Christmas Eve 2014

After so much anticipation, Christmas Eve finally arrived and it didn't disappoint! We started it early with a nice meal by candle light. We ate naan, hummus, vegetables and chicken, fruit,  and pepper jelly with crackers. (my favourite)

When I was little we weren't allowed to open presents until Christmas morning. I had a friend who always got to open pyjamas on Christmas Eve. I was always so jealous of that! We used to beg and beg my parents to fudge the rules, but it was usually my Dad who dug in his heels. So I decided when I had my own kids that I would give out pyjamas on Christmas Eve too.

That worked for a few years, but then we moved to Singapore and it was WAY too hot for p.j.'s So this year the boys drew names and we went out to buy toys for each other. They chose to open these gifts on Christmas Eve instead and just wore their underwear to bed.

They were so excited to open them. I made them wait until after dinner which was hard for them since they thought they would be able to open them as soon as the sun rose on Christmas Eve morning.

Levi bought an Iron Man doll for Kai.

Cache bought a bow and arrow set for Ronin.

Kai bought a blue car that played 'Gangam Style' for Levi (ugh!) Blue is Levi's most favourite color. It's the only color he wears... have you noticed??

 And Ronin bought Cache a sniper rifle that makes shooting noises but doesn't actually shoot bullets. It has some high tech lights added to it too.

We have a lot of weapons in our house now. The kids played for hours! All through dinner prep and after. In fact they loved their toys so much I have decided to let them shop for each other next year and Santa is taking the year off. They know each other pretty well and made each other very happy! It was a win for all of us since the day we went shopping started out terrible. The big boys swore they wouldn't buy anything for each other because they were in a fight. Good thing they buried the hatchet in time for a great Christmas.

We laid out our stockings and took some photos. These two are good little friends. Cache adores Levi and watches out for him wherever he goes. And I love seeing Levi loving up his brothers!

The little boys wanted to hug and kiss the big boys.

Finally a good (enough) picture!!

Of course we had to have the celebratory dog pile to make it the perfect evening. These kids love to wrestle! Once in awhile I get in on it, but usually they are having so much fun that I hate to interrupt. (and like a girl, I hate having my hair pulled!)

And this... THIS is the BEST family picture we got that night. Seriously?? Thanks Patrick... We were so close!