If you haven't yet gotten your Christmas cards out, well, you may want to start considering other options...and, I've got a great one for you: Paperless Post - Custom Online Stationery that you can send online!
Christmas week is finally here! If you're like my four-year-old, you haven't been able to contain yourself for about a week now! He seriously has been running around like a crazy person for the last several days and we've had to call Santa more than once to get him under control. (I can't even keep him still enough for a picture!!!) He was up at 6:00 am this morning to run downstairs and move the advent calendar one day closer to Christmas. Christmas Eve will be quite an experience trying to get his little head to stay on the pillow!
BUT, If you're like me, the excitement is just starting to take hold!
We had our annual Christmas visit to Crabtree in Raleigh yesterday, not because I really needed anything, but I have to visit Crate and Barrel every year at Christmas and pour over their adorable ornaments. Mike and I had a deal that if I let him do what he wanted Saturday, he'd brave the crowds with me Sunday. He couldn't complain or moan one single time while we were there because he'd already had his day (it's all about compromise, you know).
I know I'm crazy, but I love the mall at Christmas - it is just so energizing and magical to me! I like to be right in the middle of it all - even if I don't have anything to buy! But, of course, I found a few things I absolutely had to purchase for this person and that...So, here's to hoping I remembered everyone on the list. My greatest fear is getting to Christmas day and not having a present for someone.
Are you ready? Is there someone you still need to buy for? Goodies you need to cook? Presents to wrap! Let it all out, and don't be afraid to admit it if you haven't even started shopping yet! I work best under pressure too, but have to spread out the money for Christmas, so I always start early!
Everyone at the office is getting a yummy box of these for Christmas this year. My little guy and I had a blast making them and they are super easy! You can even do it without using a mixer.
But just be ready, because by the end of the night, we were covered in powered sugar!!
(But that just makes it all the more fun, right???!!!)
NUTTY FINGERS
1 stick butter
5 tbsp. powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1 c. plain flour
1 c. chopped nuts
Cream butter. Add powdered sugar and vanilla. Work flour in gradually. Add nuts. Make into roll cookies. Cook 375 degrees 8-10 minutes
Sunday afternoon it was finally cold enough to build our first fire of the season. Mike and I both love a real fire and the fireplace is one of the reasons we bought our house four years ago.
Being the Girl Scout I am, I always want to go out in the yard, gather up twigs and sticks, build up the fire gradually and then throw on the logs when it's hot enough.
Mike always wants to run to the grocery store and buy a fake log.
Sunday, I was convinced we could get a fire going without "cheating", so the little guy and I went out in the yard, collected sticks, balled up newspaper, piled everything in the fireplace and lit it up. It was a beautiful fire for about two minutes, then it died. I tried this for about an hour, convinced I could prove Mike that we didn't need the fake log. After an hour, he took over and tried, still saying we should just go buy a log, but I wouldn't let him...I was gonna prove him wrong.
Another hour later, and about five false starts, he got a log, and we had our fire. Oh well, I tried.
Next time maybe I'll Google it.
When I was in my twenties I remember thinking that being a grown up at Christmas was probably pretty depressing. Santa doesn't come anymore, you have to do all the cooking, present wrapping and cleaning, the presents get smaller and everyone focuses on the kids.
Now that I have my own child, Christmas has really turned into more fun that when I was a kid and I realize that Christmas isn't about presents and how much Santa is going to bring - it's about the memories and the traditions that you establish. (And yes, I know it's about the celebration of the birth of Christ as well, and that story and meaning of Christmas is always part of our traditions as well)
I've tried to bake cookies with my son Walker every year, along with visiting Santa, going to Christmas events around our town and enjoying the Christmas music and decorations at church. I am a stickler for tradition - just ask my mom. Every year growing up - and now still - we have oyster stew for Christmas Eve, I help her decorate the mantel in the den, we ride and see lights and we make Christmas goodies (usually strawberry candy and breakfast for Christmas morning).
I guess I've started doing the same sort of things with my family, not even stopping to realize that I'm a grown-up at Christmas now and I love it just as much as I did then (and maybe even more!). The joy of seeing your own child at Christmas is such a special experience, and something I hope my little man can pass on to his family one day.
I snapped this picture at the Carolina Inn last weekend. It's my mother-in-law (on the right), her best friend (in the middle) and her first-cousin, basically her sister.
When I snapped the picture, they made me promise I wouldn't put it on Facebook, but I told them I would put it on my blog because to me, they are the epitome of southern women: strong, beautiful, sassy and classy.
"The biggest myth about Southern women is that we are frail types--fainting on our sofas...nobody where I grew up every acted like that. We were about as fragile as coal trucks." --Lee Smith
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