amylou: Ahh, Post Holiday Calm

Life FINALLY feels like it has slowed back down to normal since all the holiday chaos started back in late November. Every year, I vow not to let the holidays get too crazy and to just relax and enjoy it, but no matter what I do, it just happens. I think I've finally come to the realization that I can't really stop it from being crazy. When I say crazy, here's what I'm talking about:

1. Christmas shopping with a 3-year-old and 1-year-old...nuff said
2. Events with friends - dinners, Christmas parties etc...fun, but busy
3. Christmas week: LOTS of family events. All my mom's 8 siblings, and all their children (about 40 people in all - ranging from little babies to fifty-somethings) come into town to celebrate. We literally have a big dinner party every night for a week, and sometimes lunch is thrown in every couple of days. I have a lot of cousins my age, and it's so fun to see them and hang out with them, but when you have little kids, it's just hard to keep up! Between this and my husband's side of the family, we have lots of stuff going on and we're literally busy every day - all day and night Christmas week!
4. Crabby kids - their schedules are sooo screwed up during Christmas week. I try to be flexible during this time, but it always leads to crabby, difficult kids :(
5. Viruses :( I'm finally just getting over my virus that I picked up sometime during the holidays. With so many people in such close quarters all the time, you're always bound to get something! I'm just glad it was toward the end of the "break" and not the beginning. The kids always pick something up too...

Next year, I'm taking my family off to a warm and sunny place to celebrate there! Maybe then we can actually focus on what Christmas is all about - celebrating the simple and humble birth of Jesus. We can actually relax and feel PEACE. I think I said this last year after Christmas too ;)

I may sound completely fed up, but I am complaining with very a light heart. We really did have a wonderful holiday. I really do love all my family despite the chaos. And every year with little kids in the house, Christmas gets a little more magical every year. Little B was so excited about Santa and his reindeer, and was constantly singing Christmas songs. Starting a few weeks before Christmas, he was excited to wake up every morning and find Elfie, his "Elf on the Shelf". (Although sometimes he was a little disappointed that Elfie decided to take the same spot 2 days in a row. Sometimes Mommy couldn't reach those clever high places Daddy found the day before...). Seeing his excitement through it all brings back all the Christmas magic that I used to feel as a kid.

So, with all that said, here is what we have been up to the last month and a half: