We did things a little different than usual this year for Christmas Eve and it was kind of a decision in the 11th hour to do so. I love going to church on Christmas Eve, it is one of my favorite services every year, even though we’ve had some adventures during such services, like when Leighton lite his hair on fire during the candle light part one year or when Caedmon in his little fire truck jammies joined Clint on stage while Clint was singing and danced all around him (with Clint not even knowing) when he was 20 months old. However because I was working night shifts the 22nd and 23rd and getting off the morning of the 24th it would mean that I wouldn’t get much sleep at all in order to get up and do Christmas Eve with Clint’s parents, then hurry around for dinner and changing everyone into nice clothes and then rushing off to church and inevitably making everyone cranky. Which is not what I wanted. So we called an audible in the 11th hour and I slept more post nights and actually woke up feeling rested and like a human again which hadn’t happened in a long time. We were then able to have a relaxed facetime phone call with Clint’s parents and aunt for their gifts. The kids all voted on wearing their jammies which just made it fun.
After doing facetime we had a picnic in the living room (because Clint had cleaned and had the dining room all set for Christmas dinner while I was sleeping). After dinner then we played Junior Clue and had a good time.
After game time then we finished out our Advent that we had been doing all month. We were a couple of days behind so we got caught up. We have been using the Jesus Story Book Bible and then also a magnet nativity set and the Jacob Tree Ornaments from Ann Voskamp. They have all been sweet reminders about the season and helped us connect as a family
We finished the night with our new family tradition. This year instead of everyone drawing a name and buying a gift, we made it simple and everyone got to pick out an ornament and then wrap it up and we would exchanged them on Christmas Eve. I took most of them shopping at various times over the past month to pick out their ornament and it was fun to watch them search the aisles and try and figure out which one to get. So we sat in a circle and then passed the gifts back and forth a few times and then each person got to open an ornament that wasn’t theirs. We ended up with quite an assortment, everything from a glittery globe to an avocado dressed as a bird to a fuzzy star. It was fun and I look forward to it continuing and our tree to get more and more beautiful each year.
Hiking Mommy 