The Christmas Season is a Busy Season...a Collection of Short Stories.

We had a busy December in our home. Lots going on, lots of fun things to do. This year we made a bigger effort to reduce the amount of crazy that comes with Christmas. I didn't stress out about making everything perfect, which is hard for me. In years' past I would stay up too late doing stuff that people didn't notice or didn't care that much about. So this year I didn't stress out. I spent time doing stuff that I wanted to do, relaxed with the family, enjoyed the season. And that we did.
One of the first things we did to kick off December was go to the tree lighting. The kids love this and really talk about it all year, pointing out in the summer "the tree that gets 1 2 3 lights!" We braved the rain and saw Santa right away.

While we were eating some cookies and punch, The Grinch was walking around. Jimmy was not too happy to see him, but Julia couldn't wait to have her picture taken with him. This movie and book are one of their favorites, but Jimmy just isn't a fan of adults in costume.


At the tree lighting, there were lots of things to do and see. They had dancers, singers, crafts, cookie decorating and drums. Drums? Yeah, a room full of little kids and all of the percussion instruments you could think of. Both kids loved it, but Jimmy couldn't get enough. I am not sure this would be my first choice for his musical education. But at least he has rhythm.

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Another fun thing we did was have Breakfast with Santa. Grammie drove over to go with us. The kids had fun seeing another Santa and getting their faces painted. This event was held at our church and I am just so proud of our church and the great active youth group we have. They organized and ran a great event.

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Our kids are budding photographers. They love taking pictures. I know they watch us taking pictures and want to be a big kid too. It's so funny to watch them line up the shot and then say stuff to us before they take the picture. My favorite is after they take it, they look at it and say "Oh, that's a good one!"

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We had our good friends, Doug, Kelly & Paige, over one night to hang out and the kids made gingerbread houses. Aunt Michelle bought a kit for the kids earlier in the month, which was so nice of her to think of. The kids loved adding their "touches" to their houses. I learned a few things for next year, since this was the first time I had done a house. I know...strange, but we never did them as kids. I was so abused.

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My favorite Christmas tradition is baking. I love to make several different kinds of cookies throughout the month, freezing the dough and then baking the cookies as we need them. Ever since I was a little girl ("old enough to hold a plastic knife" as my mom says), we would frost sugar cookies. This is a tradition that I must pass on to my kids too. I love that Julia would ask me every few days once she saw the basket of cookie cutters when we were going to decorate cookies. A few days before Christmas seemed like a good day to do it and we invited her friend, Kylie and sister Ashley over to decorate. Plus it gave their mom a few hours to run some errands without kids. We had fun decorating the cookies while listening to Christmas music. These cookies were my favorite yet again.

Kylie & Julia

Julia, Jimmy, Ashley & Kylie

Wilton Decorating has nothing on Julia

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Christmas Eve we went to Kurt's mom's house. The kids were pretty excited to see their cousins (minus Christina & Meghan who were in Florida visiting their other Grandpa) and open some presents. They saw the presents under the tree earlier in the week when we went over to Mom's for dinner one night. Julia couldn't stop talking about the three presents with her name on them. But before presents is the food. I know that those of you who aren't part of this Italian Family have heard the tales of excess, but really you have to experience it and the 3 days of leftovers that ensue after.

Some of the appetizers....after they've been raided...I know, still plenty there.

Some of the dinner buffet...after it has been served. Again...it looks like there is enough to feed another giant family. And there is.

The Desserts...my favorite part!

Julia & Jimmy couldn't wait to open gifts. They had been patient, but it was getting hard to be so good. Aunt Fran gave Julia and Jimmy a coveted ZhuZhu pet. I didn't think that Julia even knew what it was, because it wasn't something she asked for and I didn't bother to look for one since they were THE TOY of 2009. As soon as she opened it, she knew exactly what it did and what it was. Interesting what these kids can learn from TV.

