Christmas Festivities

Ah, the Christmas fun. We just finished doing the neighbor gift gamble. You know: where you take gifts to neighbors and hope it's the neighbors who were planning on giving something to you. Then comes that moment when you have run out of gifts and someone you didn't plan one for shows up at your door with a plate of goodies. Then you just feel bad. I do enjoy making the gifts though. I decided a few years back that I wanted to make something to eat, because I like to cook and share food with others. The other criteria is I don't want to give just a plate of treats (since that is overdone each year) and it would be nice if it is something that has a decent shelf life. That way they can enjoy it in a few weeks after the Christmas binging is over. Last year I gave jalapeno jelly with an appetizer recipe. The year before that I did loaves of whole wheat bread. This year it's granola. As we were running around I saw 3 other people I know out running neighbor gifts too. I guess that means we were right on time. Also under the heading of Christmas fun was Logan's first (and probably last) Christmas party. Okay, so granted I started out by inviting too many boys, but by the time I had finished the guest list was at 14. Yes, you read that right. I invited 14 6- and 7-year-old boys to my house at the same time. Oh yeah, did I mention that the party lasted 2 hours? We had made it through the organized activities (which by the way were good...frosting cookies, bingo, pin the nose of Rudolph and snowflake ornament crafts), and there was still 45 minutes left before their moms came to pick them up. Thankfully my mom came to help out (she took pity on me when I told her that I'd gotten myself in way too deep). But still it didn't take long for the swords and guns to come out. It was an all out epic battle in my basement. The boys would go up to each other "Are you good? Well I'm evil." The good news is no one got hurt and the house came up unscathed. Probably the only casualty was my emotional state. It took a good 48 hours to calm down and relax. Oh well, what are you gonna do? Laugh I suppose.

My Favorite Christmas song this year

Straight No Chaser - 12 Days of Christmas

So I swore I would never do a blog...

...but here I seem to be anyways. I guess I had a few conversations that changed my mind. But listen people: don't expect me to actually write frequently. I'm just gearing up for Christmas, probably the same that everyone else is doing right now. Last night we got our Christmas tree. Both Mike and I feel very strongly about live Christmas trees. So it is one of our family traditions to spend a Monday night picking out a tree then going home and setting it up. I also buy the kids new ornaments each year, something that has to do with their life or interests that year (I haven't yet gotten this year's ornaments so don't ask). We spend a fair amount of time reminiscing about the ornaments. My absolutely favorite part? The smell. There is nothing like the fresh, woodsy, scent of a real tree. It's the holidays and family camping trips and memories all rolled into one. Other holiday traditions in our family (I love them so I keep a lot.) Counting down to Christmas: the kids always do one of those chocolate advents. This is their favorite because it's the only time of the year that they get to have chocolate before breakfast. We also do whatever Christ-centered countdown is in the Friend this year. Finally, probably my favorite, is books. I have been working since Logan was old enough to read with me to amass Christmas books. At this point I have 22. I wrap them all and put them in a basket and then each night the kids get to pick one book, open it and we read it together. Some are fun or silly, some are about Christ and some about Santa. Then when Christmas is over I pack them all away with my Christmas decorations until next year. One of the best things is the kids get to unwrap a gift every night and it really takes the edge off of waiting to open all the tantalizing piles under the tree. And finally if I am going to talk about Christmas traditions, I'd better talk about food. There are those foods that just seem to come out this time of the year. And I don't think the holidays would be complete without them. For me it is angel flakes (the best chex mix ever), biscattini dolu (homemade shortbread jam sandwiches), thick sugar cookies with frosting in festive holiday shapes, spinach dip with sourdough bread, shrimp and cream cheese dip with crackers. Oh, there are more, but I'm starting to drool on my computer. This year Logan is supposed to share a family tradition with his first grade class. Parents are invited to listen to the kids and I think I will go to that one. I'm a sucker for traditions and I'm always looking for new ones...