Oh you better watch out...

Jack kept singing that song all week, as well as informing us whether we were on the naughty or nice list (Spicer and Dan were apparently on the naughty list).

Remember when I posted about those yummy Christmas cookies my mommy makes?  This was us Christmas Eve Day:

Ti and Hope rolling out the dough.

Even Dan got in on the fun!

The boys decided to get a little creative with their gingerbread men...Ti made a monster and Spicer's is a crime scene victim.  So cheery!

Christmas Eve is almost a bigger deal than Christmas Day in our family. It always involves a Mexican fiesta with plenty of friends to help us eat all the food.

The star of the show is always the tamales (they represent baby Jesus in his swaddling clothes!).  Normally we just get them to-go from a restaurant, but one of our guests generously provided them this year--they were probably the best tamales I've ever had.  We also had enchiladas, a chile sauce, Spanish rice, chips and dip, and a salad (with Cafe Rio dressing!)  Oh yeah, and more than enough dessert.

One of my favorite parts of Christmas Eve as a kid was re-enacting the Nativity as my father or grandfather read from Luke 2.  It might be even more fun being able to watch it.  Are these kids cute or what??

Joseph and Mary...Mary is having a slight veil malfunction.

All gathering around the manger.

A nice group shot.

So angelic!

 Eventually all our guests hurried home so they wouldn't miss Santa's visit.  Our night continued on with a few more Christmas Eve rituals.  We can't go to bed until someone retells How the Grinch Stole Chrismtas. Which we all may or may not have memorized.

So classic.

"But the Grinch, who lived just north of Whoville, did NOT."

Bronwyn enjoyed my father's retelling as well.

Before we put our special Christmas jammies on, Jack wanted to put out some reindeer food he made at pre-school.

In case you were wondering, Santa's reindeer love to eat a mixture of oats and sparkles.

Don't worry, we didn't forget to leave milk and cookies (along with a note) for the big man himself.

We had to take a few last pictures of our gussied-up selves before our Christmas Eve sleepover in the basement.

It's hard to hide all that personality.

Merry Christmas!