Julia is so expressive! She was so excited to see a pair of PJs with WonderWoman on them. Mom loves to shop and spends a greater part of her fall (and Spring and Summer) finding just the perfect gifts for everyone on her list. Another cool thing she found for Julia was a WonderWoman Switch Plate cover for her bedroom. Where does one find that?

Jimmy showing us who Grandma's Boy Really Is.

There was much speculation as to when Julia would be getting her American Girl Doll. She knew that she was going to get it for Christmas, but didn't know when. In the summer we went to Chicago to look at the dolls in the store, she picked Julie after much deliberation on hair length and eye color. Mom has bought all the girls a doll, so this was the year for Julia. Uncle Jeff picked up the doll when he was in Chicago for business a few months back. I still chuckle picturing him in that store, looking for the Julie section and then walking down Michigan Avenue with that huge red bag. What an Uncle!

Julia was just so excited when she opened this present. I am sure that many dollars will be spent on accessories, clothes and friends in the next few years. But really, can you put a price on that imagination that goes with it?

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I found these super cute doll beds online, but didn't like the bedding that came with them, so I made it my Christmas Project for 2009 to make cute bedding for the beds. No small feat with little people surrounding you all the time. I managed to get them done several days before Christmas so Santa could leave them for Julia & my niece, Olivia. I think they turned out so cute!

Olivia's Doll Bed

Julia's Doll Bed with the rest of her presents from Santa.

Santa came!

Jimmy with his favorite present...a Log (Pipe) Truck

All a girl could want!

I didn't take any pictures when we went to my dad's house for Christmas Day. My sister took all the pictures. We had a full house and it was hard to get up and take pictures.

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Because Christmas 2009 was all about celebrating without stress, we had the rule of one house per day. With divorced parents and a mother-in-law, that leaves 3 days of celebrations. We have Christmas Eve with Kurt's family, Christmas Day with my Dad's family and a new tradition of Boxing Day with my Mom's family. We hosted the Boxing Day Fete...which in hindsight should have been Festivus (the Seinfeld holiday where there are the feats of strength at the Festivus "Pole" and the airing of grievances. Perhaps next year Kurt will get his wish, because he has alot (or so he says).

I made my famous Italian Beef (thanks Aunt Fran...you have made me famous) and we used our wedding china. I don't even think Kurt complained about it either. He's getting soft in his old age.

Julia trying out her Rollar Skates from Aunt Libby in the FoyerGood Gift Award 2009 goes to Uncle Chuck & Aunt Marcy for getting the kids Light Sabers, among other gifts. These aren't any ordinary Light Sabers that our kids have seen. These light up and make (very loud) lazer cutting sounds. The force is strong with these two. Of course Julia is Padma.

Jimmy loves all things that have to do with tools. Last year he got a tool bench with some tools in it, but it didn't have all the necessary tools. Grammie and Poppi rounded out his collection with things like a vice, drill press, tool belt, and a bunch of other random tools that I don't bother myself with. He even got his own tool box. He's loving helping out around the house. Although he looks like he is auditioning for the Village People or some type of All Male Review.

Not to be outdone by her brother, Julia had to have a wardrobe change in the middle of Boxing Day and put on her "Cheetah." She would wear this dance/gymnastics leotard every day if I let her. In the summer, she would beg me to let her wear it outside or when we'd run errands. You can see why I didn't cave often. Most mornings in our home she will be running around in this get-up or her too small WonderWoman costume. I have a feeling she's working on her moves for Project Runway 2025 or she's auditioning for Roller Derby. At least she's got a matching purse.

And no Christmas celebration would be complete without a game. This year we played Left Right Center, a dice game. We played with quarters and the pot didn't turn over for 3 times for the last game, which left Kurt victorious. He will now be able to wash his car all summer on his winnings.

Well, just writing all of that exhausted me. Good thing i have had a few days to recover from all of our festivities. I am glad that we're now in January, back to our regular schedule and some normalcy. It's nice to have such a great fun filled month to look back on during the next 2 very cold months ahead.