Merry Christmas!

Every year my parents come up on Christmas Eve and my Mom makes cookies with the kids and reads them some Christmas stories. The menu is always the same: Reuben sandwiches with potato salad and potato chips with various appetizers. To me it's not Christmas Eve until you are eating a Reuben sandwich and are so full from neighbor goodies and other treats you think you might burst.  I'm one of 6 kids but I happen to be the only one still living in the state and since my parents like to do all of their plane travel ON Christmas day rather than deal with before Christmas crowds we get to have them for Christmas Eve pretty much every year.  We always tease my parents (mostly my Mom) that whenever they come, even if they are just going to be here for a few hours, they bring an entire cooler of food.  They never show up without food.  My Mom is known to travel with produce in her suitcase whenever she flies anywhere because she can't stand the thought of food going bad while she is away.  If you open her suitcase on a trip and find asparagus and a pineapple mixed in with her clothes it would be par for the course. Hey, it is just the way she rolls.

Last year Britton didn't fall asleep on Christmas Eve until between 3 and 4 in the morning and was up again at 6 a.m. Yeah, didn't love that.  This year we were determined to take steps to avoid a repeat.  I had a calming essential oil diffusing all night and then put it in his room during the night. I also gave him some melatonin before bed.  While I'm sure this helped the fact that he got a really bad headache around 10:00 that night clinched the deal. He was asleep by 10:30 p.m. and they didn't come in to get us until 6:40 a.m. Success!! 

My Dad and Adam liked their new beard beanies.

It was a very Merry Christmas at our house.