A Special Christmas Eve

This year, Christmas Eve was extra special. We celebrated my mom's birthday with lunch at her favorite restaurant, Pappadeaux. After that we were off to see the Houston Ballet perform The Nutcracker. This was a traditional outing for my mom, sister and I each year. We haven't been since they sold their house in Austin so my sister and I decided to surprise her with tickets to go see it here in Houston. Well we had to spill the beans early because she kept talking about going online to look for tickets. We took James and John with us since they were both interested in my mom's nutcracker collection. We weren't sure how they would like it so we didn't want to spend a lot on seats. John was in HEAVEN while James kept asking when it would be over. I think we'll probably leave him at home next year. After the show was over, we went back to my parents' house to let the boys open a gift. James got Super Hero Squad figures which he loved. John got his very own nutcrackers which ended up being his favorite gift of all. We had some cookies and wassail made by my sister. We had to get back in the car and head home so we could get ready for Santa to come visit. It was late so we didn't have time to watch our traditional Muppet's Christmas Carol and instead opted for the animated version of How the Grinch Stole Christmas before heading to bed. It was such a fun day that the boys had a bit of trouble going to sleep. Eventually they passed out and Santa was able to deliver his gifts for the boys.