Merry Christmas Eve! Our bigger celebration has always been on Christmas Eve ever since I was a little kid. My mom frequently worked on Christmas day, so we always celebrated the night before. I never realized this wasn't the way everyone did it until I was in high school. By then, the tradition was pretty much set!
Henry was certainly excited! True, he probably had no clue what was going on, but the tree was lit, people were visiting and there was festive music in the air!
What wasn't obvious in the first photo of Henry was that I had him captive. I know it may not look that way, but he hasn't quite figured out how to get off the fire truck once I put him on it... Ha!
We discovered the other day he really likes sitting on it and given how much he is crawling around otherwise, it seemed like a safe spot for dinner prep time. Thomas will occasionally push Henry around on the fire truck (while Henry makes awesome truck noises!), but Thomas was otherwise occupied. Henry was happy to just be chillin where he could see everyone.
Heather brought her presents over in this huge box. When we were headed for a toddler meltdown early in the evening, she had the brilliant idea to set Thomas inside it and let him decorate the empty box. It was a brilliant aunty move!
He was so absorbed in his coloring that he barely even complained about me using the flash again. It's too bad that his rocket ship got "lost", he probably is about the ability/interest that he would have colored on it too... Maybe we need to find a new one to replace it!
Best part of having people over for dinner is the pre-dinner help! Especially when they say "You take photos, we'll handle the food!"
They did not have to make that offer twice!
Did you see that shiny pot on the stove? There's a story on that in a minute... ;)
Henry was still chillin on his truck. Though he was also starting to lean a little bit. I got him straightened out and ready to Skype with Nonni and Grandpa (as soon as his dad returned from the ski slopes!)
Finally it was time to Skype! Thomas needed a little help on ribbons and tape, but otherwise he was really into opening his presents! I should also note that Brittney took most of the present opening photos - I'm getting spoiled having a secondary photographer around all the time... ;)
We opened all of the presents to/from my parents while we were skyping with them. Henry's present from them was by far the biggest box under the tree and you can see why... He was super pumped about the upgrade from fire truck to elephant! We left the wheels off of it to get him on it sooner and he was happy bouncing away in his new seat all evening. :)
Henry chillin on the elephant with his new submarine toy.
Thomas was pretty excited about his new Elmo slippers! And you can see Nonni in the background and how excited she is to be digitally spending time with all of us on Christmas Eve! :)
After all the presents were wrapped and we said our farewells, it was dinner time! Christmas Eve dinner is non-negotiable menu of french onion soup and cheese fondue. The cheese fondue really had a major change a few years back thanks to Brittney's influence. We used to just use bread for dipping, but now there are apples, sausage, peppers, mushrooms, etc. Takes a little longer to prep, but Matt no longer complains about it not being a real meal. ;)
Speaking of "complaints", we found a restaurant downtown, F Street, that has amazing French Onion soup. Matt expressed concern that my previous recipe would anywhere near the awesomeness of F Street. So we thought it would be a good idea to have it on Monday to see if we could glean any last minute hints. While conversing with the always helpful chefs behind the counter, one thing led to another and they gave us the recipe!
The only catch? It was for five gallons! I've tried to scale a monster soup recipe back once and it was only partially successful. So I figured the easier the scaling, the better it might be. So that's how I ended up with a brand new stock pot to make 2.5 gallons of french onion soup. It was pretty darn close in the end - I think I needed to cook the onions down more, but otherwise the flavors were spot on!
I forgot the shrimp! Ah, the shrimp are one of my favorites. I think there is supposed to be a culinary rule against mixing cheese and seafood - which is crazy. It's delicious! I also thought we should try one of those remade fondue mixes that you heat and eat. It wasn't bad, but the cheddar beer one we made from scratch was still better!
Dinner time! While we were all excited, I feel like Brittney captures my emotions most accurately. No wonder we're besties! After the fact, I realize I should have pulled out my tripod so I could be in the photo as well. Ah well, hindsight...
Thomas actually ate most of his food without the cheese. I wouldn't give him a fondue fork (for very obvious reasons) and he seemed content with everything as is. Given how much I generally overeat when there is delicious fondue involved, I thought I would spare him. ;)
And Henry totally missed out. Poor guy had to eat baby food and cheerios. In my defense, he wasn't feeling well and I didn't think most of the items would help that. He's obviously more concerned about bed time than what he's eating - ha!
After a little more present opening, putting the kids to bed and chocolate fondue for dessert, everyone called it a night. Except for one minor thing. I mentioned Henry wasn't feeling well - kinda an understatement. When I picked him up from daycare, they said he hadn't eaten much - which is very unusual for him Shortly after we got home, he puked all over the place. Poor guy!
He then seemed to be just fine, so I figured it was a one off thing. Then after dinner, he was again chillin on his elephant waiting to get a family photo when he started puking again. All over his elephant...
So Matt had to take the elephant apart to clean it. In the process of trying to clean it out, one of the buttons stopped working, so he had to fix connections and rewire things. Ha - taking toys apart is usually the opposite of what parents do on Christmas Eve. But the elephant is like new again - so glad I married a Macgyver! :)