It's Christmas Eve.
(for those interested, the only light in the room is from the Christmas tree. I put my camera on the kitchen table for stability and took the picture with a long shutter speed of 2 seconds. I have a tripod, but I was too lazy to get it out.)
All but a few presents have been wrapped.
My bedroom, a.k.a. Wrapping Central has gotten very messy (can someone explain to me why we need four pairs of scissors to wrap gifts?).
This morning I'm finishing up some gifts, and trying to bring some order to my house (Who am I kidding? both of those jobs will probably bleed into the afternoon.). I'll probably make some Monkey Bread for our Christmas breakfast and put that in the fridge.
And of course, I'm going to make our special Christmas Eve dinner (Cream of Crab soup, crusty loaves of French Bread, green salad, and sparkling juice), which we'll eat after my husband comes home from work.
Yum.
In the evening, we'll be off to our church where I'll play for the Christmas Eve service along with my good friend and fabulous violinist, Sophia (hi, Sophia!). Yay for Christmas music! And candle-lit services!
After the service, we'll head home (which will only take 5 minutes, because we live really close to our church. I highly recommend that. Well, if you go to church, that is.), and we'll all open one small present before we hit the hay. My husband and I used to do that before we had kids, and our children have happily embraced the tradition (as a rule, I find that children are very open to customs that involve receiving presents early.). Hee.
I hope that you have a happy day full of preparations for tomorrow. And in case I don't make it back here tomorrow (if I have time, I might upload a few Christmas morning photos), have a very merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas Eve! 🙂
Merry Christmas to you and yours, Kristen. God Bless you all and may He keep you near as He does always.
We were talking at work about holidays and such this week and people were mentioning how stressful Christmas was and how it's all about spending money. They asked me about my opinion to which I replied, "Well, I always felt Easter was more important than Christmas and outside of coloring a few eggs, you really don't spend much money."
"Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ." 1 Corinthians 1:3
I didn't go too crazy on gifts this year. This was the best year for bargains for me. Hooray for Amazon Used and New as well as gift cards and even some homemade items.
Merry Christmas, Kristen!
And thanks for the gift of bread baking inspiration!
Sounds lovely!
Merry Christmas Eve to you! 🙂
Merry Christmas!
One tradition my in-laws have that I enjoy (we're with them this year for Christmas) is reading "The Night Before Christmas" out loud with the reader wearing a Santa hat. I think I'd like to do something similar with a Nativity story when we start having Christmas at our own house.
It's been a while since we got to see Lisey! She's adorable 🙂 My daughter also likes to sit in that awkward position. I can't imagine how that would be comfortable, but it's such a cute little girl pose 🙂
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you and your family!
Thrifty Gal, I did manage to catch her while we were decorating cookies too...check out yesterday's post! She and Joshua are just much less prone to wanting their pictures taken than are Sonia and Zoe, so I have to be more sneaky. lol
And yeah, the positions children sit in! Holy cow. My knees are killing me today from crouching down to help them wrap gifts.
We're having a cookie baking extravaganza to celebrate Christmas eve!
For us, Hanukkah has been over for almost a week, and my son has been happily playing with gifts (large and small) that he got, one per night. Most of our friends celebrate Christmas, though, so he's seen their excitement this week as the big day approaches. And tomorrow will be a celebration of sorts for us too, because my husband works in retail, and Christmas Day always means we get him back home, out of the trenches---at least till the after Christmas sales and inventories start!
Blessings to you and your family, for Christmas and the New Year.
Happy belated Hannukah to you, Julia! And enjoy having your husband home.
Have a wonderful day with your family Kristen - your home looks beautiful and it sounds like you have a great couple of days planned 🙂
You have inspired me in many ways and I truly appreciate it. Merry Christmas and a Frugal New Year!
Merry Christmas. Thank you for your wonderful blog!
Merry Christmas to you and yours. Echoing others, thank you for providing such inspiring, thoughtful and practical content. I made the Apricot Coffee Cake this morning, to much acclaim from my family. Best wishes for a Happy New Year.