Next Christmas..

Our Christmas was fairly wonderful. There were many presents, much food, lots of family and a ton of fun. I haven't seen Nicholas in days. He's in HIS man-cave with his new video games and Legos. This is his last week of school break so I told him to live it up. Sarah is obsessed with her new big play kitchen and doll house. She is so cute.

We had a grand time hosting everything. Well, except for the one or two times I had a little freak-out or melt down. I just wanted everything to be perfect. I was wound a little tight. It was a lot of pressure to pull of Christmas for all the people and my kids.

Next year I'm doing some things differently. First, no major meal on Christmas Eve. Pizza or something. It's simply too busy with last minute preparations and fun. Second, nobody really likes the traditional dinner all that much. I missed MOST of Christmas day cooking it. We don't like the leftovers. Next year I think we'll do something special but something different like beef. Leave the turkey for Thanksgiving.

I already have my tree down and all my decorations put away. Shocking! I know. They were down and put away on the 26th. Reason being, we needed the space for Sarah's new toys. Nicholas can take his stuff downstairs or in his room. We let all her new stuff stay in the living room for a while. And we needed to be able to sit and walk through it. I was a little sad to see the decorations go but it is also a bit of a relief to know it isn't still waiting for me. Next year, I want to decorate earlier for maximum enjoyment of the lights.

All in all, Christmas morning was perfect. I really didn't have to do a thing but show up with presents.