Christmas Eve was a busy day around here, as usual. But we got it all done. Most of the day was spent cleaning and organizing. Todd took Emma & TJ to the park for a couple of hours so that really helped out Karen and I (and Katie & Lucy who were over to help) and gave us a chance to get quite a bit done.
In the evening we went to church and then headed (for the 3rd year in a row) to McDonalds for dinner. Yes, I know it is not a traditional holiday meal but it has worked well for us the past couple years. It gives the kids a chance to run around and burn off the last of their energy AND we can feed them without making a mess of the newly cleaned kitchen. Unfortunately, the employees of McDonalds looked like they were trying to get out of there early too so they had the playground area closed off and were in the middle of deep cleaning all the equipment. So, no playground for us this year.
We grabbed our burgers and headed home. Once the kids had eaten, it was time to begin the evening preps... First up, Emma & TJ got to open their one Christmas present - new jammies!! Emma loved her new monkey nightie. Then we went outside to sprinkle reindeer food on the lawn to guide Santa and his team. Next was baths & pictures in the new jammies. We read "How the Grinch stole Christmas," "Santa Mouse," and "I want a Hippopotamus for Christmas" along with finishing the miniature advent books with the nativity story. Next we hung the "Santa Key" on the front door so the big guy could come in easily sans chiminy. We set out cookies and milk for Santa (and had one apiece for ourselves) before I helped Emma brush her teeth and then it was time to lay down. She was so excited about Santa coming to visit that she was fast asleep within 15 minutes. Such a sweetie. Then "Santa" was able to get back up and finish any last minute wrapping, prepping, and staging.
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