End of the Year Recap

Here is what we did from December 10th through the 25th:
10 ~ We drank hot cocoa and read Christmas books by the fire.

11 ~ Made gift jars for the teachers.
12 ~ Riley's 4th Birthday!
13 ~ Made snowball soap.
14 ~ Made Christmas pictures for the Great-Grandparents.
15 ~ Wrapped Presents.
16 ~ Drove to Tennessee.
17 ~ Visited with Granmomma & Grandaddy and all the Great-Grandparents.
18 ~ Atlanta for the day and the World of Coca-Cola museum.

19 ~ Cousin Rachel's Wedding and Celebrated Christmas with Granmomma & Grandaddy.

20 ~ Drove home from Tennessee.
21 ~ Drank more hot cocoa and read more Christmas books.
22 ~ Made our holiday fudge.
23 ~ Drove to look at Christmas lights
24 ~ Christmas Eve...we baked Jesus a birthday cake and hosted Christmas Eve dinner with family and friends.
25 ~ Christmas!

Christmas was a lot of fun this year and I definitely think we will keep our 25 days of Christmas tradition. As you can see, some things were really small...making Christmas pictures and our day one paper chain. Some things we would have done anyway...wrapping presents and baking cookies and making fudge. Reading books by the fire with hot cocoa is something we always do and more than anything I hope it's a memory the girls will cherish. Some things weren't Christmas related at all...Riley's 4th Birthday.
Our trip to Tennessee was unexpected but a true blessing. We do a rotated Thanksgiving/Christmas schedule and this year we were supposed to go to TN for Thanksgiving and be home at Christmas. Kyle started his new job in September, so he couldn't take off so soon at Thanksgiving. He did, however, have a work trip to Atlanta in December. It just so happened that my cousin was getting married that weekend, so we made it work. It was a whirlwind of a trip. Left on a Tuesday night and drove part of the way, drove the rest of the way on Wednesday, east TN on Thursday, Atlanta on Friday, Nashville on Saturday, drive back home Sunday. Exhausting, but fantastic.

And then, just like that (after all the prep and activities leading up to it), Christmas is over. It's a new year with all kinds of new beginnings. I don't make resolutions because I usually don't follow through. I do love the new year just to start new projects and try to to fix things that weren't working before...like our after school schedule. You would not believe how much stuff the girls are required to do for school each day. It kind of makes me sad.

In the next few days (oh, who am I kidding ~ weeks!), I hope to post about Riley's birthday, Christmas Day, New Year's and my main goal for the year...getting organized and just making life easier.

Here's to 2010...I hope it is the best one, yet!