December!

It's December 2, and I flucuate between I AM SO STRESSED OUT PANIC MODE and oh, December is such a lovely month, and I am enjoying all our family traditions.

We enjoyed a fun-filled visit from our two college girls and Julie's roommate, Ellie, for 6 days.  It was delightful to have them home!  We bought our Christmas tree, visited Granmomma, spent Thanksgiving Day in Forest with Mims and Pops and all of my family, decorated the tree, took our Christmas card picture, had Russ and Megan and kids over for supper, and attended the Egg Bowl (and tailgated all day prior to the game).  Whew!  Six packed days!  And I washed and ironed mountains of laundry.  :)

I always give my children a new ornament or two to unwrap as we begin decorating our Christmas tree. This year I included Ellie, and I also added two more fun surprises to their gift bags……a new Christmas t-shirt and a fun holiday-themed fleecy blanket.  The blankets are the perfect weight--not too heavy--and they are so soft!  I also had one more surprise.  An "old-fashioned" popcorn maker.  The kind that you put a little oil and the kernels in the bottom of the maker and plug it in.  In about 5 minutes you have delicious popcorn!  I served that with apple cider and hot chocolate while we decorated the tree. I have served popcorn, cider, and hot chocolate over the years, but always microwaved popcorn.  There is no comparison.  That popcorn was so good!

I actually have an hour and a half right now, before my English students arrive, so I am going to get out my Christmas shopping list and update it as I go through the bags and boxes of items I have already purchased.

Tip for today:
Finalize your online shopping list and order very, very soon!