Christmas in List

We’re (almost) back in our regular schedule this morning. It’s sad to see the holidays go, but we like a good routine in this house, so I guess we are ready. Don’t get me wrong, we loved EVERY MINUTE of having our Daddio home with us and were heartbroken to send him back to work this morning, but we are choosing to be thankful that he has a great job to go to so that we can stay home doing our thing.

It’s hard to recount the entire Christmas vacation in one post, but since I like a challenge, I’m going to attempt it. And because I know you don’t have all day to read my ramblings, I give it to you in list form. You’re welcome.

• Finished school on Friday, just short of our goals for the year. No big deal. We’ll just hit the books a little more diligently in 2011 and knock it out.
• Had a friend over to make reindeer cupcakes and spend the night. I (big heart) my girls’ sweet little friends. Have I mentioned that before?
• Did several days worth of Christmas baking and candy-making. I must say, it was one of my best years yet: fudge, peanut brittle, mini red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese icing, carrot cake muffins.
• Hours after sending our friend home, MA and I came down with the stomach virus. While no stomach virus is ever fun, this one was particularly brutal. At one point I considered a trip to the ER. Whew! Glad that’s over.
• The girls had planned to spend a few days in Meridian with their Gran and G, but… see the above bullet.
• Threw out all the food I had spent days cooking so as not to spread the”love” with our family.
• Spent two days recovering, and while I was barely strong enough to stay upright, I packed suitcases, gifts, and food for four people to spend five days in Mississippi. Did I mention that this required moving all of our Christmas gifts? Are we crazy?
• My father-in-law called to say that the bike Santa delivered for our little girlie-girl was in fact a BOYS red dirt bike. Mad rush to replace it on Christmas Eve ensues. My poor father-in-law drew the short straw and had to go to Geoffrey and Wal-Mart to correct the mistake. Did I mention it was Christmas Eve?
• Finally rolled into Meridian on Christmas Eve night, just in time to miss the Christmas Eve service at church.
• Unpacked for what seemed like hours while trying to keep the girls awake so that we could do our family Christmas Eve service. Mary Anneliese read from Luke 2 and I read The King’s Christmas List. Our family does this every Christmas Eve, and it’s one of my favorite traditions.
• After the girls went to bed, we did the mad Christmas Eve dash that parents with small children do.
• Had a fabulous Christmas morning. Opened gifts at leisure and played with our new toys ALL DAY.
• The Hill family started arriving and we had a lovely Christmas dinner of charred fried turkey and all the fixings. It really was fabulous, and we all ate way too much.
• Jonathan woke in the night with the stomach virus.
• Spent two days nursing him back to health.
• Packed up all our STUFF and started the trek back to Birmingham.
• Put away Christmas decorations. Organized closets. Made room for Christmas toys. Gathered Hannah Home donations.
• Made over Pitter Patter’s room so that she can have a big girl bed. She has stayed in it for two naps and two nights. I can’t believe how smooth the transition was, and she LOVES her new bed. I’m still mortified that she might get up in the night and walk around the house, but so far so good. Unless I’ve slept through it.
• Dropped MA off at a friend’s house yesterday and haven’t seen her since. She called to stay for dinner. Then she called to spend the night. Then she called to stay for lunch. Fun times!

While reading through this list, I realize that the sickness would be enough to turn a good time sour for some people. This year, since I’m going to focus more on the good and less on the bad, I will choose to see the joy and good times in our holiday. It was a great time with our extended family and friends. And we have reason to celebrate because…