Friday, December 28, 2007

Holiday Happenings

Whew! The holidays are over, can you believe it? Although this is my favorite time of year, I am ready to return to sense of normal around here. You know, the kind where you aren't always thinking about all of the gifts to buy, cookies to bake, decorations to put up, etc. We had a great Christmas, and I'm ready for the new year!

Last week we had a lot of illness hit our house. The girls have been struggling with colds for a few weeks, but I though things were getting better. Well last Wednesday Ella started getting a runny nose again. That progressed into the stomach flu and the discovery that her ear infection from 3 weeks prior had not cleared up. After her tummy was feeling better, we got her a new anti-biotic and she is feeling a lot better. Right about that same time, I developed a whopper of a sinus infection. I don't get sick often, but this really got me down. The headaches and congestion that came with it were horrible! It has taken me a full week to get over this one. Plus, Emma and I got a touch of the stomach bug that Ella had last week. I am happy to report that we are all doing so much better. We just hope that Todd doesn't catch any of it!

Our Christmas festivites began last Thursday with the arrival of Todd's parents from down south. We only get to see them a few times a year, so it was a special treat to have them here for Christmas. Thursday evening was spent catching up and Ella received a belated birthday present- a dress-up purse, complete with cell phone, car keys, wallet, and other accessories. She didn't waste any time finding her dress-up shoes and getting deck-out with her new toys!

Friday was a busy day too. I had some errands to run, so the grandparents stayed with the kids while I finished that. Todd came home from work and we all had dinner together. Fortunately, he made me take a pretty hefty dose of motrin and sudifed, and I began to feel much better (this was the day my sinus headaches began!). Todd's mom and I went to Target after dinner to get Ella's prescription filled and do some Christmas shopping.

Saturday was a really nice day. Todd's parents came over in the late morning and we got to escape! We hardly know what to do with ourselves when we are out without the children! We went to our new favorite restaurant, Pei Wei. Yummy food, and great prices. We then hit the local scrapbook store, where Todd finished up his shopping for me (I had filled out a wishlist there). We then went to Michaels for a few Cricut cartridges (on sale!!), Honeybaked Ham, Walgreens, and Target. We finally had all of our shopping done. Probably the worst store to be in was Target. I could not believe how insanely busy it was there!

Saturday night we went to a local coney island before heading out to Holiday Nights at the Henry Ford. We went here last year and had a great time. This year was a bit different because Ella decided to be difficult the entire time. I'm beginning to think that she doesn't like crowds, because she was very unsettled. She didn't want to be in the stroller, but she didn't want to walk. She hated getting on the Model T and wagon rides. And she refused to get anywhere near Santa. We decided that we need to wait a while before planning a trip to Disney! I'm sure she'd hate it right now!

Sunday we just stayed in the house. No one went to church because we were all sick. I made dinner and then we took it easy.

Monday I had to get my shopping done for Christmas dinner. The stores were amazingly empty; I guess everyone got their shopping done over the weekend. When I got home, I got to work cooking. Here's what I planned for Christmas dinner:

HoneyBaked Ham
Sweet Potato Casserole
Mashed Potatoes
Broccoli Salad
Christmas Rice Salad
Green Beans
Rolls
Paula Dean's Coconut Cake
I baked the coconut cake and put it all together except for the icing. Then I cooked the sweet potatoes and put that casserole together and in the fridge. Finally, I made the Christmas Rice Salad. Normally I triple the recipe when I'm making it for my family because it's a family recipe and everyone HAS to have it at Thanksgiving and Christmas. This time I doubled it because Todd's parents weren't familiar with it, and I didn't think they'd eat as much of it. I probably could have just made a single recipe, but there was plenty left-over for a few days. That's fine by me, because it tastes great!
Christmas Eve we went to church, and then we came home and did the traditional stocking exchange. The girls got their new Christmas pj's, and we all got to bed. It was fun to play Santa with the gifts after the girls went to sleep. They definitely got a lot of toys!
Christmas morning, Todd's parents came over for a hot breakfast before we exchanged gifts. The rest of the day was spent relaxing, playing games, opening toys, and eating dinner. Overall we had a really great time, and the girls really enjoyed Christmas this year.

5 comments:

Chanda Canup said...

I know you had a packed week. I had an un-packed week....haha. Miss you more than ever!

Kristen M. said...

I'm ready to get back to routine too. School starts tomorrow for my daughter but I'm afraid we are going to have trouble waking up early again. We have been spoiled by sleeping in.

Kristen M. said...

I did graduate from Moody...in 98...do we know each each other? My maiden name is Kristen Tucker. My husband went to Moody also. I lived on Houghton 7N. You said you lived close? Where?

delilah said...

Thanks for stopping over to visit my blog during the Christmas Tour of Homes. I hope you had a great Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Leslie @ Joy n Pain said...

Happy New Year!

I tagged you for a meme.

http://jeoffsrib.blogspot.com/2008/01/movie-meme-first-meme-of-2008.html