Christmas 2012

I know that these posts are all sorts of random, but I’m really trying to catch up on things. This is the year of not running around like a chicken with my head cut off. I started out right and seem to have the dinnertime battle conquered, then I began exercising again, and now I’m trying to catch up on all the little things that have been sitting undone. My vow is no new projects until all the old ones are finished, and we’re getting there. Tortoise and the hare, right? One of those things is getting all my older pictures posted. I don’t really scrapbook anymore, and I’m not an awesome journaler, so this is it. So if Christmas pictures are no longer of interest to you now that it’s March and everyone is three months older, then skip it. But I know grandmas and grandpas will love it, and I want a record, so post I will. In 2011 we started doing an activity advent calendar, and I’ve really enjoyed that tradition. It helps us to get the important things in, and makes sure we plan our calendars in advance so we don’t run out of time to do the things we really want to do. I think we got nearly everything done this year, which is a big deal. We began the month with the Corrales Christmas parade. It’s a quaint, small-town parade, and the perfect length for our kids. Now that our kids are getting older, we’re going to add an activity onto this one (maybe the town bonfire afterward?), but for now it’s just right.   That weekend we put up the Christmas tree and decorated it together. I actually wound up changing how the tree was decorated, because I wasn’t loving it. I did really like what we wound up with. Pictures of that to come later on. We also opened our first Christmas presents. Usually I get them Christmas jammies, but for some reason everyone’s pajama drawer was overflowing this season, so they all got Christmas slippers, except Bridget, who did need more jammies.     We went to see the River of Lights at the botanical gardens, another one of our Christmas traditions. We rode the train in from Tingley Beach this time, and they kids thought that was totally awesome, because we never spring for the trains at the zoo. We made our family gingerbread house together. I make it all from scratch, so we only do one large one, and we spread it out over several days. It just wouldn’t feel right to not have the delicious smells of fresh baked gingerbread wafting through the house. I try to let them do as much as possible, and it’s fun to watch their different personalities show through in their decorations. I think that just about everyone would agree that some of the most meaningful memories of Christmas center around the story and the music. I love hearing the first verse of Luke, chapter 2 read out loud. I get chills up my spine every time. On Christmas Eve we started the morning with Rudolf pancakes and cookies. Because if you can’t indulge on Christmas Eve, when can you?   The stockings were hung on the railing with care (since we have no mantel to speak of)… and we made sparkly ornaments with pinecones from our front yard. Then we made our New Mexico Christmas dinner of tamales, and it was a smashing success. Everything went perfectly this time. Cooking the meat the day before was definitely key. Katie was channeling her aerobics instructor look. Bridget ate so many tamales over the space of a few days. Her…um…movements…were bright red from the chiles for at least a week.   The tamales were delicious, but my favorite thing I made was the green chile stew. Heaven in a pot. I slathered that stuff over everything I could, and I ate it for breakfasts, lunches, dinners, and snacks. When we weren’t looking, Bridget found the tub of sour cream and ate nearly the entire container. After dinner we drank hot chocolate and read the Christmas story as a family. Then we put out homemade cookies for Santa (he told me they were delicious) and a carrot for Rudolph) and then hustled the kids to bed. That’s when the real work for Christmas began in earnest. Next up…Christmas Day!