T'was the (Grinch) Night Before Christmas!

I hope that everyone had a very Merry Christmas.  On Christmas Eve we had our annual Grinch night, an evening that has grown over the years.  In the beginning it was us watching a movie the night before Christmas and snacking on appetizers and now according to the children it is a family tradition that also includes costumes.  Many of the girls wore festive (and maybe slightly tacky) looking tutu's and styled their hair like the "Who's from Whoville" Some of the boys wore tacky Christmas sweaters or red and/or green shirts.  We even had the "grinch" which changed multiple times as many wanted to try out the costume.

We watched the movie "How the Grinch stole Christmas" and snacked on appetizers for dinner.  We also enjoyed "Grinch punch" a combination of ice cream, sprite and green Kool aid.  The evening is done as a relaxed fun family night with the hopes of everyone enjoying themselves and not stressing about the next day.....Christmas.

Christmas day was spent at home with adult children, their families and grandparents joining us throughout the day.  Each Christmas Eve when the kids go to bed we remind them that Christmas doesn't start before 9:00 am with the hope that they will sleep at least until 7:00 am.  Our new living room was functional for Christmas which was a huge relief as we actually had space to sit and didn't need to sit on one another's laps.  Everyone was spoiled and happy with the gifts that they received.  We all enjoyed a turkey dinner, plenty of snacks and were thoroughly exhausted by the end of the evening.

Having our festivities at home is beneficial for the children/young adults that struggle with excitement and change as they were able to keep fairly much to the same schedule with meal times, sleep and going off to another room for some quiet time/play.  We did have a couple small meltdowns that were quickly redirected.  Boxing day (December 26) was spent as a complete down day giving everyone time to re group before any more festivities.