Christmas Eve

I am separating Christmas into sections. First comes Christmas eve at Aunt Jessica's house. I am sorry about all the pictures but I can't figure out how to do a collage. Grandma gave all the kids their new pj's. And here's the result of trying to get a picture with 8 kids in it to all look cute at the same time....

"Okay, look over here, smile! Joey joey joey!!! Smile!"
"Jake, push your hat up, look over here guys...Ashley smile...Maggie, look at the camera!"
"Okay, guys. come on, smile and look over here! Joey Joey Joey! Peek a boo! Maggie over here! Ashley smile!"
"JOEY! MAGGIE! ASHLEY, smile! Guys, look over here!"

For some reason my pictures posted out of order and I don't really feel like going through and rearranging things. So this is what you get. Eric helped out Santa with a tooth a couple months ago and Santa was so grateful he told Eric that he would come over and hang out with us and meet with the kids. Really, he was very grateful...
All the kids got a picture with him...



Santa told us the story of the Night Before Christmas. He gave each of the kids a little treat, we sang songs, but the real troopers of the night were grandpa...Santa was showing us what one of his elves look like....
And Uncle Mat. I am pretty sure Santa put spit on his forehead.....I guess Mat has been naughty this year.
Joey was very interested in the action.
Maggie was hot and cold. Half the time she didn't want to go near him, then the other half she was interrupting his story and walking up to him and talking to him.
This shot was a total coincidence. All the kids were sitting on the floor so I took a behind shot and look--you can see all 4 of my kids! Funny.
Santa telling us stories.
This is when he first arrived. I love the look on Tyler's face, pure magic.
It was such a fun night and really brought the spirit of Christmas to us.

Apart from Christmas, Maggie has decided she wants to wear lipstick. She came downstairs the other day with my lipstick all over her face. This is right after I told her she couldn't do that anymore....
She doesn't take rejection well.

And one of the boys must have taken this picture...
I just want to remember my tree that way. Yes, the boys decorated it, but they did a good job. Now, however, after Joey has gotten to it, the top half of the tree has so many ornaments you can hardly see any greenery. The bottom half? Bare.