Merry Christmas

Sarah and Emmy had asked me what time they could wake Sal and I up Christmas morning. Knowing that they would be going their dad's at 10am, I wanted to give them enough time to open gifts and enjoy them for a little while before having to leave. However, I also need my sleep. We agreed on 7am and promptly at 7am, they showed up.

This was the first Christmas Seth actually got into, which made it fun too.

Santa brought Sarah a cooking class, a new FitBit, and a few other small things. Emmy received new light up Sketchers (which you can see her trying on in the picture above). Seth loves his new work bench, but his favorite gift was probably the train set my sister got him. I gave Sal a new leather wallet, a few t'shirts, and an Art of Shaving Kit (which he gets every year for either his birthday or Christmas). He got us tickets to see Up and Away at the Caberet Theater next month, which will include lunch. He also gave me a gift card to White House Black Market, a place I haven't splurged on since we were dating. The kids got me a gift certificate for Salon 22, my hair salon, Starburst candies, a coffee mug, and some nail polish.

After opening gifts, I made Santa pancakes. I wish I had thought to put more effort into Christmas morning breakfast and come up with a fun centerpiece, napkins etc. It's on my to-do list for next year. I'm always so stressed around Christmas due to our commitments, but I think I can prepare for breakfast ahead of time and keep the menu simple.

Anyway, due to their dad's overtime/work schedule (thank God for snow), the girls didn't end up leaving until 11 which meant they got to see Grandma and Pop-Pop (Graham Crackers and Popcorn) for a little while first, which I think made their whole day. When Sarah and Emmy got picked up, we started preparing our Christmas dinner.

We had honey baked ham, scalloped potatoes, seasoned carrots, and a layered jello dessert. I used the same recipe for Emmy's birthday party in October. It was a really good meal and we just spent the rest of the day hanging out.

I had held my breath all December just praying that all of us would be healthy for Christmas, and we were. We had a full schedule, especially these last three days, and we made it. I'm grateful for that.

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