Christmas Eve

Tonight our family celebrated Christmas Eve and tomorrow we our having our own special Christmas. Santa heard our Daddy was leaving tomorrow so he called and said he would make a special trip to our house early.

The kids were delighted with their pj's tonight (well, all except Elise - I got her a night shirt this year and she was not into it. I thought she would be 'cause she always wants to wear one of my t-shirts to bed instead of her pajamas. With much coaxing and "if you don't put a smile on your face, Santa's not coming for you tonight," she finally decided it was ok). The boys got matching spiderman pj's. They absolutely LOVE them! Matthew has to have everything Andrew has so that's why they are matching.

Of course we read the Christmas story and watched the "Joy to the World" dvd the church sent out a couple of years ago. I love it because it's fairly short and it's easy to follow for the kids. We asked the kids why we have Christmas and Elise responded, "I don't know . . . 'cause Heavenly Father wants us to?!" Not quite. So, it was good to talk about the real reason we celebrate this beautiful holiday. When we were watching the video, she did point out Mary (I taught her that Mary most always wears blue in pictures and movies, etc, so Mary was easy to spot for Elise, I guess.) and she recognized the Baby Jesus, of course. And, she remembered why the Star shone. It's so nice to see that some of the things I teach her are catching on. When Matthew saw the baby Jesus, he pointed and said, "baby! slkdjfakldjf, baby!"

Anyway, it's nearly midnight and Santa has come. The stockings are filled and the presents are laid out. It's always exciting to see the children on Christmas morning! They are bursting with energy and wonder! I hope they don't come in at 4 a.m. I need some beauty rest!