Merry Christmas Eve

The stockings are laid out by the fireplace with care. We don't hang them anymore. They always fell down and left tape marks on the mantle. The cookies are plated for the Big Guy. And Violet laid out carrot and celery sticks for the reindeer. Mr. Incredible will pour the milk just before he goes to bed so that it doesn't sour. We had our Christmas Eve feast: super nachos. The presents are wrapped and under the tree. We might actually be ready for the holiday.

We had a bit of a scare this morning. Red's mom called and asked if we'd be home for a few minutes, Red wanted to bring Violet's present over to her. Crap, we'd forgotten to get her something! Luckily we had an extra sparkle lava lamp in the basement we'd gotten several years ago as an extra gift. One of those things you don't really have anyone in mind for but you pick up because the price is too right to pass up. Good thing we did. We stalled Red about a half an hour, wrapped the lamp quickly, then invited her over to play for a while and have lunch with Violet. Whew. Red declared the lamp cool when she opened it. The girls had fun playing and eating make your own mini pizzas for lunch. Just like we had the whole thing planned all along. I saw a blue glow from her bedroom window earlier tonight. (Her room faces our side of the street - the girls could signal each other from their rooms, but I don't think they've figured out to do that yet.)

We did get our ice storm. It warmed up enough for Mr. I. to hit the stores this afternoon without hitting the ditch as he drove. There is still snow on the ground tonight. I hope it doesn't all melt by morning. That would stink. It would be a waste to have about a foot of snow melt just before Christmas.

Tomorrow night's Christmas dinner feast will be talapia with a browned butter and balsamic sauce. It is Rachel Ray's recipe. We usually grill fish out on the grill, it will be our first time pan frying it. Heck, we only started grilling fish about a year ago. In our landlocked, middle of a corn field there really isn't much in the way of fresh fish to cook. Neither of us grew up eating much fish except fish sticks. My mom grew up on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Trucked in fish grosses her out. If she can't smell the salt water it just swam it, it doesn't seem fresh enough to eat to her. To go with the fish we're going to have spinach salads and green beans. Maybe baked potatoes too. And we are surrounded by cookies and a bunch of goodies from Henry and David that my boss had shipped to us as a gift. Yum! Dessert is ready.

The chocolate snowball cookies changed into chocolate chip cookies this afternoon. Not sure why but Violet didn't feel like trying a new recipe today. Fine by me. I can't get enough homemade chocolate chippers. If I'm not careful around them I'll have to borrow's Santa's fat pants to wear!

Off to relax for a bit before tucking in for the night. Merry Christmas everyone!