December 25th of 2016 is in the books! It was a good, simple Christmas and I enjoyed it so much. Even with the scaled back plans and projects though, it still gets long and stressful at times. So while I am going to miss the special sparkle of the season, I am ready to begin the trudge back to everyday life…next week.
There were a lot of highlights this year. I think my favorite was having more time to spend just doing silly things with my kids. On Black Friday, I found a hot air popcorn popper and the kids love it. So we started making “Christmas popcorn” pretty often after dinner when they were in the PJs and watching movies like Rudolph or Frosty or The Grinch. It’s just simple popcorn made special by a little bit of brown sugar and vanilla melted into the butter but, to them, it was magical.
I also enjoyed making my Aunt Frances’ fruitcake recipe for Christmas Eve dinner. I was crazy nervous about how it would turn out because her fruitcakes were legendary and I had never made one before. But, with the trusty recipe in hand and youtube tutorials on my phone and my hubby rooting me on; I got it done and I am SO proud to say that it came out just right! When my grandma, papa, my mom and dad all confirmed that it was just like hers, I got a little teary eyed. My Aunt passed away of cancer many years ago and we just lost Uncle Tom this past year so it seemed like an exceptionally special year to take up making it.
Our visit to Deltona was the only weekend we spent away from home and it was a good one. We spent the whole time with Gigi and Beth and just enjoyed each other’s company. Gigi took us out to Ruby Tuesdays for lunch and we very much enjoyed that as well. Since her stroke, communication has been excruciatingly difficult for Gigi but her spirit and her heart are still as strong as ever. I admire her grace and strength in having to be patient with the rest of us as we feebly attempt to decode her speech. She gets frustrated some times but you will also find her having a good laugh at herself and being flexible more often than not. She is a tough cookie. And sweet Beth, she is always busy doing dishes or cooking or giving Gigi a helping hand or planing and shopping; she has really stepped up into her new role as a caretaker. She has a lot on her plate but Aunt BethyPoo (as lots of her many nieces and nephews call her) is becoming a force of nature in her own right and keeping everything running smoothly.
The one thing that we did host was a simple dinner at our house for just immediate family. There was no gift exchange, no agenda, no one was dressed up (in fact, the kids got into the costume stash and turned into princesses and dinosaurs which was awesome!). The only thing we did other than eat and chat was do a little bit of caroling to a couple of my neighbors. It was simple and old fashioned and comfy; like an old pair of jeans.
Nana-Pop Christmas was also super fun. Mom made her famous and award winning chili, I brought pimento cheese with veggies and crackers (an adopted Herchenroder tradition), and there were cookies everywhere of every kind. Of course the cousins had a blast with each other and everyone exchanged gifts and went home excited about their loot. We draw names for each other and this yeah I got drawn by Amanda who knitted me (yes, actual KNITTING involved! so sweet!) a super cute black scarf. Now I want to learn how to knit because seriously guys, it’s so cute and so soft! Tim drew Michael’s name and he went home super proud of his new “W” Cubs flag.
Christmas morning at our house was a little chaotic because it fell on a Sunday this year but we still had a blast. We woke up in our Christmas PJs and opened stockings and new books before pushing pause and heading off to church to celebrate Jesus. I got crazy-super-extra-mega lucky and got the minions all coordinating outfits from Gymboree for an awesome deal so this mama was stoked to take pictures and show off my favorite mini humans. No judgement on those who can and do spend $55 per dress for toddlers but this frugal minded mom just can’t bring myself or my bank account to do it. However, if you stumble upon an epic deal where you get an additional 60% off of the already half-off line of Christmas clothes at Gymboree, you do a little happy dance!
The church service was wonderful. As stressful as it is to pry our sleep deprived selves out of our PJs and away from the gifts and into dressy clothes and down the road…because seriously, whoever wrote “easy like Sunday mornin” was not a church-going parent of small children…it was just perfect to spend the celebration of Christ’s birth in the place where we worship him.
Back home, we finished opening gifts and had lunch and spent the rest of the day being loud and messy before leaving to go see some local Christmas lights. Jonah is in love with his “megas” (roaring dinosaur and dragon), Haven can’t get enough of her new kitty and her veterinarian doll, and Laelynn is in love with her little people by fisher price set and her daisy duck. As for the big kids, Michael is nerding out with his Bluetooth headphones and Roku 3 and I’m obsessed with my beautiful red food processor. Michael was a little nervous to be so cliche as to buy the wife a kitchen tool as a gift but I’m a food nerd and it’s what I wanted! I can’t wait to attempt homemade hummus, frozen banana ice cream, apple sauce…and lots of other things that I haven’t been able to do before!
All and all, we are tired, a little fatter, and very happy with our Christmas this year. Now, if you will excuse me, I have to go dig out my fat pants, work on clean up, and start planning my new years diet.
Cheers!
