Holiday Madness

As the holidays approach, I find myself in a bit of holiday madness. It's great, but I wish I had more time to really enjoy it. I'm exhausted...how do people do all this with kids?!? Amazing.

Here's what I've been up to:

On Friday night, B and I went to the Holidazzle parade. It was cute and fun, and the weather wasn't terribly bitter. That makes a huge difference. After the parade, we went back to B's and made dinner for us and Samantha, who was in town from Seattle. After dinner, we all went over to Rice Park in Saint Paul to check out the holiday lights there. Very fun and very pretty. We took Matty along with us too, and she seemed to enjoy herself (except when B put her on top of one of the giant boxes). All in all, a very Christmas-y evening.

On Saturday morning, B and I went over to Mary's for the first annual Christmas cookie bake off. The weather was horrible, so driving out to Chaska was a bit scary, but we made it just fine. There were numerous cars in the ditch and others were fishtailing all over the place, but the Honda did me proud. Anyway, the bake off was quite fun - I made peppermint bark and wreaths, Samantha made chocolate chip walnut and sugar cookies, Jessie made Mexican wedding cakes and peanut butter cookies, and Mary made English toffee. I fell off the WW wagon a bit as I wanted to taste everything - delicious! At the end of the day, we got to leave with a bunch of different cookies too - the beauty of the bake off! I think it's something we will try to do each year, if our schedules allow for it (it's a bit difficult with Samantha living in Seattle!).

As I said above, I made peppermint bark this year. I had never made it before, but I suddenly found myself craving it at Thanksgiving and decided at that point that it couldn't be that hard to make. Turns out that it's not, and it turns out that it's a huge hit! It might even compete with the wreaths, and that says a lot. Everyone seems to love it, and B says people were chowing it down in her office. I guess I will add that to the list of things I make each holiday season! Easy and delicious - can't beat that!

Saturday night meant it was Pajama Christmas time! I was a bit worried that people not make it due to the weather, but we had a very good turn out and lots of Toys for Tots to donate. Yay! Emmett Otter made his annual appearance to much chagrine from some, and we watched other movies as well. The treats were delicious and the company terrific - all in all a good night! Baby Jason looked super cute in his Christmas onesie - I cannot believe how big he is already!

On Sunday, I slept in quite late to recover from the whirlwind of activity, and then finally got motivated enough to hit the J with B. Sunday night, B and I marked the first night of Hanukkah, and I gave her presents for the first night (she's getting little gifts for each night). We then went to bed decently early, both tired from a weekend filled with holiday madness.

Whew! Even though all that holiday excitement is already past, there is much more to come as well. Tomorrow is Christmas eve, and I think B and I are going to a movie with Ali and Jill. Thursday is Christmas, which means family time with the Schmids/Halters. Friday and Saturday, B has to work, so I probably will too. Saturday night is a Hanukkah celebration with B's family (B's parents are staying here, which means I must clean at some point too), and then Monday it's back to work for two days until we leave for Seattle on Wednesday. Whoa! I'm looking forward to everything, but I also understand why people need vacations after their vacations. I need down time! :)

Merry Christmas to all, and Happy Hanukkah as well! May the season bring you only peace and joy. All my love, Lisa