Christmas Eve!!

Christmas Eve we spend at my Mom's house with one of my brothers and his family. Our day starts early because we meet at my Mom's for lunch. Of course it is an Italian lunch, this year we had meatball and sausage sandwiches, pasta salad, and of course cannolis for dessert!
Me, Brianna, and two of my nieces

James opening one of his gifts. He was so excited to finally open gifts, he kept asking where are my gifts, like there should be more and more for him to open!

James got a lot of great gifts but I think this is one of his favorites. A new, bigger Thomas train set from Nonni and Papa. I am SO glad this is staying there! It took me about an hour to put this thing together, of course I started it out wrong so that maybe was why it took so long! Why I got stuck with it I have no idea! Isn't this a Daddy thing to do???

Everyone playing with the train set

After lunch at my Mom's we head to church, this year we were a little discombobulated. We always go to mass at 4:00. This year we decided to go at 6 because it is way less crowded, we won't have to get there an hour and a half before just to get seats, and we don't have any plans at night so it just made more sense that we don't have to rush in the afternoon. Well, Brianna went to church at 4 with her Dad because she goes with him on Christmas Eve and they do their Christmas stuff with his family that night. So it was kinda weird not having her with me for the first time at Christmas mass. Then Craig and I had had a MAJOR miscommunication. My Mom and Tom went to get seats at church and we were going to leave the house later so we didn't have to sit there with the boys for so long. I had brought all our clothes to my Mom's house to get ready for church. Well the clothes I brought Craig were the WRONG ones! He needed to go back home to get some clothes, I thought let me and the boys get dressed, we will go to our house, he can run in, and then we will go straight to church. Well it was getting rather late and there was no way we would have time for all of that. It was 5 minutes after the time we were supposed to leave my Mom's and I told him just go and I will take the boys. By that I meant go home, change, and MEET me at church. It seemed like it was taking Craig a long time, Craig was not showing up, I was wondering where he was, I didn't have my phone. I ask my Mom to check her phone. Craig txted her asking if she knew where I was!! She txt back, "in church". He thought I was going to pick him up at our house!! WHAT?? He totally MISSED church! So it made it even more weird having xmas mass first without Brianna and then without Craig! James slept through the whole mass, thank goodness, otherwise I would have been outside the whole time, and Jake was of course a good little boy! So, for the first time I did not get a family picture at church with everyone dressed up! I was so bummed especially since it was Jake's' 1st Christmas!
Jake in his Christmas outfit

Trying to get a picture with the Santa hat on Jake, he kept taking it off, he thought it was a game, the little stinker.

James with his Handy Manny tool box trying to fins something to fix! He loved that present too, he slept with it that night! :)

There was one present under our tree that James had picked up the first day I put the presents out and it was for him. Every day he would pick it up and ask if it was Christmas and if he could open that gift. I bought it intentionally for him to open on Christmas Eve because after church we go back to my Mom's for some leftovers, since we aren't that hungry, and we usually watch a movie. James LOVES Charlie Brown so I bought him Charlie Brown's Christmas and thought we could watch it after church. He was so excited when I showed him the gift and gave it to him to open.

Yeah! Charlie Brown!

Craig and James drinking eggnog and watching Charlie Brown. James' first experience with eggnog and he loved it!