Christmas in Review

We had a GREAT weekend, how about you?

We hosted Christmas eve dinner at our house.  We had ham and green beans, sweet potatoes, an amazing potato gratin, roasted potatoes, corn, deviled eggs, and crescent rolls (clearly, it's all about the carbs in our house) and it was all SO good.  Well, I'm assuming the ham was good because I did not partake, if you follow me.  We were crowded but cozy and we sat and chatted and teased Sherry about being a sucker and had tons of fun in general.  This is a tradition we'll be keeping.  It was SO nice to be able to get up Christmas day and NOT have to cook, but to just reheat leftovers and then stuff the dishes in the dishwasher.  It was thoroughly brilliant!

Christmas eve was also the night for the Grandma Presents.  This was our tradition growing up.  And I'm sure it originated with us hounding our parents to open just one present pleeeeeeeaaaaaaase?!  So Mom and Dad always let us open our Grandma presents on Christmas eve.  This is another tradition we're keeping.  It was so fun!  The Boy had a very Thomas Christmas and his Nana and Popper gifted him with a new station, new tracks and a puzzle and some new train cars.  He was HILARIOUS.  He kept trying to hold every single thing in his hands all at the same time.  Which, his little hands just aren't big enough for!

We read the birth of the Christ child and then the Boy went to bed and everyone else went home and Chris and I set about Santa's work.  My amazing Sisters had come through for the Boy on behalf of Santa this year.  Sherry had brought him this very cool marble run from Switzerland and I put some very cool marbles in his stocking to go with it.  And Susie, Susie came unhinged in putting together this box of Santa goodness!  It was filled with Thomas stuff, and a Linus doll!  And playdoh and playmobil and bath toys and big boy pants and candy!  It all wouldn't fit in his stocking, so I made a little Santa pile for him.  We set up the Thomas sets so that they were ready to play with on Christmas morning.  And then, then we collapsed gratefully into bed.

Christmas morning came, but not too early, which was SO nice.  Chris got up to walk Hogan and when he came back we opened our stockings together while we waited for the Boy to wake up.  My people really love me, you know that?  I got 4, FOUR shea butter bars for my winter skin!  Can I tell you how excited I am about that?  They're expensive for soap, but I love them so much!  And my sweet husband filled it up with Dove chocolates.

Once the Boy woke up, I went in to his crib and I said, "Guess what?!  Santa Claus came!  And he brought you some presents!"  And the Boy rubbed his face and said, "Santa C'aus coming?"  So he came out and saw all the new Thomas stuff and CANDY and he was...he was just like every kid in a toy store, he didn't know where to look or what to play with first!  It was so funny and sweet.

We spent the next couple of hours opening presents, because the Boy was not content to open one and move on to the next, he had to open it and then take it out of the packaging and then show it to me and to Chris and then try to hold it in his arms while we tried to get him to open the next one.  After two or three presents it became, "Mama, open it!  Mama, open it, peese?!"  So I ended up opening most of his presents while he exclaimed over them and tried to drive Lightening McQueen on Thomas the Tank Engine tracks!  It was hands down the funnest Christmas morning EVER in Burnstopia.

As for Chris and I, we had a decidedly cozy Christmas.  Filled with wool socks and flannel pajamas, new books and well...this:

Chris' brother Mike, in what can only be described as a temporary leave of his senses, bought us Snuggies.  Chris and I laughed ourselves silly. 

The highlight?  Sherry and my Dad gifted us with emergency preparedness/food storage stuff!  We got a water filtration system, a whole bunch of food storage and a canner!  I can NOT wait until next summer!  I'm doing salsa again and some spaghetti sauce and then some straight tomatoes for chilis and soups, I may even try to do some peaches. 

After a failed attempt to get my child to nap, we headed over to Sherry's for dinner and a movie.  My nephew had gotten Toy Story 3 so after filling ourselves fully of warm, homey food we lounged about and looked at my niece's pictures from her recent trip to Europe (with Sherry) and then watched the movie.  The Boy finally started to crash from his crazy day and he snuggled in to me for the movie.  It was sad and sweet and made me all the more determined to enjoy every minute with my Boy.

We came home to a forecast for LOTS of snow (lots for North Carolina, y'all) and Chris went to bring Hogan over to our place so that he wouldn't have to drive in the snow.  And you know, I think Chris was hoping that it would dampen our desire for a dog, but it really hasn't.  Hogan is such a sweet dog, he's smart and mellow and it's just so fun having him around.  He's laying on my feet watching the Boy as he plays with his trains.

All in all, it was a very Merry Christmas.  We read the Christmas Carol together as a family, we did morning devotionals all month long to teach the Boy about Jesus Christ and why we celebrate Christmas.  We sang and played and baked and tried to serve our fellow man.  It wasn't a season without worry or care or even frustration or disappointment, but then...well, life isn't without it's share of those things either.

How were your holidays?