Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Merry Christmas!

Soooo...I started this post back on December 20th and had too much else to do to get ready for Christmas and being away from home for a week and I ended up saving it as a draft to finish later and never finished it...until now!  I'm sure the original post would have been full of nostalgia and sentiment but now, in the after Christmas buzzkill, I can't remember what I was going to say.  I kind of get sad about how fast Christmas is just over.  It's not really over.  The twelve days of Christmas are not over yet.  I wish the Christmas movies, music and decorations didn't just disappear so fast. 
 
Here is a photo of our tree without the cat in it.  The star is crooked from him and Ben messing with it though.  The tree is still up.  I might take it down before the twelve days of Christmas are over since I am sick of disciplining kids and cats to keep them away from it.  We will see. 


 
Here is a miniature table display with Ben's first Santa picture.  I bought that frame on clearance last year after Christmas. 

 
Here is a nice picture of Allan basking in the glow of "his" tree.  He looks so civilized! 

 
Another tree picture, in case you wanted a different view!  I'm sure you did...

 
I have always wanted to decorate a light fixture for Christmas but we never had a proper chandelier style one until we moved here! 

 
Here is the nativity scene.  Christmas is not complete without one.  I have always loved my mom's pristine white set and I also love this colorful one that I received as a bridal shower gift.  I had intentions of getting some pine branches for those vases but, of course, never got around to stopping at a tree lot to look.  I saw some bundles for sale at Lowes but I thought they seemed too expensive for a bundle of branches. 
 
 
Here is Ben gaining access to the tree with his stool that he drags around the house and uses to cause trouble.  No surface is safe anymore! 

 
There is my favorite ornament!  I am relieved that it is not breakable!
 
 
Tessa had a lovely first Christmas.  She got many nice presents including this little snowman from her great grandma Dorothy.  Ben got one too. 

 
Ben also received many nice gifts.  He opened this combine from the Ertil "Big Farm" collection of farm toys.  He got to open it on Christmas Eve even though we didn't really have a gift opening that night.  He loved it but we had to leave it behind because our vehicle was too full!  He will get it back in a few weeks. 

 
Tessa opened her first gift (besides the snowman) on Christmas morning.  Doesn't she look intrigued?  It was clothes from my brother and sister-in-law. 

 
On Christmas Day it was warm (by December in ND standards) so Ben got to play outside for awhile with his favorite dogs Jake (shown above) and Wal Wal. 


 
That sled was a Christmas present of my brother's many years ago and I got a purple one and my sister got a pink one!  They are all still stored in the rafters of the garage on the farm!  It is hard to believe that they are more than twenty years old!

 
Later that weekend Tessa and Ben got to spend time with their cousins.  Ben was a toy stealing pest and Tessa was a big attraction. 

 
We hope you had a very merry Christmas!  Now it is New Year's Eve.  It is hard to believe.  It was a big year for us since we got a new house and had a new baby.  Also, both of our parents built new houses (still in progress) and several family members have been married and announced pregnancies.  2014 will be a baby filled year! 
 
In conclusion, here are a few ways I realized that I have become an adult in relation to the holidays:
 
1.  Instead of Christmas taking an eternity to arrive as I observe the advent calendar or paper chain impatiently every day, now it comes way too fast and it is hard to fit everything in before it arrives.
 
2.  Opening gifts for my kids is as fun as opening gifts for myself.
 
3.  It is exciting to receive gifts related to mundane daily activities, such as items used for cleaning and food preparation. 
 
4.  I can't just swill wine without a worry anymore. 
 
 
 

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