How Do We Celebrate Christmas Eve?

We have a few traditions in our family for Christmas. First, we have Rudolph visit us on Christmas Eve Eve - yes, that's 2 eve's! He brings us pj's to wear on Christmas Eve. I just love getting a new pair of comfy jammies! I wanted to take a picture of all of us in front of the Christmas tree with our new pj's on tonight, but both girls are sick. I was able to get Caylee in her jammies, but she has been pretty unconsolable. I was not, however, able to coax or bribe or guilt trip Jocey into wearing hers. Honestly, I don't blame her - Grandma Lynnie gave her a nice cozy pair of fleece jammies with Christmas stuff all over them. She wanted to wear those so she could be warm and comfy. Poor kids. So, here is Jon and I in our new Christmas jammies, well, at least you can see the shirts. The theme this year for pj's was red red red.



The other thing we do is have our big meal on Christmas Eve rather than on Christmas Day. We have family over, and generally we celebrate using the Cajun Night Before Christmas as our theme. We have a good old southern holiday feast. This year however, having a newborn and all, I really did not feel like cooking. So, we had a big old pizza party and watched Christmas Vacation. But, in the spirit of our tradition, here is "The Cajun Night Before Christmas."

'Twas the night before Christmas, an' all t'ru de house,
Dey don't a t'ing pass, not even a mouse.

De chirren been nezzle good snug on de flo',
An' Mama pass de pepper t'ru de crack on de do'.

Den Mama in de fireplace done roas' us de ham,
Stir up de gumbo, an' make de baked yam.

Den out on de bayou dey got such a clatter... Make soun' like old Boudreaux done fall off his ladder.

I run like a rabbit to got to de do'... Trip over de dawg an' fall on de flo'!

As I look out de do' in de light o' de moon, I t'ink, "Manh, you crazy, or got ole too soon."

Cuz dere on de bayou when I stretch ma' neck stiff... Dere's eight alligator a-pullin' de skiff...
An' a little fat drover wit' a lone polein' stick... I know r'at away got to be ole St. Nick.

Mo' fas'er an' fas'er de 'gator dey came. He whistle an' holler an' call dem by name:
"Ha, Gaston!
Ha, Tiboy!
Ha, Pierre an' Alcee!
Gee, Ninette!
Gee, Suzette!
Celeste an' Renee!"

To de top o' de porch dem ole 'gator clime! Wit' de skiff full o' toy an' St. Nicklus behin'.

Den on top de porch roof it soun' like de hail When all dem big 'gator done sot down dey tail!

Den down de chimney he fell wit' a bam... An' St. Nicklus fall an' sit on de yam!

"SACRE!" he axclaim "Ma pant got a hole. I done sot mase'f on dem red hot coal!"

He got on his foots an' jump like a cat... Out to de flo' where he lan' wit' a SPLAT!

He was dress in musk-rat from his head to his foot An' his clothes is all dirty wit' ashes an' soot.

A sack full o' playt'ing he t'row on his back. He look like a burglar, an' dass fo' a fack!

His eyes how dey shine...his dimple, how merry! Maybe he been drink de wine from blackberry!

His cheek was like rose...his nose like a cherry... On secon' tought maybe he lap up de sherry!

Wit' snow-white chin whisker an' quiverin' belly, He shook when he laugh like de stromberry jelly!

But a wink in his eye...an' a shook o' his head... Make my confidance dat I soon got to be scared.

He don' do no talkin'...gone straight to his work... Put playt'ing in sock an' den turn wit' a jerk!

He put bot' his han' dere on top o' his head, He cas' an eye on de chimney an' den he done said: "Wit' all o' dat fire an' dem burnin' hot flame... Me I ain' goin' back by de way dat I came."

So he run out de do' an' he clime to de roof... He ain' no fool, him for to make one more goof.

He jump in his skiff an' crack his big whip. De 'gator move down an' don' make one slip.

An' I hear him shout loud as a splashin' he go: "Marry C'rismas to all...till I saw you some mo'!"

Last, we stay up and play Santa. We usually wrap family presents (just one per person from each person) and put them under the tree before Christmas. Then the rest (which is usually about the same amount as is already under the tree) gets put out by "Santa." It's so much fun. We get oranges in our stockings to have with our cinnamon rolls Christmas morning (a tradition I got from my family).

There you have it. Our Christmas Eve traditions. Tonight, I sit here and blog about it while Jon is playing his new video game he got from Santa, Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2. He is in heaven and I am in heaven knowing he got exactly what he wanted. Our family is very blessed right now to have all that we do, including a very healthy baby and toddler (other than the colds they have now). And I count myself very lucky to have a husband like I do. He is seriously the greatest blessing and love of my life. We are surrounded by people struggling with various heartaches right now, and I count all the blessings that we have including happiness. I'll blog more tomorrow about our live nativity, featuring the multi-talented Caylee. Yup, one baby show. :) I hope you all have a great Christmas Eve and Christmas Day! I know we are.