Merry Christmas Eve

It’s Christmas Eve day, and amazingly I have the house to myself for a few precious hours. DH, in traditional last-minute fashion, headed out for his Christmas shopping this morning and took the girls with him. Once shopping was complete (I think it took a total of 30 minutes), they decided to stop by the Zoo for a while since it’s such a nice day outside. Since I had a little time to myself, I headed down to my studio to create a little Christmas joy for our friends we are visiting tonight. I used the same paper I used to create my Christmas tags I showed you earlier this week. I’m pretty happy with them for a little down and dirty playing around!

Growing up, my family always spent Christmas Eve at my Nana’s. It was always a fairly big gathering, with cousins and friends, and best of all, Nana’s oyster stew. Supposedly the recipe was incredibly easy, just oysters, milk, butter and Velvetta cheese, but no matter how many times Mom or my DH tried, neither could ever get the taste just like Nana’s. Nana died of complications from Alzheimer’s just three weeks after the girls were born. When my Aunt Livy went to visit her shortly after they were born, she said, “I know! I saw them! They have the most beautiful red head!” Somehow, God gave her a glimpse from her hospital bed. That was a blessing.

So the gifts are wrapped, and the menu for tomorrow is planned: a Southern waterfront Christmas dinner with DH’s version of Nana’s oyster stew—his own oyster chowder—grilled shrimp, fried flounder caught off the dock, and a big side of grits. All that’s left to do today is bake some cookies for Santa, visit our friends, put out the reindeer food, and read the girls The Polar Express before tucking them in to bed. Then it’s time for Santa to get to work! We’ve got a Barbie Glamour Camper to assemble! Enjoy the holiday with your families.