Christmas Traditions

One of the best things about marriage during the holidays is the holiday traditions that are brought to the table. One of our favorite traditions is one that Bill had growing up and that we have continued since we got married. Each person gets to open one present on Christmas Eve and it is always related to pajamas. That way, each person has a new pair of pjs to wear on Christmas morning. The kids loved their pjs and house shoes. Ryan's pjs were fire trucks and he is totally into the movie Cars, so we picked him up a pair of lined croc style house shoes in the shape of Lightning McQueen. Kaity's pj's were pink and green (of course) and she got a pair of Tinkerbell house shoes. Bill and I really didn't need pjs, so we both got some L.L. Bean scuffs and I got a little fleecy robe from Victoria's Secret.
My family always made pancakes on Christmas morning, so we let Kaity make the batter and we made snowmen pancakes for the kids.
We started our own family tradition this year, and it may be my favorite (or at least the most convenient) one yet. I decided that since we spend so much time in the kitchen on Christmas Eve and Christmas day and since there is so much to clean up and so much to do on Christmas Eve, why add to it. We ordered pizza from Papa John's and ate on paper plates! The kids were thrilled (pizza is still Kaitlyn's favorite food) and clean up was a snap. That will be one we're keeping.