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Christmas Eve 2015

Wednesday, December 30, 2015
I still have a few Christmas-y events (cookie making, caroling) to post but was sitting in front of the fire today and felt like posting about our Christmas Eve.

Christmas Eve is probably my favorite day of the year.  I clearly remember as a late teen and in my early twenties looking around church on Christmas Eve and seeing all the young families.  I know this will sound weird but I could not wait to have my own family.  I would look around and imagine being married and bringing my children to Christmas Eve Mass.  My Dad never really went to church with us and my parents divorced when I was an adolescent so I had big dreams of a family and family tradtions.  And now each Christmas Eve I actually tear up at Mass because I am overwhelmed with gratitude for my family. We are not perfect.  We bicker and get on each others' nerves but my family surpasses anything I could have dreamed of.  I have a thoughtful, funny and giving husband and three incredible kids.  I really do count my blessings.

So we take a few photos before Mass.  I got a new camera that I am struggling with it so I made Dave practice before the kids came down.

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Dave and Scout.

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It was really really warm so Harry wore shorts to Mass. A Mom has to pick her battles.

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Me and my peanuts.

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I LOVE these pants.  Harry teased me that they are not very Christmas-y.  They are silk and the color is rhododendron (hot pink!) and I wanted to wear them all season but we had a lot of rain and I was afraid to wear them in the rain.

We looked for a neighbor to take a quick of of the whole family but could not find one.
Harry was making us laugh so hard as he took a few.  He can be very funny sometimes. He told us to pretend we were a family.

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After mass, we came home and had some of our favorite Italian food for dinner.  Then we hung stockings and the kids opened a gift.  I had my shutter speed too low so all of the photos are blurry...
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I was most excited to give Will his nutcracker this year.  Will is trying to figure out what to major in and what career path to chose.  He will major in science but he often jokes about wanting to be a shepherd.  It has become a big family joke that he will be a shepherd.  So, when I saw a shepherd nutcracker a few months ago, I bought it immediately.

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Kate loves to bake and cook so hers was easy too.

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Finding a nutcracker for Harry was hard.  He has a fishing nutcracker and lacrosse. He is such an entrepreneur but they don't make a nutcracker for that! I try to make it meaningful.  He is really good at gingerbread houses so I got this one.

But then I realized I gave him a different gingerbread one last year.  Oops!  I might be done with the nutcrackers.  The boys have so many and it is getting harder and harder to find just the right one.


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After that we read Twas the night before Christmas.  Will read it this year.

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I am SO bummed this is out of focus because my kids were genuinely enjoying each other.
This was candid!

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And Dave read the story of the birth of Christ.

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Then Kate and I sang Silent Night (and the boys plugged their ears);)

We went up to the media room and watched Home Alone 3 after that.
 We had watched Home Alone 2 a few nights before and really enjoyed it.

I absolutely LOVE the week between Christmas and New Year. We laze around and spend a lot of time as a family.  It is perfect.  I hope you all had a lovely Christmas and are enjoying this week too.  More soon.

10 comments:

  1. Where are your stockings from? I also love the boxwoods hanging on your glass doors. i've been looking for something like that. Also, you are so good at photography!! Wish I could be.

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    1. Chrissy, I found the stockings at Target a few years ago. I bought 7 or 8 because I loved them so much and wanted extras for pets/future family members:) Then I had them monogrammed locally. The boxwood wreath I found online a few years ago too. They were kind of pricey but they have lasted a few years. They're persevered boxwood. I actually keep them out all year because a friend stored hers and they molded. These might be them http://www.homedecorators.com/p/preserved-boxwood-wreaths/

      There are actually several on line now. When I ordered mine 2-3 years ago...I struggled to find them. Hope that helps. And thanks for the kind word on the photography. I am so disappointed as I ruined a lot of photos on Christmas with my new camera. I almost want to return it. I think it is too overwhelming for me.
      Happy New Year!

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  2. Kim...such a beautiful family. I love the Nutcrackers. My son is obsessed with them, so I think next year I may need to start a new tradition!! Happy New Year!

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    1. Thank you Kim. The nutcracker tradition has been great. You can find all kinds everywhere. My kids have yoda and R2D2, charlie brown and snoopy, lacrosse, fishing a lifeguard, pilot etc...

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  3. Happy New Year! I really enjoyed both of your posts today. Love the hot pink pants and all of your wonderful family traditions. So glad that the dreams you had as a young woman have come true.

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  4. Where do you order the nutcrackers from? I love this tradition! I love your blog and your family! Been following for years and have left messages that haven't gone through, but I love your posts!

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    1. Michelle,

      Thank you for the kind words. I moderate comments so that spam does not go through and years ago someone left a mean comment about my child so sometimes it takes a day or so for comments to appear. I look for the nutcrackers all over. My best source for the good German ones is actually Tuesday Morning. They get them in September and I start looking then. If I am looking for something specific (lacrosse) then I do a google search. but I have bought them everywhere from Target and World Market to online over the years. Steinbach are the nicest ones but can be very expensive.

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  5. Just wanted to note what a sweet family you seem to have. I stop by your blog from time to time and really enjoy reading about life in your family! I am in my early twenties and I, too enjoy looking around at the young families at Christmas Eve service. I enjoy Christmas season now with my own family, but I can't help but dream of how special it will be in the future one day when I have my own children. What a beautiful blessing you enjoy! Thanks for allowing me to read your blog!
    -Brittany Lane

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  6. Merry Christmas my friend! Looks wonderful, as always! I love the nutcracker idea. Something they will always have. So perfect.

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Thank you for your kindness.