Twas the night before Christmas . . .

It takes lots of work to get ready for Christmas. There are gingerbread houses to be made:



It's hard work getting more candy on the house than in Abby's mouth.



We have to take long walks to look at outdoor lights . . . Well, technically Bill and I walk and the kids ride their scooters:



We put all the Christmas cards on the Christmas card display which is, of course, a tree:



There is lots and lots of baking to do:



This year, the girls and I made White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake, Blueberry Pound Cake, Cranberry bread, Cinnamon Coffee Cake, and Rocky Road Brownies. Mmmm . . .

Once the baking (and kitchen clean up) is done, it's off to Midnight Mass (which, thankfully, now starts at 5:30pm), then Abby has a tradition of her own. She insists we wait until Christmas Eve to add the baby Jesus to the manger:





Now that baby Jesus has taken his place, we just have to make sure all the gifts are wrapped and under the correct tree, and then we have to put out milk and cookies for Santa:



Then comes the hardest part for the kids. Trying to sleep while still listening for sleigh bells on the roof!