Too much Christmas ...

... being celebrated to blog :).

I think I can say we are coming off the Christmas celebrating :). Tomorrow is Monday and while it's not quite the new year, it feels like a fresh start. Christmas presents have all been made, wrapped and almost all opened ... goodies have been baked, shared and mostly eaten (the amount of sugar in this house is nauseating) ... time with family and friends has been plentiful and much enjoyed. Sleep however has been deprived, routine has been thrown out the window and a lot of normal 'life' things have been put on hold.

So as of tomorrow I'm cleaning the house, meal planning, grocery shopping and working on getting my Knitty Bitties books done so I can start creating some fresh new items.

I'm going to post a condensed re-cap of the last few days, but hope to add in pictures and maybe a few more details as time permits. I'm trying to find a balance with my 'online' time but these last few weeks of limited time seem to be working better for me :).

12-27-09 Today :D
Church, naps, dinner with friends and then fondue dessert back at our house.

12-26-09
Brunch with the family at my parents house. A stop at Starbucks and a fabric store (40% off all fabric ... how could I resist?!?) on the way home. Matt went off to do a family photo shoot and E and I stayed home putting presents away and playing with new toys (I might have snuck in a cat nap while 'reading' a new sewing book). A trip to Target for E to spend a gift card and me to check out the 50% off Christmas decorations. I ended up coming home with a 6ft tree and red/aqua/silver ornaments all for $22.50! I can't wait to stitch up some more ornaments throughout this year and then put up my new tree in our master bedroom. I've always wanted more than one tree! I'm thinking next year we'll get E one for upstairs :).
We finished off the night sleeping in the living room with the tree-a-glow. E and I thought it was great and have vowed to do it again next year ... Matt on the other hand wasn't impressed with a night on the aero-bed in a light filled room. I don't get it?!? :P

12-25-09 Merry Christmas!!
Our first wake up call was at 5AM, then 5:45AM, then 6:30AM and finally 7:30AM when we said enough. This is our first year experiencing an excited early riser ... let's just say we were not ready to be up :P. We started with stockings and one gift before taking a break to eat breakfast. I made cinnamon rolls and Matt made mini fritatas. Both were delicious. Then we opened the rest of our gifts and had a leisurely morning/afternoon at home. E played with toys, I wrapped presents for my family and put together stuffing for dinner. I even snuck in a few loads of laundry. I know that sounds terrible for Christmas day, but it was just so nice and relaxed. We headed to my parents around 2PM for an afternoon/evening of celebrating. We opened presents together and then had a delicious dinner and dessert(s). We finished the evening playing many rounds of Scene It on the Wii before heading to bed.

12-24-09
Christmas Eve was busy. Last minute hand sewing, present wrapping and baking ... layered pudding dessert, mini cheesecakes and cinnamon rolls. Around 2PM we headed to Greg & Jessica's for a fun evening with Matt's side of the family. We had a wonderful dinner, then headed to the Christmas Eve service at church. We came back to meet up with everyone where we had dessert and did our gift exchange. Several years ago Julie came up with the great idea for everyone to bring a $20 gift and then we exchange 'white elephant' style. It's getting more fun each year seeing what we come up with. I made a teapot trivet that I put with this tea set. I came home with a fun new throw blanket for our living room and Matt got a cool flashlight.

12-23-09
Sewing ... sewing ... sewing ... and a little wrapping ... wrapping ... wrapping.

12-22-09
Baking day! My mom came over and hung out with E and I while I made Rolo pretzel turtles, Cracker toffee, Walnut kisses & Peanut Butter cookies. After all that baking and cleaning up, I snuck in a little sewing before heading to Kelly's annual Christmas cookie party with Ethan. It was such fun to hang out with friends while the kids played and decorated sugar cookies.

12-21-09
I'm not too sure what we did this day except that I'm pretty sure sewing was involved :P. E finished the day with a dinner/date with Greg and Jessica to McDonald's and Black Light/3-D Miniature golfing (really big hit) while Matt & I enjoyed a grown up dinner with his co-workers.

12-20-09
Our 12th Anniversary. While our day was nothing seemingly spectacular, this deserves its own post to share just a little bit of why I am still so in love with my husband after 12 years (17 years of 'dating') and why I try everyday to not just be his wife and the mother of his child, but his girlfriend.

And with that, I'm calling it a night ... I have A LOT I want to get done in this 'short' week ahead. Hopefully I'll be back soon with a few pictures and to share my goals for 2010.

Warmest happy holiday wishes!