Every Day's A Blessing: Merry Christmas Eve!

Today was a wonderful Christmas Eve. It was really the first day all Christmas season that we all relaxed and did holiday activities. We were first surprised with the small Christmas miracle of seeing snow fall for the first time this year! There was no where near enough to stick, but considering there had been only rain predicted and no chance of snow my girls were very happy with this surprise and went outside to watch the snow fall for a few minutes. I took Ava and Jocelyn to Christmas Eve Mass this afternoon (Ben stayed with Molly, who had been fighting a weird minor fever so we didn't want to take her out) and considering the chaos and time spent in church at a typical Christmas Eve Mass the girls did very well. Then in the evening Ben and the older two decorated a gingerbread house. A cookie and milk were set out, a note was written, and the girls all went to bed peacefully and excited for the morning to come.

Then it was time for my own personal Christmas Eve tradition: setting out all of the gifts while watching It's a Wonderful Life. I have watched this movie every Christmas Eve that I can remember. It is such a classic, and a great reminder to be thankful for all we have in life rather than wishing for something more. In the end, all the presents and stockings were prepped and set out before the final scene of the movie, which is always my goal. I head to bed now thankful for the birth of Jesus and this holiday that I get to share with my children again tomorrow.