Christmas Eve

Sorry...Meant to get these posted yesterday, but then the day went and got busy on me.

We had a nice, quiet morning on Christmas Eve, (No photos of that.) and then we went to the early service at church, so as to not interfere with the Beaver's Bowl Game, (No photos of that either.) and then we went to my Dad's house to eat dinner, open presents and watch the said Bowl Game on his giant T.V. (I've got photos of that, but I haven't even had time to look at them yet.)

And then we went home to do the regular things we like to do on Christmas Eve...

This year though, Courtney Lee had put in a request for new pajamas on Christmas Eve.

So that's what we did.

After a quick battle of Roshambo to see who got to open their present first.

Yans beat Cole and Cole beat Courtney.

And that meant Annie got to go first.

And though Cole was up next, I put the pressure on him to act like a gentleman and let Courtney open her present before him.

Cole is usually more of an underoo-kind-of-a-man than a pajama-kind-of-a-man, so he got a robe (and a new book to read while wearing his robe) instead.

All he really cared about was the new book though. (The final installment in a trilogy he's been reading.)

The girls also got stuffed animals that are filled with lavendar and can be heated up in the microwave.

And then the girls and I got ready to make cookies, while Coley did what Coley does...Read.

And that last one isn't the best shot, but I had to include it because before Josh and I left for our Christmas-shopping trip up to Portland, the kids all decided to draw pictures on the chalkboard of what they most desperately wanted for Christmas:

Annie = a puppy.

Courtney = a karaoke machine.

Cole = Legos.

Since my sister hadn't gotten into town yet to make home-made sugar cookies and peanut butter cookies from scratch, the girls had to settle for my kind of cookie-making...The kind that are pre-made and just need to be thrown on a cookie sheet.

I even pulled sprinkles out of the cupboard to make the cookies extra-special.

 

Still reading.

And then we put the cookies in the oven, which gave us approximately 12-minutes to write letters to Santa.

Annie decided to pull-out her cursive-writing guide to impress Santa.

And Coley surprised me by announcing that he'd probably still write to Santa for at least one or two more years.

Courtney Lee decided that she's still got another 5 or 6 years of Santa-writing left in her.

And Yans decided that she was going to keep writing letters to Santa until she was 25.

And then Coley finished up his letter (so he could get back to reading) and folded it up oragami-style into an envelope.

And then Courtney Lee finished up.

And then Yans spent a few more minutes thinking (That's her thinking-face.) about what needed to be on her list before finishing up hers as well.

Just in time to pour some milk and pull the cookies out of the oven.

And then Courtney Lee played piano for awhile.

And Yans hung out with her Daddy (who was glued to radio that was playing the Beavers game since we don't have cable.)

And Cole kept reading his book.

And then (after the game was over), Josh read Twas' the Night Before Christmas.

And then we put those rugrats to bed.

Comments

[Cristy]

That last photo....they're not tired or anything, are they? ;)

[Stephanie @ La Dolce Vita]

these are so precious! talk about special memories! Annie wants another puppy? Cutie. How is Shindad doing? We haven't seen him in a while.

[Kate]

Please forgive me for being incredibly nosey, but as a long time reader I was just wondering what happened to the dog that Annie got when your husband was deployed?

Lovely photos!

[Addie]

Lovely photos! I only wish my Gabe would read like Cole! It's like pulling teeth with him!

[jm]

Oh, that book reading boy gets my heart every time!

[SarahN]

I just bought that trilogy for my daughter....I have dreams of one day marrying her off to your Cole. lol :)

[Kelli Davis]

So cute! I love how Cole loves to read :) What is he reading...I'm always looking for something for my reader.

[Holly]

Does Annie really want a rat?? LOL... That's all that stood out to me! :)

[Kathy]

I love that last one of the kids yawning. I also read that book to my kids before they went to sleep. Lovely photos. Kathy A, Brisbane, Australia

[Kelli Williams]

Lovely photos! We did not leave cookies out this year, or write the letter, but we did read twas' the night before. Sigh.

[janel]

Now I want cookies, and someone to read me a bedtime story....off to see what I can find! Great photos of even more special times.

[Jules]

Absolutely adore these shots! That pic of Coutney laying on the table...so beautiful she is. And that last shot is perfection. Happy New Year!

[Jennifer]

So sweet…that last picture of Cole and Courtney both yawning is perfect.

[Mary Jo]

I love that you have "regular things" (traditions in my eyes) that you do on Christmas Eve.

[Sue Tonga]

Just lovely Karen.