Christmas Eve

Paxton waited for this day to come Forever! We did count downs, we watched movies, we made treats and still, every night it wasn't time for Santa to come until TONIGHT!

I had the day off from work so we used the whole day.

Ryan and I took the boys to the park and we ran around. We talked about Santa to no end. Paxton told me several times exactly what Santa was going to do when he got to our house.

"Mom, Santa is going to come in through the fireplace. Then he is going to go over to our cookies and eat them. Then he will fill the stockings and then he will put our presents under the tree. No wait, first he will come down the fireplace..."

Our sister Jennifer sent us pillow cases with Santa Claus on them which made the dreams that much sweeter!

When we got home to settle down for the night we got baking. Ryan has always had cinnamon rolls for Christmas that his mom made. I have tried to keep that tradition alive although I haven't quite perfected the taste to be like hers yet.

After the cinnamon rolls we made Sugar cookies to leave for Santa.

Thank goodness for Papa Murphy's pizza! When I went out to pick up the pizza I took Paxton with me. I decided that we should make sure to get a present for Daddy from Paxton. We made a quick trip to Kmart on Christmas Eve, not a trip I would recommend to anyone! It's a little busy! We walked around the store a bit and Paxton pointed out some spider man toys that he was sure Daddy would love. Then he found it. I can't believe I didn't get a picture, but it was a Santa Pillow, shaped like Santa Claus. It was the silliest thing I have ever seen! Paxton was so proud of it, it HAD to be Daddy's!

When we got home Pax tried to keep his secret from Daddy by talking about it all night with glee. He even told Daddy he was going to set booby traps all over the house so that he couldn't find his present that by the way, was hidden under his bed. Ryan played along and actually fell into some real booby traps on his way to find out what Paxton could be talking about. Paxton ate it up!

After dinner we made cards for some of the boys friends. Gauge colored his little heart out. Paxton made some for friends at school and one for Gauge.

We watched Rudolf the red nosed reindeer and we ate popcorn.
When it was time for bed we laid out the cookies for Santa and the carrots for Santa's reindeer.

At bedtime Paxton and Gauge asked me to sing some songs about Jesus and we talked about how Christmas is celebrated because of the birth of the Savior. Paxton's favorite song this season has become Oh Holy Night, it's my favorite too. I can't help but get a little teary eyed when I sing it to them either, mostly because it is so beautiful, but also because I know that it's my mom's favorite and my grandpa Helmick's favorite Christmas song too. Paxton has such an earnest love for Christ and asks about him constantly, especially lately. I am glad that he is getting a grasp of what we feel is most important about Christmas.

After the boys went to bed Ryan and I put on White Christmas and wrapped presents until late.

It was a great Christmas Eve!