Christmas Eve Traditions, Soup and Stockings

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       Here it is! The last week before Christmas.  That last stretch before the big day. Have you gotten everything ready so that you can spend this last week relaxing and enjoying the time with your family or do you still have things to finish up?  Is everything in place for your Christmas Eve traditions?  What does your family do on Christmas Eve?
        Because we eat a big meal on Christmas Day, we always keep our Christmas Eve dinner simple.  It consists of two kinds of soup served with crackers and other soup toppings.  Here are the two recipes we serve:

Clam Chowder

Taco Soup

          We also like to drink Egg Nog, Hot Cocoa Bombs or Hot Orange Punch with our homemade cookies. We usually play games, we may watch a Christmas movie and we always end with singing to the tree.

My grandson Adrian is here! He is so excited about everything this year. Isn't he adorable?

           Do you do Christmas stockings with your kids?  I know families who do not, but they are a big part of our Christmas.  We don't have a fireplace, so our children always would lay out their stockings along the back of the couch.  When Santa would fill them, he would lay them on each person's bed.  In the wee hours of the morning, when the children woke up, they were not allowed to go to the tree without us.  But, they could get into their stockings. They would wake each other up and giggle and whisper about what was in them.  Sometimes, they would even fall back to sleep for a little while.  This gave Mom and Dad a little extra time to sleep, until the kids couldn't stand it anymore and woke us up.
           If you haven't tried stockings for your family but would like to, yet you don't want to fight the last minute shopping crowds, there are still 2 days left to get your orders by Christmas from Oriental Trading. They have some cute, inexpensive choices and you will be able to afford to get one for everyone! 

         If you have a little time to sew,Sew Like My Mom has a really good tutorial to help you make some special stockings for your family. Or, if you are fast at crocheting, here are some darling ones on ravelry.
        I know in some places they use pillowcases instead of stockings.  Whatever you use, Christmas stockings are a lot of fun.  Do you have any special memories associated with using them?  Please fill free to share them with us!  Keep having a Merry Week!