Christmas Preparations
I haven't been quite sure what to do with myself the past couple of days! No packing, unpacking, or making Christmas presents. At least one of the above has filled every spare moment of my time for the past two months. It's been automatic - no thought required. And now, suddenly, I have to actually stop and process exactly what it is that I'm supposed to be doing in my "spare" time. But don't worry...I've been able to fill it without a problem.
Yesterday I helped the kids make the last of their gifts, little plaster ornaments for one another. They were so cute! The girls made Steven a train and a firetruck. Then they made each other butterflies. It'll be so sweet when they realized that they both have butterflies! Steven picked a hairbow for each girl out of the ones I'd made for them, and decided to make that his gift to each of them. He chose the Razorback bows - surprise, surprise!
Our other task for the day was a selfish indulgence - chocolate caramel turtles. One of my absolute favorite candies. This was my first attempt to make them myself. Here are the girls helping me by laying out the pecans. (No, Angela is not as bored as she looks!) They didn't turn out very pretty, and there are changes we'll make next time in the creation of them, but they still taste so good!
I have no idea how many cookies we made or even how many pans I rotated through the oven! The pile of cookies looks smaller than it actually is, amazingly enough. That is all of them minus about two dozen.
So now gifts are made and wrapped, cookies are made, a bit of house tidying needs to be done in the morning, and all in all, we are ready and looking forward to Christmas!
Our celebrations will include being at home tomorrow and Friday except for a Christmas Eve service at church tomorrow night. We are very, very much looking forward to the family time. Then on Saturday we will trek to Monroe for some Christmas festivities there.
Praying for many of you as you travel this weekend. Be safe, have a wonderful time, and
MERRY, MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!
Yesterday I helped the kids make the last of their gifts, little plaster ornaments for one another. They were so cute! The girls made Steven a train and a firetruck. Then they made each other butterflies. It'll be so sweet when they realized that they both have butterflies! Steven picked a hairbow for each girl out of the ones I'd made for them, and decided to make that his gift to each of them. He chose the Razorback bows - surprise, surprise!
Our other task for the day was a selfish indulgence - chocolate caramel turtles. One of my absolute favorite candies. This was my first attempt to make them myself. Here are the girls helping me by laying out the pecans. (No, Angela is not as bored as she looks!) They didn't turn out very pretty, and there are changes we'll make next time in the creation of them, but they still taste so good!
Today there was a whole different set of baking. Today it was sugar cookies for Christmas Eve. We are planning to deliver them to several places around town tomorrow afternoon.
The girls helped me get started on the cutting, and then they took over the decorating while I finished the cutting. When Steven woke up he cut and decorated some trains.
I have no idea how many cookies we made or even how many pans I rotated through the oven! The pile of cookies looks smaller than it actually is, amazingly enough. That is all of them minus about two dozen.
So now gifts are made and wrapped, cookies are made, a bit of house tidying needs to be done in the morning, and all in all, we are ready and looking forward to Christmas!
Our celebrations will include being at home tomorrow and Friday except for a Christmas Eve service at church tomorrow night. We are very, very much looking forward to the family time. Then on Saturday we will trek to Monroe for some Christmas festivities there.
Praying for many of you as you travel this weekend. Be safe, have a wonderful time, and
MERRY, MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!
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