reese witherspoonReese Witherspoon will be spending most of today in the kitchen.

In her new film Four Christmases, her character hates the trappings of the holiday but in real life, Reese loves spending the day with her kids - nine year old Ava and five year old Deacon.

She explained recently: “I have to force them to go to bed [on Christmas Eve]. Then they sneak around and I have to tell them that if they don’t go to sleep, Santa can’t come.

“But it’s all fun, and the best part is seeing their faces on Christmas morning.

“I usually make something like an apple cake for the morning, then I’ll cook a nice turkey or a ham. Stuff like that.”

The children’s father, Reese’s ex-husband Ryan Phillippe is spending Christmas with his girlfriend Abbie Cornish in Australia. The former couple have joint custody of the children, with Ryan having the children over Thanksgiving while Reese promoted her film overseas.