Christmas

This years Christmas was one of the best that I can remember.  A giant blur, of course, but all the planning and prep work payed off.  Last year I started a Christmas file, sort of a 'Do and Don't Do' list for future planning.  I made notes on the recipes I made, where I bought Christmas cards, what I wish I started earlier, that sort of thing.  I gotta say it was a big help a few weeks ago yet I still found myself baking cookies for Santa an hour before mass Christmas Eve. I'm not sure if it was too much coffee or not having time to get through all those last minute details but the 24th was not the relaxing day I had hoped for. 

We made it to church (with my hair slightly damp) and once the choir began to sing I took a few deep breaths and let the joy take over.  The family, food and gifts did not disappoint.  I've decided that 8 and 5 might just be the perfect ages to celebrate Christmas.  They still believe in Santa, their wishes are simple and we made it through with the day without any meltdowns.

We continued our tradition of a family movie to wind down the day but this time we had an early fire outside with dinner and drinks on the patio.  I need to update my file with notes from this year but I wouldn't change much if I had the chance to do it again.