Christmas Time – 24 hours of Christmas Eve

*This is a collaborative post

Everybody has different Christmas traditions and over the years as a little family we have started to create our own. For me the 24 hours before Christmas Day is my favourite, you can almost taste the excitement fizzing through the air.  The final countdown to the big day, the one we have spent weeks maybe even months preparing for, the clock is ticking and here’s what we do. 

christmas time

7am Thanks to the kids I’m usually up by this time and we tend to have a nice breakfast. Last year the elves brought us some treats to say goodbye.

9am With the children’s hyper levels already sky rocketing I give them their Christmas Eve box around now. I try to include some kind of activity that they can do whilst I get on with last minute tidying and getting things ready.

11am If it’s nice weather we try and get outside for a bit, our local country park is beautiful and it’s a great way to calm them down a bit.

12 noon Lunch time for the boys and naptime for Ava. I try and spend some time doing something with the boys now, a board game and then the Christmas songs are back on when Ava wakes up and we get ready for going out. 

3pm The Crib service – we try and go to this every year, for me it brings back memories of going as a child.

4pm Christmas Eve buffet meal, I started this tradition when I moved out and still do it now. Loads of yummy nibbles and some special drinks for the adults.

5pm An early bath with the special Christmas bathbomb, all nice and clean and our new pyjamas on. We then put on a Christmas film and have hot chocolate and marshmallows.

6:30pm We sprinkle the reindeer food, get the treats ready for Santa and lay out the sacks. The boys now also say goodbye to the elves.

7pm Bedtime, we always read ‘The night before Christmas’ and I squeeze them all that little bit harder, enjoying their excitement.

8pm At this point I’m hopefully all ready for the morning, last minute presents wrapped and under the tree. This is a time I now love to spend with James, the calm but magical evening before all the excitement in the morning. We always watch a Christmas film together and have a few drinks.

9pm Our first Christmas together we started giving each other our main present, it means we have time to open them together without the chaos.  Over the years we have got each other some lovely gifts, trips away, lusted after makeup, beautiful pre owned watches, and some experiences that we have really enjoyed together. 

11pm I blow out the candles, check everything is ready and head up to bed. I still find it hard to get to sleep, I’m just a big kid.

Writing this post has made me excited for my favourite day. Only  17 sleeps till Christmas Eve, where is the time going? Do you have Christmas Eve traditions?

Christmas Cartier

 

17 responses to “Christmas Time – 24 hours of Christmas Eve”

  1. RachelSwirl says:

    I must write a post about our christmas eve as its manic! Love the sound of your day it is all so exciting!

  2. Lucy Grace says:

    Aww, your Christmas eve traditions sound lovely. I can’t wait for my son to be old enough to understand the excitement of Christmas! He’s still just that little bit too little xx #picknmix

  3. I love christmas eve too and like you still get excited. The anticipation is the best bit.#picknmix

  4. Claire says:

    What a lovely routine, I think i’ll have to take some pointers from this this year! xx #picnmix

  5. OddHogg says:

    We like to get outside and burn off some energy on Christmas eve too. Our day is usually a touch more manic though as I’m never very organised! #picknmix

  6. Mary says:

    Absolutely beautiful traditions! 🙂

    When I was growing up, our main tradition was to open one gift from a friend or a non-immediate family member. I also usually had new pyjamas and we always drank eggnog and watched a Christmas film!

    I hope to form some brand new traditions with my husband this year, as it’s our first year married 🙂 xx #PicknMix

  7. With a nine and six year old here still believing in the big guy our Christmas Eve is like a Secret Spy production.

    Nerve wracking!

  8. Ahh what a lovely Christmas eve! We always do something festive on Christmas eve, followed by a Christmas eve buffet, an early bath, new pyjamas then snuggle down to watch a festive film. I always find Christmas Eve way more relaxing than Christmas day when it’s all a bit manic! #picknmix

  9. This sounds like such a lovely day, I love that you buy a Christmas bath bomb too – I might have to pinch that idea! Christmas films are a must, I’m so excited now!

    #PicknMix

  10. Brandi Puga says:

    You are so well organized! haha, our christmas eve changes each year it seems, and it always gets big crazier each year too! #Picknmix.

  11. I used to love Christmas Eve, we’d drive down to my nans whilst listening to musicals in the car. Have dinner, go to church for their Christmas service and all kids went to the front and received a wooden sheep to keep. (I loved mine!) then it was back to nans to leave out things for Santa. Nothing beats the lead up to Christmas!
    #PicknMix

  12. oh that sounds lovely. My Christmas Eve is much more hectic as it is consumed by me cooking fo 20 people #PicknMix

  13. Helena says:

    I like the fact that you’ve got a routine in place and a lovely one at that. #PicknMix

  14. Our family is woefully lacking in the Christmas tradition arena, but I may decide to borrow some of yours to “audition” them with my tough crowd. Thanks for the ideas! #picknmix

  15. Becky says:

    Some really lovely ideas here. I can’t wait until Rory is a little older so I can do a Christmas Eve box for him. I also like the idea of a Christmas Eve buffet, we may be adopting that one in our house! #PicknMix

  16. Eek it’s almost Christmas! I am so excited – such a big kid 🙂

    Stevie x

  17. Maria says:

    Ahh I love the idea of a Christmas Eve buffet! My boys get their Xmas eve box when they wake up in the morning too. I can’t believe its only next week now! #PicknMix

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