Whew. I'm a little bit amazed. (sad? surprised?) that the holidays have already come and gone. Every year I say we are going to cut back and simplify and every year the gifts seem to multiply before my eyes. Without fail, there is always one gift that gets forgotten or misplaced and doesn't get opened until after New Years. It's been a pair of pajamas for Jacob the last two years. I guess you can't win them all. Jacob got quite a few educational toys this year to keep his busy mind active as well as books and board games which are my favorite gifts because he never gets tired of them.
The weeks leading up to Christmas are always a blur, since I'm always teaching right up until the end. We appreciate the extra time off it gives us together after New Years, but my, it does make fitting in traditions and fun tough. Somehow we squeezed in there cookie making and decorating, gingerbread houses, and lights.
On Christmas eve Jacob covered the lawn in the magical reindeer food he had made at school, and left out some of the cookies he had decorated for Santa. Once he was fast asleep we put out all the gifts we had wrapped (I was diligent about wrapping as we bought so that we wouldn't have to spend Christmas Eve wrapping) and then relaxed on the couch with some hot cocoa and a Christmas movie.
On Christmas we enjoy a lazy morning at home. Daddy was up before everyone and started the oven for the cinnamon rolls I had made from scratch the night before. When Jacob woke he discovered his tool bench from Santa, opened his stocking and then ate breakfast. Once everyone had as many cinnamon rolls and mugs of hot chocolate as they could possibly hold we opened all the gifts. We try to make a point to not rush and enjoy the moment and this year we were forced to take things extra slow. It took twice as long with Jacob scanning every present looking for the letters J-a-c-o-b to see if it was for him or not.
Once all the presents were opened we let the mess linger for a little while we soaked in each other and one by one explored new toys and books. After lunch it was off to the grandparents for even more gifts and dinner and then we were off to the airport and headed for snow!
"One of the most glorious messes in the world is the mess created in the living room on Christmas day. Don't clean it up too quickly."
- Andy Rooney
Maybe next year we'll actually get a family picture of Christmas! Hope you all had the most magical holiday friends and that you really stopped to enjoy the moment. They are only little for so long!!
Post Comment
Post a Comment