I attribute this to two things: firstly, I am no longer taking classes (Woohoo for graduating! Two years later and I'm still ecstatic!), which means that the first half of my December is not swarmed with papers and projects and grades and exams.
Secondly, we are going nowhere this Christmas. We had a lot of fun at my Dad's house over Thanksgiving (sorry that landed in one of my slacker no-posting months), but this Christmas technically belongs to Patrick's family. Since we live smack dab in the middle of that great group of people, we have NO travel plans. We even get to celebrate Christmas morning on our own. This will be the first time Patrick and I have done that since we've been married.
Here's a run-down of some of the ways we've been filling our December.
Christmas Piano Recital
I had a lot of fun putting on my first semi-formal piano recital. All nine of my students and one guest student played, and I resignedly played my requisite piece at the end. I've decided that, aside from having to play myself, I love recitals. Nothing quite prepared me for the sense of happiness and pride that came with hearing my students perform the pieces they'd been working on for so long. It was great!
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| Each student got a sparkly music ornament and a bag of candy. Cambrie has already appropriated one of the leftover ornaments for herself. I guess she likes glitter. |
Sweater Stockings
Since we've never had Christmas at our own home before, we've never had a chance to collect stockings. A need for stockings plus a meager budget has led me on an exciting search for cheap stocking ideas. Eventually, I just want to make my own from cute fabric, but I wanted to go even cheaper this year. Enter a few of our old-and-no-longer-worn-sweaters...
As you can see from Cambrie's little finger in the above photo, she loves these stockings. Here are a few more pictures of her enjoying them as actual old school stockings, rather than toy-and-candy-holders. She still doesn't appreciate that function of theirs. Wait till tomorrow morning. It'll be a different story then.
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| When is too old to post a baby in a diaper? Ummm hopefully not yet... |
Holiday Baking and Cooking
Luckily, my recent indifference toward sweets (courtesy of baby #2), has died down enough that I'm excited about baking yummy holiday treats. I don't have many pictures for this section, but I will say that I've had fun making everything from Black Bean, Sausage, and Sweet Potato Soup to classic Peanut Butter Blossoms.
I also got together with a friend to try something completely new for me (to make, not to eat):
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| Pumpkin Roll |
We both decided this recipe is a keeper. A bonus--though Pumpkin Rolls seem complicated, they're actually pretty straightforward. It has opened a whole new world of sugary pinwheel-ness to me.
Presents and Lights
Finally, we've had a lot of fun decorating for Christmas.
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| Making presents pretty is half the fun of Christmas! |
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| There's always something about lights reflected in the windows. If I had an awesome camera, you would be able to see what I'm talking about. |
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| These are the only decorations Cambrie is allowed to play with. Once I found a can of corn inside the stable. That's my kid, for ya. |
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| Cambrie knows the people in the nativity pretty well, by now. So well, in fact, that if she had a little brother, she says his name should be "Baby Jesus." I think the choice for a little sister was "Lightbulb." |
Christmas Joy
My favorite times this season have been singing and dancing with Cambrie to Christmas songs. Some of her favorites include The Twelve Days of Christmas (which I have to sing to her--I now know the order pretty well), Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer, Jingle Bells, and Away in a Manger.
This morning, however, it was too early for music--Grandma and Grandpa were still asleep. But when Cambrie came into the kitchen and asked me to dance with her in the living room, I couldn't resist. She even "put on her princess dress," first. (That meant going to my bead board for the piano students, pretending to pick off a bead, then having that turn into a beautiful, yellow dress. I really don't know where she gets these things, but I'm glad she does.)
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| Christmas glow, morning light, and spinning. |
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| Taa-daa! |
I know that Cambrie will never remember the details of this Christmas, but this is the first Christmas that she'll remember what generally goes on. You can bet that next year when we talk about stockings and Santa and Baby Jesus she'll know what we mean.
But I hope that even if she doesn't remember details, she'll remember the glowing lights, the fun and beautiful music, and the happy spirit. This will be trickier, but I hope that she'll think of Baby Jesus as often as she thinks about presents on Christmas morning. I hope that I can say as much for myself.
Merry Christmas, to all our family and friends! We hope you have a wonderful, fun-and-magic-filled day tomorrow, and, more especially, one filled with the Spirit of Christmas.
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