Christmas Eve at the Rousehouse has become very special these last
few years. As the girls have gotten older, and the holidays have
gotten busier, we have set aside Christmas Eve as a time for
our family to worship and play together.
In the evening we all bundle up and head over to our
church for a great Christmas Worship service.
After that, we eat then get the house ready for
Santa's visit!
Two years ago, in a flurry of wrapping paper, tears
and a terrible case of the 'gimmies', I decided that we needed to
start slimming down at Christmas a bit. I was concerned that the
girls were more worried about what Santa and everyone else
was giving them for Christmas than enjoying the spirit of Christmas.
In order to try to right their thinking, we decided to ask Santa to
do things a little differently.
We wrote a note to Santa and asked that he only fill our stockings
on Christmas Eve. We asked that he take the big gifts he had
planned for us and give them to children who needed them more
than us.
It was a brave experiment that went beautifully.
The girls were thrilled with the fun trinkets in their stocking
and didn't seem to miss the extravagant gifts at all.
Instead, they enjoyed the time with family, opening and giving
presents, laughing and relaxing together.
We have continued that tradition, and the girls seem genuinely
thrilled to ask Santa to share their gifts. They love leaving him his
milk and cookies and as Ella put it best, "I hope I get a cool
notebook and maybe a pen from Santa this year!"
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| Three little elves all ready for Santa |
Several years ago I started giving the girls matching pajamas
every Christmas Eve. They would get to open a present early
and I'd get to see them all looking so cute and coordinated
on Christmas Day.
Well, my dear Claire is a bit of a clothes snob. Well, maybe not
a clothes snob, more of a picky 10 year old!
I swear, I can't remember the last time I picked out an outfit,
or as it appears, a pair of pajamas that she liked.
Where did my baby go??
Where did my baby go??
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| "Dad, you're killing me with these kid pjs!" |
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| My Christmas beauties! |
