My Little Gift to You.

Ainsley got sick with RSV. Had bloody secretions for days. Needed oxygen at night. Then the rest of us caught it just in time to mess up my Christmas preparations. Steve's been working like crazy (nothing new, but he was supposed to be done with this game last week) and then he got double ear infections so he's nearly useless (sorry honey but you know it's true). It's been BUSY. But we are hosting Christmas dinner for 20 tomorrow so there is lots to do. Maybe like us you too need a little help in the cheer department? I thought I'd share our holiday drink recipes just in case. It's my little gift to you.

Have a very Merry Christmas everyone!!!

Love, Susan

*Click on image to enlarge. Don't they look yummy? I hope I'll have time to try at least 1 tomorrow.

Happy December!

It's the busiest month of the year. I don't know about you but I have a love/hate relationship with December. As the years go by and the responsibilities increase it becomes harder to enjoy all the Christmas preparations. Last night I asked the kids what their favorite part of Christmas is. Evie and Adrian both said that the best part of the holiday is getting together with family.  They especially like to spend time with their cousins. Yay! For a minute I thought that meant they didn't care so much about all the other stuff but after quick consideration they decided they "lovvvve" all the decorations and traditions too.

Since we moved this year we have to "re-invent" Christmas and decide where everything goes and what to do. It feels a little funny. Since it's a bit of a trek from Redmond to Seattle we aren't sure if we will continue some of our traditions. We used to try to make it to Madrona beach for the Christmas Ships but since we are no longer living there, that is likely not to happen, though shhh, don't tell the kids the ships go to Kirkland too. This year we got a letter that Santa isn't going to be at the Macy's downtown this year, although it turns out they just hired a different photographer. The kids LOVED to go there, and see the train set in the window. It's fun to mail our letters to Santa there and help raise money for Make a Wish, click here to go to Macy's interactive Santa letter writer.  We'll see about that one. And I'm not sure if we'll make it to Candy Cane Lane . I know the kids would love to do everything and then some but I am hoping to retire some of our traditions and keep things simpler.

Steve's company's game is in the final days of production of their game, so he's been working around the clock. He was able to take a few hours off Saturday and Sunday so we could do a couple things. Darcy LaBelle, our friend and real estate agent, has an annual Breakfast With Santa. It was so much fun and was so well done as is everything she does. If you are in the Seattle area and in need of an agent I highly recommend her. And you never know, you might just snag yourself an invitation to next year's breakfast.

   

 

 

 

 

 

Pancakes and Sausage, and Donuts.

Peppermints, Hot Cocoa, Orange Juice, Hot Coffee with Bailey's, Egg Nog.

Orange Muffins, Blitzenberry Yogurt, Pastries.

Coffee Cake, Peanut Brittle, Croissants and Danishes.

Santa, a secret peak at Santa's List, and Reindeer Grain and Candy Canes.

Oh MY!

***

Just down the road from our house is Red-Wood Tree Farm. A destination place to cut your own tree.

Or just buy it. Our tree's not trimmed yet but at least it's in the house.

It was B E A U T I F U L!

It's not so easy to shop for trees with a wheel chair. But I think Ainsley enjoyed herself even if she did have to be "parked" in the isles.

At least I didn't lose track of her like I did this one. He has a thing every year about hiding among the trees. Isn't he too old for that yet? 

Though if you need a large tree you'll probably have to buy it off the lot. It's hard to tell but most of these trees are in the 4-5 ft range. This place takes their trees seriously. Each of the trees on the lot is in it's own bucket of water after being freshly cut. I'm hoping it will make for a long lasting tree.

And then they put it in the "jiggler" and shake all the dead needles off. I'd never seen that before.

This is our tree this year. A little bushy but it's quite nice, if only we can get Steve home so we can trim it as a family because I know the kids would NOT do it without their dad. 

***

Only 20 more days left. We're off to a pretty good start. Each day the kids turn over a drawer of the Advent picture tree (when all the drawers are turned over it makes a picture). Inside the drawers are slips of paper with an activity. This year some days just have candy. I'm trying my hardest to keep on track so we aren't wrapping presents until 4am on Christmas Eve like we usually do. At least in this house I have access to the wrapping paper and perhaps a place to hide gifts. The good thing about my Advent calendar is I can take some things out if it turns out there won't be time and replace it with candy. Shhh, don't tell the kids. They might be getting a lot of candy this year. 

Whatever fills your Decembers I wish you peace and happiness.