For as long as I can remember, my husband, our two kids and I have gathered around our dining room table for a traditional dinner on Christmas Eve. First, we attend church, then come home and I put a ham in the oven.

The only problem with this arrangement, is that the children's Mass, in which my kids often participate, is at 6:00 PM...which means we don't get home until after 7:00. I don't like to leave the oven on when we're not home, so Christmas Eve dinner is always a very late one.

This year I tried something new. I pulled out my gigantic, electric roaster and threw the ham inside before we left for church. That way we came home to a fully cooked ham.

Actually, it was a little too fully cooked.

And as we sat around the table aglow with candlelight and set with my mother's Christmas china, my daughter didn't let it go unnoticed when she said, "You know, I like dry meat. It's easier to cut."

Labels: Family Life, Kids, Shameless Statements