Christmas Eve is here, and it started out with a parting gift from Jingle. "And now it's time for my friends and I to finally take our leave. But before we go we'll give a special gift on Christmas Eve."
She was talking about that scarf all day long. The weather outside, however, was not scarf weather. It is warm outside, and it might be one of the warmest Christmas days we've ever experienced, actually.
We had a nice breakfast together, and after that, Maddie, Nana and I headed out to do a bit of last-minute Christmas shopping. We went to the Mall of Georgia for the first time this year, and the place was packed! This sort of statement may seem fairly obvious, but given all the challenges of this year, I wasn't sure what to expect. We were able to pick up a few things from a few stores, and also able to give Mom some quiet time for a few hours.
This year we weren't going over anyone's house for Christmas Eve, so on the way home, we picked up some Christmas Eve dinner from a local Chinese restaurant. They even gave us a complimentary calendar there! I don't know why I'm so excited about the calendar, but anyway, the food was perfect. Mom had all the Christmas plates and bowls set up on the dinner table, and it looked so nice when we got home. We set all the dinner out, and I think we've started a new tradition! Part of it was based on Maddie remembering that the family eats Chinese food on Christmas Day in the movie "A Christmas Story." Another part of the decision is that many Chinese restaurants are actually open pretty late on Christmas Day, as many don't celebrate it. And lastly, Chinese food is awesome. Mom and I have discovered Jade Green dishes, while Maddie goes with General Tso, and his army of spicy chicken warriors. Nana chooses sweet and sour chicken, and after a prayer over our food, we have a nice meal together.
Following the meal, it's time for Christmas Eve service. Once again, we did not go in person because of family dynamics, but we were able to watch it online, and once again we had candles in our hands. This time, the candles were the battery-powered flickering candles that we gave away last weekend at KidPak. No wax on the couch. But the four of us sat together on the couch and watched the service, singing Christmas carols and listening to pastor speak about the wonderful indescribable and unspeakable gift at Christmas time.
After the service, we got busy making Christmas cookies for Santa. Okay, and ourselves. We had a Christmas movie playing on the screen while we were sitting there with our decorations and sprinkles, making our new designs at Christmas.
This Christmas sweater shape is always fun. And of course there are the gingerbread men shapes too.
These were decorated somewhat traditionally. We're sitting there with sprinkles and so on, using toothpicks to make straight lines, or carefully placing certain colors in certain places. Maddie creativity and humor really shines with some of her more unusual cookies below:
This cookie presents a question that needs an answer. A snowman may be handing someone he loves a small candy cane. But will she accept his gift? We have such compassion towards this pitiful character - of course we'll take that candy cane, if only to take that worrisome expression and make it something more happy.
This Santa cookie clearly belongs on the third floor of the High Museum. This daring expression of Christmas spirit uses bold colors that attack the conventional ideas of what we think this time of year should be. The yellow emoji face with a green smile and a ginormous empty beard bring seasonal joy unlike any other cookie imaginable.
Except for this masterpiece. What you are seeing above is true art in its highest form. The shape of Santa's head is certainly there, but gone are any of the typical ideas one may have about what a cookie should look like. The only suggestion of Christmas here are the green and red sprinkles scattered in a festive yule tide pile approximately where Santa's beard should be. A thick coating of purple sprinkles lines the top of the cookie, topped off with another thick light blue line. What does it mean? There's no face there to really convey any answers. Perhaps the suggestion of two blue eyes, tiny blue dots there, and perhaps there's a small purple mouth as well. When put together, the face suggests a stoicism in the face of a year that brought more coal than candy canes.
This deer appears to be caught in the headlights, its expression somewhat stunned! Could it be that his body is purple and his head is green, and as he was prancing through the woods, someone has spied upon him mid-dance? How is he going to explain having a purple body and a green head to his family? Oh well, the secret is out now.
I feel like this is a cookie that Tim Burton would be proud of. I certainly am.
Ah yes, the angry gingerbread man. It is our tradition once a year to make at least one of our cookies somewhat disgruntled. Maddie made this gingerbread man really disgruntled. He's perhaps not happy about his holly tie that he's wearing - or it could be this entire past year in general. If 2021 was a gift handed to us, many would be tempted to return it for at least some store credit.
Anyway, we finished baking the cookies, and Mom was working on her cinnamon doughnuts as well for tomorrow morning. I had a lot of wrapping to do, so I was lurking in the basement for a bit with tape, scissors and wrapping paper. We had all kinds of Christmas movies and specials playing on the television today, thanks to all the streaming services we were using, from TBN to Disney+ to Netflix.
But soon enough, it was time for bed. Tonight we actually finished book seven of the Kingdom Keepers series, which of course isn't the ending - there are four more books to read currently, with more on the way. And after that, I had to read "The Night Before Christmas," just as I have every year we've been with Maddie.
The table is set and ready for tomorrow. And Santa dropped by with lots of nice little presents for everyone.
It looks like Maddie's been good this year, and so has Mom and Nana, and even I got some goodies under the tree too!
Even our stockings hung by the chimney with care were loaded down with all kinds of nice gifts. Above you can see Mom's stocking and Maddie's next to it with Spider-man inside. Mom has some Crunchie bars, her favorite candy bar.
Oh, here's my stocking, and Nana's next to it in gold. Nana got a box of Quality Street chocolates and candies, a traditional British treat that can be found at an import shop down in Duluth.
Santa took a bite out of his cookie, and putting his finger alongside his nose (not up it), up the chimney he rose! But I heard him exclaim as he drove out of sight, "Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!"
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