Tis the season...

     It was such a busy yet wonderful Holiday weekend here.  Thanksgiving was quiet here.  Just the four of us, which we didn't mind at all.  We needed the quiet after everything that had happened around here the past few months.  The whole week was a relaxing week for us.  The day before Thanksgiving was a prep day for all the yummy food everyone asked for.  Being in the kitchen the majority of the day with the girls is my absolute favorite thing.  It's so wonderful having them help, taking on one dish and being in charge of it and adding their little flair or just sticking to our traditional way of making things.  Warms the heart just seeing them having fun in the kitchen.  Good thing we prepped things the day before because we all slept in on Thanksgiving.  Sleeping in hardly ever happens around here, especially for me.  Unless you call 6am sleeping in.  Everyone was just meandering around in pj's up until lunch time, just waiting for the food to finish cooking.  We eventually got dressed so we wouldn't be total hooligans eating our Thanksgiving meal in our pj's.  Even then it wasn't all dressy and all.  The rest of the day was spent napping off lunch, watching movies and snuggling under blankets.  It was good.

     The next morning we were all up bright and early.  I was shocked.  I always get up to help someone get out the door to work and make sure he has all he needs for the day.  But the girls were up extra early so that we could get all the indoor Christmas decorations up.  The tree and all the bins of decorations were dug out of the attic and brought inside ever so carefully.  It's so fun watching the girls get so excited about getting all the decorations out.  But the funniest thing was how they wanted to scale back just a bit this year and be very picky about what got put out around the house.  Which I didn't mind this year for some strange reason.  It was nice not having every little thing out.  So only the most special of decorations came out of the bins.  I thought I heard someone say something about not wanting things looking too cluttered and all.  I was happy to hear that this year.  It can get to be a bit much with all that we have collected through the years.  The best part was that we finished earlier than ever before and could kick back for the rest of the evening.

     There was no shopping by us this weekend.  You will never see any of us doing the "after Thanksgiving" shopping.  The holiday is all about family here for us.  We hunker down and enjoy all that we can of each other and hope that we don't irritate each other to death.  But one quick trip to the store had to be made yesterday though.  Can you believe I forgot to get the girls their chocolate advent calendars?!  You wouldn't believe the looks I got when they realized I hadn't gotten them yet.  At least the store that has all the wonderful German candy, cookies and treats still had them and the crisis was adverted.  I couldn't resist picking up a pack of one of my favorite holiday cookies.  One has to have a few Lebkuchen with hot chocolate while working on projects.  Nothing better.  At least for now.  Eventually I found myself retreating upstairs with my iPod, wrapping up in a toasty quilt while working on projects.

     Today we are watching our first cold snap of the season work its way into our area.  The highs will drop over twenty degrees from today to tomorrow.  I'm not sure I'm ready for it but what do you do.  Just go with the flow and keep oneself busy and warm while the winds blow outside.  I'm watching it as I type and let's just say I would be a little worried if little Piglet were outside right now.  He would be down the street in a flash.  I'm grateful for a nice warm house on days like this and smelling dinner simmering away on the stove.  Just makes you feel all warm and cozy.

It's starting to snow now.

~*~

kar