Wow, I can hardly believe that I have not posted anything for this past week. I had such intentions of posting everyday. We had fun, busy stuff going on, but I just didn't get to it. I didn't take many photos either.
Christmas went well. I was finishing the crafting right down to the very last minute. Crafting for teenagers can be such a challenge since their tastes have become to much more refined, and in constant change. I will be sure to share photos of what I made. When I went to bed on Christmas Eve I was nervous that Ellie would not like the jewelry or the name banner that I made for her. I did not want her to have the struggle between oh-I-don't-like-this-but-I-don't-want-to-hurt-my-mom's-feelings kind of situation. Thankfully she liked it all. I am still working on the photo album of Ethan's trip to Jamaica. I could not come up with anything to make for my husband. He explained that the problem of handmade gifts, such as knitted hats that he wears all of the time because he shaves his head, is that he has to keep track of them and worry about them a bit. He simply prefers to have hats that have no sentimental value. I can understand that.
Amazing as it is, Larr and I awoke before the kids did. What a weird feeling that was. I kept trying to go back to sleep, failing at that and then wondering if we should wake them up. I really thought they'd be up early, just like every year before. In the end I decided to bath. Larr made coffee. They finally dragged their sleepy butts out of bed around 8:00 a.m., a far cry from the 5:30 a.m. of the past.
There were other important differences. After quickly opening their stockings the kids settled in and demanded that I open the present they got for me first. It was pretty cool to see how excited they were. They had pooled their money together and gotten me a proper popcorn making pan.
Ethan also got me some new kitchen towels that are blue with white snowflakes, as well as a few lovely, blue small dishes. I felt like he really gave thought to what he got for me. Ellie made me a very cool storage chest she made from scrapbook paper. (I'll have to include photos if it a bit later on.) Larr got me several gifts. My favorite is Bakewise. It is a food science book by the same author of Cookwise. I've already started plowing through it.
We enjoyed our quiet morning together and then headed over to Don's for Christmas there. We took over the food I had prepared the day before and got the ham underway.It was important to me to preserve as many of our traditions as possible so I set the tables for dinner in the same way that Eleanor always did it. It was my way to honor and include her in the holiday. I cried my way through the process. I tried to do that privately so as to not upset anyone else. Once I had a good cry I was good to go for the rest of the day. It was like I needed to process that bit.
It was also great to have some time to visit with Doug and Laura who flew in the night before. Laura and Ellie talked "Farmville" a lot. They both enjoy doing that in their Facebook accounts. Laura actually runs her farm, as well as those belonging to Doug and Pearl.
Truike and Jan were supposed to be here, too, but their international flight from Roderdam was canceled due to a big storm raging on the East Coast. We were disappointed to not have them with us, but we Skyped them instead. It was wonderful to see and talk to them on the computer as Larr traveled around from person to person. Skype is a wonderful tool.
Midafternoon the rest of the family arrived. We enjoyed the appetizers while looking at photos that Mark and Lilia brought with them. Next, Aunt Kathy, Marianne and Evan arrived, shortly followed by my mom.
We missed Eleanor, but we had the kind of Christmas she loved.
No comments:
Post a Comment