Christmas Eve

 Christmas Eve morning with donuts and hot chocolate!

There was so much to do but Christmas movies and cat snuggles were so much better.

Eventually I got around to getting things done.  The start of the Christmas Eve kitchen prep mess 

Meanwhile Oliver was upset he had nobody to cuddle with so he cried at the end of the hallway hoping his sisters might let him in

The last day of the chocolate advent calendar

While I finished prepping for dinner the girls got to work on their gingerbread houses.

Lots of giggles

and lots of eating the candy that was supposed to be used to decorate the houses which was basically Brooklyn eating it.

Kayla's house on the left and Brooklyn's on the right

Christmas Eve dinner Lasagna, sausuage, caesar salad and garlic bread.

Adult beverage 

Kids beverage

After showers we cuddled up to watch Christmas Vacation

The annual reading of T'was the Night Before Christmas

Then Brooklyn put together Santa's treats before the girls headed to their rooms for the night.

 Christmas made the shift this year and I full heartedly felt it.  The lump in my throat and tears I cried while I worked to make the magic happen ~ my girls aren't little girls anymore.  It was a hard Christmas Eve for me but looking back at all the pictures and reliving this day again as I write this post it was all still magic, just different.

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve is the same just about every year, filled with our traditional holiday activities.  We wake up to donuts and hot cocoa and the girls still decorate their gingerbread houses, fill their bags with reindeer food and lots of food prep for our Christmas eve dinner and the big day feast.  I will say that I thoroughly enjoyed this Christmas Eve as well as the entire week leading up to Christmas.  I never felt stressed or overwhelmed, I somehow had everything perfectly timed so I could enjoy the days without worrying about what was left to get done.  I also did my best to give myself little pep talks so I wouldn't get that sad after holiday feeling, 'that it's all over' and it definitely worked but going through all of these photos sure makes me want to go back and do it all again!  Our family Christmas eves with us all together are fleeting with two girls growing up way too fast so treasuring every moment is not lost on me. I'm glad I have way too many photos of our day here for us to always remember that one Christmas Eve.

This pink pig butt was something Brooklyn and I were hiding back and forth for each other to find in random spots all Winter break long.  I had come in from the yard from grabbing herbs and found it next to my kitchen set up.  So many laughs were had from this little pig being found in the most unexpected places.

Mom & Dad drinks

The girls drinks

Sending Elfie off with a few caramels for his trip back to the North Pole.