The Christmas Season & Christmas Eve

This Christmas season has been fun but not too full, with just enough tinsel and traditions to fill it up with joy without leaving us too frazzled. So I'm going to try to capture it all in one post.

Inspired by my friend Sam in Colorado, we hosted our first annual Cul-de-Crew Reindeer Games.

 Complete with ugly Christmas sweaters/rompers.

There was a jingle bell toss.

 A snowball shimmy.

A saran-wrapped snowball filled with candy canes and, the ultimate prize, a $5 gift card to Five Below! I mean go big, right?

I particularly enjoyed the reindeer antler balloon & pantyhose game...

How cute are they?! 

 But our favorite was the polar bear plunge, in which neighbors fished out gummy bears from a pile of whipped cream, hands-free!

The night's big winners were the Beissers, who hosted another fun party the following weekend...

Which resulted in this team planning a little Cul-de-Crew, all-inclusive Spring Break vaca together.

The ugly sweater/romper winners.

 And the Cul-de-Crew party staple: a round of Fireball Whisky.

Stickers for the winners.

On weekend nights, the kids usually crashed downstairs by the tree after reading our favorite Christmas storybooks.

As PTO Community Concerns co-chair I was in charge again this year of planning the elementary school's "A Heartland Christmas Carol" at Rose Estates with Mark accompanying us on the piano. I think the residents and kids all enjoyed it, and it felt great to bring them a bit of holiday cheer!

 There's our awesome pianist!

 Lorelei and I went to Gryffy's Christmas party at school.

 Gryffy flatly refuses to smile for pictures, even with some of his best buds.

 We love Mrs. Biel!

 And after the heartache of losing our cat Mystic, we adopted another sweet kitten from Wayside Waifs. Welcome to the family, Domino!

 He fits right in with Climber and Bonhoepper and follows us around everywhere. He's such a great cat.

 The last day of school required some celebrations on the trampoline!

And our neighbors came over to decorate Gingerbread Houses.

We enjoyed Candlelight Christmas Eve Eve at Mark's church where he plays in the band, and then I enjoyed another Candlelight Christmas Eve Morning at RezDT, which was just all-around amazing. I love looking down the row to see my family lit by the glow of candlelight, and find my heart strangely warmed. :)

 Uncle Mike came to visit, twice!

We played our favorite card game, "Screw the Neighbors."

 And then drove around to see Christmas lights in Kansas City.

The next morning, we woke up to a magical dusting of snow!

Christmas Eve came in with a flurry!

According to Lorelei's schedule of traditions...

...this called for our traditional Thai Eggrolls. I think this is our family's favorite food ever. Recipe HERE.

And for dinner that night, we set up our traditional Bethlehem Supper, which evolved last year into our own unique tradition: our Christmas Eve Seder that tells the story of the Nativity through the symbolism of the Middle Eastern food. (Fortune cookies are Middle Eastern, right?)

We have a seder every Easter, and it's become such a special tradition that the kids look forward to it all year. So we figured, why not celebrate the seder at Christmas, too? It merged beautifully with our Bethlehem Supper, and adds a lot of rich symbolism and Bible reading to remember the true meaning of the season.

 The table's all set, complete with the nativity figures we add throughout the story.

We even get into costume.

Horseradish on Gryffy's egg! That'll clear the nostrils!

After the seder on Christmas Eve, we snuggled in for movies (Dreamworks Holiday Classics and The Nativity)... Smile G!

Snapped a photo by the tree...

 Wrapped neighbor gifts that the kids bought with their own money and a heart full of the joy of giving...

Delivered said gifts...

And played "airplane" while Mark read our beloved book, "A Pirate's Night Before Christmas."

And finally, the kids clobbered me and snuggled up in the blanket Lorelei lovingly picked out for me with her own money after she saw I loved it at our Cousin Gift Exchange. What a sweetheart!

After tucking the kids into bed, my heart swelling with the magic this season brings with loved ones together at home, and the joy that washes over me when I ponder the wonder of Christ's birth, I tossed all night in anticipation of Christmas morning. Merry Christmas Eve!