Merry Christmas (Eve) to All and to all a good night...

We've had a lovely day amidst the hustle to get everything finished.  I actually had to go to the mall today to exchange something, stop at the pharmacy, and our dairy for fresh cream but it was an easy hour of doing errands.  Most of the grocery shopping had already been done-thank you sweet husband.

We had our early service at church with lots of children involved including Groovy Girl singing  The Little Drummer Boy (a bit of trivia; it is actually called Carol of the drum and has an interesting story to go with it) and her older sister accompanied her on the rum-pum-pum drum.  I made clam chowder this afternoon from this Food Network recipe although I should have doubled it as there was just barely enough.  It was perfect  to come home to on this very chilly night and the only suggestion was that it needed more clams and that they shouldn't have been minced up.  My husband went the extra mile and purchased a pound and a half of good cherrystone clams for my recipe and I guess next time I will not mince them up.  We had big chunks of bread with our soup and a bottle of sparkling cider to share.

It is tradition to read a few of our favorite Christmas stories on this wondrous eve and we did just that; around the table we read The Polar Express, each of us taking a page and passing it around.  My husband does a dynamic job of reading The Grinch and Twas the Night Before Christmas.  All three kids are glued to listening as he dramatically reads both stories.  I love this part of our evening; its our own simple tradition and I'm glad my teenagers still love it.

We had to make the trip upstairs my husband and I to do that last look through the gifts to see what still needed to be wrapped and what will be set out for the big guy to deliver.  Our kids all understand but choose to believe in the magic still.

I hope you have a blessed holiday whatever you choose to celebrate, spending time with family is the true joy.  I'm off to hold my husband's hand as he runs lights for the 11:00 service.  The moment when the lights go out and the candles are lit is part of the magic.  Peace be with you.