Christmas Eve 2012

Christmas Eve wasn't quite the relaxing day I had envisioned. It started with me realizing that although I had done all my grocery shopping on Friday, so I wouldn't have to go out on Christmas Eve, I had forgotten the pan for cooking the turkey and our cake mix (we always make a birthday cake for Jesus and sing Happy Birthday to Him.) So, I got myself out of bed (yep, that was before I was up!) and got ready to go. I asked Kayla if she wanted to run errands with me and she said no...was hoping for a little bit of girl time. So, I asked Elijah if he wanted to spend some time with me. He said yes :)
So, we headed out to Pineville to get daddy a Christmas gift. I had made a photo book for him, but it hadn't come yet. We went to Lifeway Christian Bookstore and got him Wow Hits 2013. After that we headed to Walmart to pick up those last minute groceries. While we were there I realized that I hadn't picked Matt up any cranberry sauce for Christmas dinner, so I grabbed that too. I still felt like I was forgetting something (of course I didn't have a list!), so I called Matt and asked him what I could be forgetting. He couldn't think of anything. So, Elijah and I headed to the check out to get our things.
From there we headed to Old Navy to get a last minute gift for my sister and niece. I was so excited that they were coming for Christmas that I just HAD to get them something! After that we put gas in the van and headed home. We enjoyed our outing, but we were gone the entire morning.
In the afternoon we cleaned the house, worked on laundry, Matt and the kids worked on Jesus' birthday cake while I paid bills. Then we let the kids open a small gift. We usually do open one gift on Christmas Eve, but this year we couldn't make up our minds if we wanted them to open anything or not. We had to do a smaller amount of presents this year and didn't want the kids to feel like they weren't getting much on Christmas. Finally, around 3 we started playing with some of the toys the kids had gotten on Saturday. We played until around 4, then worked on our Advent devotionals. Around 4:30 we started getting ready for the Christmas Eve service at Church. I wanted everyone showered before we went to Church since we were going to be getting home a bit later.
We left the house around 5:40 because we ALWAYS hit a lot of traffic on our way to Pineville in the evenings. We got to church in record time. I don't know where everyone was, but we had NO traffic at all. It was amazing and so nice. We really enjoyed the Christmas Eve service and the reminder of what Christmas is all about. The kids, especially Elijah hadn't really wanted to go, to Elijah, it was a change because we didn't go to on last year, and he didn't want the change (he doesn't do well with change). But, once we got there, he was SO excited. He couldn't wait for it to start. He sang along with the songs and really enjoyed the service, we all did. It seemed short to me and I was a bit disappointed when it was over! I wasn't ready for it to end :)

On the way home, Matt asked me if I had gotten him any cool whip to go on his pie. Oops, that's what I had forgotten!!! I was like, nope, it was on my mental list, but forgot again at the store. We were like, no big deal, we pass a million stores on the way home...would you believe they had all closed early? (good for them, the workers could spend Christmas Eve with their families, but alas, no cool whip for Matt's pie!) We'll have to get it on Wednesday. After that we drove around our neighborhood checking out Christmas lights. We saw some interesting blow up decorations, Hello Kitty, Elmo, Snoopy, a Christmas Dog...it was nice.
We ended our evening with a family cuddle on mine and Matt's bed, great hugs, prayers and lots of love. We reminded our kids that they are the best gift that Matt and I have ever had, with the exception of Jesus. They truly are our precious gifts and we are blessed. I want them to know and understand that they are precious, even when Mommy is cranky and not treating them as if they are special. It really made Kayla smile to be reminded of what a precious gift she is. May we always remember to remind them every once in a while of what an amazing, precious gift they are. God is so good.

"Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change life shifting shadows." James 1:17