MERRY CHRISTMAS!

It seems like it has taken forever to get to this point in the holiday season...you know, where the tree is full of ornaments, the house is decorated with treasures, gifts are wrapped and you actually have time to make all those cookies you planned to do ahead.  Good morning everyone!  It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas around here.  The big blizzard that was predicted seems to have missed us but it is bitterly cold and windy...not the best time to be out holiday shopping (if you still have some of that left, like me).  I'm going to share a little of the Christmas cheer going on in my home while I play catch up with you.

The Husband is home!  The doctor said 6-8 days and my guy was determined to get out of that place.  We would walk the halls with the IV pole dragging behind us...14 trips around the square of the hospital floor equaled 1 mile and The Husband did it 4 times a day!  So, he was sprung Sunday evening and since son Kevin was already there, he brought him home.  With those extra hours I ran around the house like crazy...sweeping, dusting, sanitizing.  Then a trip to the store for all the good things he could eat; oatmeal, Jello, ice cream, rice pudding, banana pudding...pudding, pudding, pudding!  I flew to the bank and deposited our Christmas allowance check and once the house was in order I sat and did my online shopping in about two hours.  I had wish lists for my girls and had already planned what I was going to get for the boys.  Everything else just fell into place.  Don't you just love that?

Of course it has been a crazy week.  I don't think I've gotten more than 4 hours of sleep a night.  Trying to sleep on the couch so I wouldn't disturb The Husband, making 4 small meals a day for him, giving him injections of the blood thinner (I think nursing was my true calling), trips to the drugstore and a lot of kisses and fluffing of the pillows!  He is however, up and about most of the day and he has made some small trips out,  like going for breakfast with the kids.  Today he is going Christmas shopping with Emily.  Other than picking up some weird habits like watching The Price Is Right and Judge Mathis, he seems quite normal!

I wished for an elf to help me and I got my wish with Abby.  Known for participating in preparation for Christmas by sitting on the couch eating candy canes, she really came through for me this year.  Every afternoon after Fed Ex and UPs made their deliveries, she would wrap the gifts, taking her time, making each package pretty with ribbons and bows.  I heard her murmur to herself one day, "I am SO good at this!".  When I got home from getting my hair highlighted yesterday, she had started to decorate the tree.  God love her!  So, today we are making a last minute run to Target and the  the grocery store and then it's home to make some rolled out cookies with the dough I froze. 

As always, everything looks a bit crowded in my tiny living room.  I can never go simple, with every bin I open I see reminders of Christmas' past and I have to find a place for each treasure.  Christmas may have come a little late for us this year but it didn't skimp!

So, I have another busy day ahead...they have been getting away from me and I'd be lost without the lists I make.  We have family parties Sunday night and  Christmas Eve and then a family brunch and dinner here on Christmas day.  We have SO much to celebrate this year!

I'll close today by thanking all of you again for the get well wishes for The Husband.  He is a real trooper.  And I want to wish all of you and your families a very Merry Christmas! :)

XO,

Jane