Holiday Craze

Posting has been difficult lately because of the many holiday activities that seem to be taking up most of my spare time. For several days there I was just on robot mode. My house was cluttered with craft supplies, gift wrapping and greeting card necessities, and recipe ingredients. I would literally be working on one project and would happen to pass another project in the works and would pause to work on it, forgetting the other project I was supposed to be doing. I felt like I was constantly on the go and half the time found myself with only enough time for a Clif Bar (something my husband introduced me to) for dinner. Bill has been working the current shuttle flight and has had to work every afternoon/evening for 9 straight days, thus we've all been a little off without our regular routine. Thankfully, today, Bill's 10th day on console, is the last time he has to work this year.

The first big event was in my Mission Friends class Wednesday evening. We had a "Happy Birthday, Jesus" party for our 3 year olds. I cut out ornament shapes from poster board and brought glitter glue in various colors for the kids to use on the ornaments. Sparkly pipe cleaners attached at the top for hanging provided the final touch. The kids had fun with it, though it did get a tad messy. And I was able to let my own kids make ornaments with the leftovers, which came in handy one difficult evening when the kids were in desperate need of direction for their endless energy. They did a fabulous job!

Then Friday afternoon was Alex's preschool "Holiday Party". It was really a Christmas party, but we are not allowed to call it that since it is a public school. How sad is that? Thankfully, the party was ran as a Christmas party. They sang Christmas carols and everyone wished everybody else a "Merry Christmas". As room mom, I had to bring all of the party essentials, and I made these cute santa and snowman cookies for the kids. The recipes were from the 2006 Taste of Home Best Holiday Recipes cookbook. I was going to take a picture of the ones I made, but I forgot. So I've included pictures from the actual cookbook, which are probably cuter anyway.

Saturday we went to Jacob's Birthday party. The kids had so much fun at the party. I don't think my kids are destined to be cowboys, though. I think that's perfectly fine with Bill, who is somewhat anti-country. There goes my dreams of ever living on a horse ranch. ;)

Sunday I had to teach (my co-teacher and I alternate weeks), so I was up late the night before preparing my crafts and Bible lesson. And in addition to our regular class, we had a "Happy Birthday, Jesus" party, too. It was right in between the 9:30 and 11am Sunday school classes, so we had the 11 o'clock teachers helping with the party as well. The kids had a great time singing happy birthday to Jesus and then decorating and eating star shaped sugar cookies. We also let them have ice cream, a special treat for them. Alex, Nathan and I had another birthday party to attend at 12:30, so we had to rush off after church.

Now things are almost back to normal. I can focus my attention on my own family's holiday activities. I still need to bake Christmas cookies and wrap presents for family and friends, but I can do that at my own leisure. We're also planning to go look at Christmas lights one evening this week. Alex and Nathan are old enough to enjoy it this year. Of course, I think even Amy will get a kick out of it. I'm just looking forward to days spent playing with the kids and evenings spent watching Christmas movies by the fireplace with Bill. There is even a forecast for some cooler weather by the end of the week, so the fireplace may even be lit!