Catching up: December!
I started the month really feeling like I had a handle on holiday things for a change. I didn't, as it turned out, but it was better than many other years in that regard.
Annette came up early in the month to see our addition finally. The main reason we got together was to deal with Grammy's gifts for the grandkids. I had bought the socks and she had made the cupcake papers, so we divvied it all up to send off. The 'sock cupcakes' were cute and simple. Hope you all enjoyed them!
It was fun showing Annette my nativities on display in my new Expedit unit from Ikea. They weren't all out yet, but she got to see where I was going anyway. I took the photos once all the nativities were displayed. I think there were forty in all. A couple aren't in the unit such as the knitted one. And I gave away and sold quite a few awhile back. Still I easily filled 20 cubbies. The bottom row has bins and we kept toys, etc in those.
I got to Target for the first time in a year. Yes, that's right: A YEAR WITHOUT TARGET!!! My favorite store. The nerve pain in my leg had finally abated and I was able to go and spend lots of money without any trouble at all. I felt like hopping and skipping and kicking up my heels. But let's be honest - I can't do any of that! [And dangit but I've been having some nerve issues in that leg again recently. Boo!] Picked up the cutest dishes to use throughout December without fear of breakage.
We put the Christmas tree up in one of the family room windows. It seemed odd not having a tree on the main level. I did buy a small one but never got it put up. I had big plans to make a Names of Christ tree but like so many things during the holidays, I just didn't have the time. So I decorated it like I've decorated it for the last few years. And it was fine.
One of my favorite things to do, and I recommend it if you do much baking, is to make DIBs bags (dry ingredients bags.) In a very short time one afternoon I filled ziploc bags with the flour, sugar, baking powder/soda, salt that each recipe would need. Then the next day all I needed was butter and eggs mainly and made up my cookie doughs in no time. 8 cookie doughs: sugar cookie bars, shortbread, caramel pecan turtle cookies, cherry cheesecake cookies (not impressed with this recipe), peppermint kiss cookies, Biscoff Kiss cookies (like Peanut Butter Kiss cookies but sub Biscoff - Speculoos- spread- DELISH!), empire biscuits (my fave), and almond cookies (which I thought were a FAIL last year but John and Jacob loved them!)
Emily and Addie arrived on December 15th and stayed until January 5th. That's 3 weeks. With a 2 year old. And we LOVED it!!! The place was a wreck and it was hard to get anything done w/o a helper, but we LOVED it!! I had put nativities at her level that were less likely to break and she played with them every single day she was here. I tried to put them all back in their proper places each night, just to stay ahead of the clutter. She especially loved the little Indian set Heidi gave me back in high school. The pieces are only a couple of inches tall, just right for her little hands. She'd put them in her mommy's shoe and take them for a ride, or a little toy truck, and she tried to take a handful of them into the bath with her one night! I examined them as I put them away, and several Indians no longer have the parts of their feathers that extended beyond their heads, but other than that, and a horse with a broken leg, they survived well. The Mary in the Nigerian set is missing an arm. That's about the only thing that wasn't fixable. I never found the arm, so no telling where it went! The photo was taken before Addie took these pieces for the ride of their lives!
I found this after Addie went to bed her first night here. Mary is part of the knitted set Grammy made for me a few years ago. She's taking a ride in Mommy's shoe.
Addie did not sleep well here and ended up in her mommy's bed every single night. In the morning I would usually take over and watch her while Emily caught some more sleep. One morning I put on Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, and she LOVED it. Well, she loved being scared by the Snow Monster! She'd run behind a chair whenever he'd appear and say "Scawy!" But then she'd want to watch that part over and over. It's like her love of Iron Giant last summer. Adrenaline junky??
Jacob got to fly up and stay from the 21st to the 24th, which went by too fast. But we were so glad he got to spend a few days right before Christmas with Em and Addie.
Addie arrived with a cold and within a few days everyone had it. Everyone was sniffling and snorting for days! With the inversion we've had, it has kept our noses stuffy for a month now.
I narrated the ward's Christmas Program in Sacrament Meeting, which was a special way to lead into Christmas. I then taught in Relief Society the same day. Got home and got everything ready to go and headed to Annette's for the family Christmas party.
We had it December 23rd since we wanted to include Scott, Marianne & Nic, and Emily. Jacob and Amanda came with their kids, and Colin too, now that he's a Utah resident again. We had such a fun evening. We had our traditional appetizer meal provided by everyone. It is such fun to have so many little things to taste and savor. We did our White Elephant exchange. Then the kids did a Nativity play for us while Jess read the Christmas story from Luke. Thank goodness for Ethan, Mylyn and Clara being old enough to take the main roles. Luke was a shepherd. Nic & Marianne stepped in as Wisemen. Sophie and Addie were either sheep or kangaroos. Hard to tell. Addie just ran back and forth, [see photo] and Sophie flirted with a wiseman. All in all, the best play ever!! Then came the Hot Cocoa bar and lots of visiting. Annette and I agreed that this year was more relaxed and enjoyable. Last year with Santa arriving earlier than planned, everything felt rushed. This year, with the party on a Sunday, Santa stayed home.
Life slowed way down after that. Heidi stayed most of the week. It was nice to bask in the after-Christmas glow. Addie kept us all hopping and happy. The hardest thing was when January 5th rolled around and she took her Mommy and went home. The house was just too quiet and dull. It took us awhile to readjust to normal. 3 weeks into January and I'm still putting Christmas away!
New Year wishes to everyone!
loved hearing about your Christmas and the joy you had with your little cutie. Thrilled to finally see the nativities! Fun to hear about the get-together at nette's. Giggled over the kangaroo line! good luck getting it all put away!
ReplyDelete