31 Days | The Night Before Christmas

For Taft's first Christmas, we were given a beautiful "Twas The Night Before Christmas book from Gran. Taft loves it. The Santa has a real beard that he can feel and play with. We read it every Christmas Eve before bed.

Do you read this story to your children?

Or do you have another that you read on Christmas Eve?

This is part of a 31 day series.  Check out the other posts here.  And check out the other bloggers participating in this challenge here.

Christmas Eve

Today we decided to just stay in.  Taft and I worked on the playroom a little and tried to make room for all the new toys that we knew were on their way from the north pole.  So as the afternoon rolled in, we decided to let Taft start opening gifts from grandparents.That is beginning to be a tradition for us. 
Gran got him a train table for his GeoTrax that also came with another train and more track.  I love that the table is in 3 pieces.  We can use it for so many things including playing with blocks. (We are waiting to see if Santa brings those.)

Mawmaw and Pawpaw got him a grill.  Taft is a big fan of cooking in general and loves to watch Shane on the grill.  This one is as close to ours as you can get and even has a rotisserie attachment.  It makes noise and sounds like Taft is cooking away.  I can see that he is going to cook me a alot of hot dogs.

Another tradition is to get some new ornaments for Christmas.  Here are the ones that Taft got this year.
A big giraffe.  This one is special since he went to the zoo for the first time on his birthday.  He also got to feed the giraffes.

A circus tent.  We also went to the circus for the first time this year.  Instead of a picture, I put his ticket in the little slot.

A circle cut from his first live tree.  I got his idea off Pinterest and knew we had to do it.  I added a ribbon and a little tag with the year. 

A recordable wish ornament.  Gran sent Taft this ornament and it is special since this is the first year that Taft really made a list for Santa and it is great to record a little memory of that.

And we got a new family ornament from Gran.  A silver star.

And Taft made us a new ornament this year too.  He made a bell at school.  It is my favorite this year.

After opening a few gifts, we went to Central Park for the Festival of Lights.  Different businesses and clubs in town donate a light display to go around the lake.  Taft really liked it since you get to walk and see the lights up close. 

Because he is 3.

And after coming home and having dinner, we went outside to leave Reindeer Food for Santa's reindeer to have a little snack while he is putting out Taft's gifts.

And finally, before bed, Taft made some "circle" cookies with sprinkles for Santa.



Christmas Eve 2010

 Christmas started out with a bang!  We woke up and got Christmas Eve dinner in the crock pot and Mommy cooked homemade French toast.  Then it was baths and getting ready to go to Winter Wonderland in St.Augustine.  For under $20, we had an afternoon of fun.  For those of you that are local, it is open thru the New Year.
They have a cute little Elf Village with Elf sized houses and workshops.  Taft loved them!  He went in and would look at us from the windows.  Then he decided that Mommy needed to get in there with him for more fun.

They also had a train.  Taft has been talking about trains since we had our photo taken with Santa.  Santa had a little remote controlled one there.  He and Mommy rode the train and he loved it.  Daddy took photos of us while we rode.

They also had homemade mini donuts.  My friend, Yvette, had already been and told me they were a must have.  She was right.  Taft enjoyed watching them make them for us.  They fry them up fresh and then add the sugar.  Yummy!

Taft would not get in the Bouncy House and none of us are ice skaters.  Taft did play one game before we left and won a jump rope. 

 When we got home, dinner was ready in the crock pot.  Chicken Paprikash.  A Hungarian recipe from a friends cooking magazine.  It was great!  Recipe can be found here.

 Then it was time to open the presents from the grandparents.  Mawmaw, Pawpaw, and Gran mailed everything here since we weren't able to go to Alabama.
Taft got a big workbench, tape measure, and tool box from Mawmaw and Pawpaw and money from Mawmaw Geneva.  I can't wait to get the workbench put together and start helping him built some of the things on the box.  All the construction pieces are reusable.  How fun!
Gran sent him a Kissing Elmo, Wonder Pets View Finder, and Geo Tracks Train Set.  The train set is for toddlers and very easy to get on the tracks.  Mommy had fun designing the track. Ha!
Quincy came and brought cookie dough, colored sugar, and cookie cutters.  He brought Taft's favorite shape, the star.  Taft cut the cookies and put on the sugar.  I am sure that Santa loved them!