Monday, December 19, 2011

Christmas craziness

One week until Christmas and it's going to be a crazy one around here.  I've finished shopping for Christmas presents (and I've also finished making presents - I can't wait until after Christmas to show you everything!) - now just to wrap them all up.  Annika really wants to help with wrapping, but she's horrible at keeping secrets (I haven't told her what we've got for anyone, just to make sure she doesn't blab), so my plan is to wrap presents by myself and then let her help with the ribbons, bows, tags, etc.  I've finished my Christmas baking (I don't do much - just a few cookies and some Puppy Chow - not sure why that's a Christmas thing, but it's the only time that I make it), now I just have a few things to make to take along to family gatherings. 
So I may not be around here too much in the next week.  Here's our schedule from now till Boxing Day:
  • Today - nothing!
  • Tuesday - Y Neighbours in the morning, Annika's going over to my parents' place in the afternoon to help my mom decorate Christmas cookies.
  • Wednesday - Annika's preschool Christmas program in the morning, Christmas open house at Carey's work in the afternoon/early evening.
  • Thursday - Both kids going over to Carey's parents' place in the morning for some "grandma time" while I finish up any last minute errands, Carey's going to the hockey game in the evening, and I will hopefully be meeting with my book club (aka "dessert club"), as long as it's not cancelled due to busy-ness.  Kids will be at home with their aunt and uncle.
  • Friday - Supper at my parents' place with family and some good friends.
  • Saturday - Family gathering (Carey's mom's side) - about half an hour drive from here, for lunch and supper.
  • Sunday (Christmas!!) - a bit of family time at home in the morning, then brunch at my parents' place and supper at Carey's parents' place (luckily they only live about 10 minutes from each other, and 10 minutes or less from us).
  • Monday - 2 family gatherings in one day!!  Carey's dad's side for lunch, and my dad's side for supper (with probably at least 3 hours of driving getting from one place to another and back home).  I'm hoping that the driving time in between gatherings will provide a much-needed opportunity for everyone to nap (except Carey that is).
Yikes!  I think by the time we're done all that we'll need a week just to rest and recuperate.  My goal is to not stay at any place later than 8:00pm, but we'll see how that goes.  With so much going on, the kids are for sure going to get out of whack, but I'm going to try my best not to stress about it too much, and just try to go with the flow.  Our first Christmas with Annika, I spent so much time trying to keep her on schedule that I missed out on a lot of the fun and fellowship because I was too preoccupied and stressed.  I just keep telling myself that last Christmas was almost as busy, and we did it all with a 3-week old newborn, so this Christmas it should be a piece of cake!  Just need to keep in mind the reason for the season - it's not about presents, food, family gatherings or over-tired children...  it's about Jesus.  The rest is just gravy. :)

1 comment:

Lisa said...

Looks very typical to me! Our Christmas is going to be a little quieter this year as some of our families are going away at Christmas time. I think we need all the reminders we can get about the real reason for the season. Thanks for your post!