The time came to head to the Smoky's for the best two days of the year! Christmas Eve and Christmas Day! For several years I've wanted to do a no-gifts Christmas with my kids. I then thought the end of 2018 that it would be fun to get a cabin in Vermont or something and hang out over the holidays there. It morphed into us booking a cabin in the Smoky Mountains with an indoor pool! And there was enough room to invite all of my sisters and their families and my parents. One of my sister's couldn't come and I then started inviting some of my brothers. All of them declined...their loss!
We left the 23rd to head to Cosby, Tennessee. We thought the road signs were funny and very seasonal appropriate.
We made it to the cabin a little early. So we did step one of unloading and got everything on to the porch. Maybe that was counterproductive. Lots of food, goodies and stuff needed for the holiday!
That evening we settled in and enjoyed hanging out. Makenzie and Shanna gave the hot tub a try.
The next day, Christmas Eve, was spent prepping for my dad's birthday and the big dinner. Plus having some fun. We went on a hike that afternoon as well.
I tried a few times to think of a different table setting to switch it up. But I never did. I liked how it turned out even if it's basically the same set-up as the past two years!
The white ceramic pedestal was actual something we found in the kitchen on top of a cupboard. It was very dirty, but worked great as a centerpiece! Thankfully I remembered to ask Lee to bring our folding table and benches. With that we had plenty of seats for everyone. It was perfect actually. There was a hiccup with my parents forgetting something at home and we thought they might not be there till late that day or the next day. Thankfully it turned out well and they were able to arrive just an hour after us. I drove down with my kids--minus Shanna. She rode with Lee and my parents as Lee drove them down in their car.
After dinner we played games and went on a hike.
We celebrated my dad's birthday that night with a little party.
Christmas Eve Matt read the nativity and the kids acted it out. I wonder if they should not act it out as they get very silly!
After that I read Twas the Night Before Christmas to my kids and a couple others. Lois commented on how she thought it was funny that I like the book The Night Before Christmas as it's about Santa and we don't do Santa at our house. I thought her comment was weird. I love the idea of Santa of something magical and giving. Maybe you think it's weird that I like that book as well. But I love the generosity of the Santa idea. But we don't pretend with our kids about any myths. We don't do the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, Elf on the Shelf, etc. We tell them that Lee is Santa. We tell them that when their tooth falls out we throw away the tooth and we'll give them a dollar. I was crushed when I found out that Santa wasn't real. I wasn't going to do that to my kids. But we watch movies with Santa in them, have stories with Santa in them. Again, I love the idea about giving and generosity behind Santa. So I don't think it's weird that I like that book at all.
That night while kids were supposed to be asleep, we pulled out the stockings, filled them and set them out. Some kids did better than others at trying to fall asleep. I bought the stockings at the Dollar Tree and while at home wrote everyone's name on them with craft glue and then put glitter on them so the name was in glitter. It was fun that they all matched.
After making sure things were cleaned up and the goodies out for Christmas day we finally went to bed. The day we wait for every year was moments away!
