!
we played a game of tonk {a very long time family tradition!}
gavin beat george and i think we were all shocked!
and this year the kids all got coats of some kind. great idea mom!
i LOVE Christmas and all the memories and traditions that we pack into every moment. stashed away in our hearts and minds awaiting the next generation to pass them on to.
it makes my HeArT happy!!!
2 comments:
It looks like you've had the perfect Christmas Julie (and why do I feel like I've already commented? was it in my head? guess I shouldn't be up so late. if I did, delete one of them LOL.)
I love peeking at all of your traditions -- thanks for sharing. (Sorry about the haircuts!)
What a wonderful Christmas you all had together Julie! Loved reading about it and seeing all the pics. I used to cut my children's hair until a barber told my oldest son not to let his mom near his head again. I was not so good at it either. Christmas Jim Jams are a wonderful tradition. Love the pix of Nolan flexing his muscles! Happy New Year! xxoo
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