Christmas Eve

We started Christmas Eve with our usual tradition of lunch at the country club. Oh wait, let me back up. We really started off the day with a certain someone snooping in closets that should not be snooped in, which caused some undue stress and an extra trip to Toys R Us that afternoon to cover it all up! Geez! We had hidden stuff for months and of course, on Christmas Eve, that's when he finds it. All I can say is that I am very glad that Hudson turned himself in and asked if there were any presents that I still had to wrap because otherwise the secret was going to be out!!! Phew! At least he is honest!!!

 

 You can tell that there is some mischievous in those eyes...or maybe he's a little too much like his mother!! I might have always known what I was getting for Christmas growing up! Payback hurts! Haha!

 Our annual picture in front of the tree at the BCC!

 I love this picture of all the littles! Rooney's dress is the most fabulous thing you have ever seen! It was something!

 Can you tell how excited Harrison was about Christmas in the picture below!?!? I love that kid!

 After lunch, we headed straight to church for the candlelight service. Christmas Eve can be very stressful for me so it was nice to take that hour and reflect on the reason why we celebrate!

Then it was straight home (for some, straight to Toys R Us!) to prepare for Christmas Eve with my family. Since mom and dad sold their house this year, Christmas was at our house. Thankfully I had a lot of help from Carrie!

This wild boy was still going strong! (that's sparkling grape juice by the way, in a fancy dollar tree glass!)

 Rooney is in charge of the boys. She had them doing what she wanted and she did not hold back one bit! She can definitely hang!

 The table...

 The kiddie table!

We had eaten such a huge lunch that day, so we kept it light and just had soup and sliders, and of course some dips, and our annual peppermint ice cream pie for dessert. It was easy.

Morgan treated us to a clarinet concert and it was really fun. She played some fun Christmas songs and we all sang along!

Then it was present time! All of the kids received a Hatchimal, which was what people say was the "gift" of the year. Of course my dad has to track it down and who knows what ungodly amount he paid for them. They were a hit though, especially on Christmas Day when the entire family sat around waiting for the thing to hatch!

 Harrison got some new reading material! :) This is actually really relevant because Harrison's bottom is flat like a pancake and can't keep any of his pants up! Ha!

My favorite was the Ryne Sandburg shirts! When I was growing up, I was the biggest tomboy ever and the Cubs were my favorite team and I literally wore Cubs athletic gear every where I went. And I claimed I was going to marry Ryne Sandburg! He was my all time favorite! So, it was only appropriate in the year that the Cubs won the World Series that I would get a Sandburg shirt! Dad knows me well.

 More gag gifts...

More gag gifts...

 Trey gave Dad a drone and he was like a kid in a candy store. I've never seen him get so giddy about anything...ever! He had a nice drone a couple of years ago and the first time he flew it, he got it stuck in a tree where he could not get it down. A storm finally blew it down and it broke in a million pieces. So, he was extremely happy to get another one to play with!

 I have no idea where my parents find this stuff, but this stuffed animal is all sweet until you squeeze it and it turns into a scary stuffed animal. It was sooo funny!!!

Kids in their Christmas PJ's!

It was a great night had by all. But there was still excitement to come! Once everyone left, we got the cookies and the milk out and the kids went straight to bed. They were SO excited about Santa coming!!! Of course, 11:30 came around and Hudson was STILL awake...grrrr....it was a really, really late night for ALL of us.