Christmas Eve

Here's what Christmas Eve looked like at our house this year:

9:00-11:30 a.m.--Lane was at car dealership with my vehicle. It had started making a loud screeching sound in the front right wheel, and Lane didn't want me to drive to my parents' house without having it checked out. (Thank you, L!) Good thing, since they said I needed new front brakes. While he was gone, the kids and I made Snickerdoodles for Santa. As soon as L got home, the kids opened one gift each. Rhett: a bird house from my grandparents, Alexee: new pink flannel snowman sheets, Crosby: a bag of plastic balls.

Noon--We all went to Panera Bread for lunch, then Lane dropped me off at the door of Kroger (along with everyone else in town and some of their visiting relatives) to get a few things for the weekend. We needed milk, and we decided to put on a roast for Christmas dinner.

Afternoon--Crosby and Alexee took naps, Rhett watched a movie, Lane watched tv and I did a blog post.

4:00--We left for the 4:30 Christmas Eve service at our church. It was starting to rain, and I was hopeful that it might turn to snow since we were staying home for Christmas, but no luck. The kids did great at the service, even Crosby! I didn't think he'd sit still for more than two minutes, but he sat in my lap for the entire hour. He was so sweet. I think he liked all the loud Christmas music and the candles.

5:30--Sonic to get drinks. We happened to hear the guy in the car next to us order a bag of Sonic ice and we thought, "Oh, what a good idea! Let's do that!" Sometimes they don't give you much ice in your drink, which is always a disappointment. Now we have a bag at home to add if needed. We were excited about this. :) It's the little things...

6:00--Back home, kids had dinner and their sonic treat (shared an Oreo Blast), upstairs for baths and bed so Santa could stop by! Of course there was great anticipation around here. Rhett and Alexee couldn't believe that Christmas was finally here! I didn't know if they'd be able to fall asleep, but they did. Crosby went to sleep quickly as usual. After the kids were asleep, Lane and I watched most of It's a Wonderful Life and ate popcorn and had our Sonic drinks. (I was so glad I had already done our gift-wrapping!) I fell asleep about 2/3 through the movie, so I hope to get to watch the rest of it tonight.

So with all that said, here's the day in pictures...

All the kids were invited on stage to sing a few Christmas carols and hold jingle bells. They even had fake snow falling from the ceiling! Rhett went on stage, but Alexee didn't want to go. It was raining when we got to church, so I left my camera in the car and just took a few with L's phone. I love candlelight services--always so neat.

I love how his hair look after his bath!