Merry Christmas to All!

OK, it is Christmas Eve Afternoon.  I want to wish all of my readers who celebrate a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!  So, here's to you and your families!

However, I did not make it as easy on myself as I said I would back in this post:

http://somanykidssomuchfun.blogspot.com/2010/11/wednesday-news-november-24-2010.html

Back then, I was "full speed ahead", "get the sales", "get it done early" and (gasp!) WRAP everything INSTEAD of staying up until the wee hours of Christmas morning with Dave, both of us bleary-eyed and forgetting for whom the present was and WHAT it was!  No joke!

Alas, there will be some late-night wrapping tonight, but my kids are old enough now that I can tell them that Mom is going into the basement to "work with some surprises" and "do NOT come down", this afternoon.

I did do a lot better than in previous years, however.  I shopped a little at a time and I DID get a lot of good prices.  My planning ahead paid off!  I also cut way back on my baking this year.  My kids love to bake and cook so I think I was burned out from a steady stream of that all year.  Our gifts to our teachers and pretty much everyone who is not family is usually iced/colored-sugared/sprinkled/chocolatey/cinnamoned (or any combination of these) baked goods of some sort.  This year, I went with small, store-bought, but useful gifts.

Of course, Christmas is not about all of the presents and the wrapping anyway.  I feel very blessed that everyone in our family knows that.  It's so easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle, but we have to remember the "reason for the season".  God Bless You and make some memories!!