It's December - did you notice?

How did it get to be 5 days into December already? I feel like I blinked and then here we are. It's nice to have some things crossed off the To Do list though. On Saturday, I had my ornament exchange at my house with about 19 of us, indulging on much-too-fattening appetizers and much-too-easy to sip cocktails. We had a great time chatting the night away, laughing and telling stories. And we all ended the night with a fabulous ornament to add to our trees. I'm looking forward to this again next year and it was a great kick-off to the holiday season!

On Sunday, we were up and out of the house a little after 9:00 am to head south 2 hours for our winter family reunion. It's a fun day to spend time with everyone that we don't get to see very often. We have a Women's and Men's gift exchange there, and parents wrap a gift for each of their children to enjoy too. The weather was pouring rain though, so it took quite a while to drive home at the end of the day.

Monday was spent cleaning up from Saturday's party. Of course I rinsed all of my platters and glasses out after the party, but I was so tired that I went to bed right after everyone left, knowing we had to be up bright and early to head to the reunion. Needless to say, on Monday I had my work cut out for me!

Tuesday I got a lot of Christmas shopping done! YAY! What a nice feeling that is to start scratching things off of THAT list. The best part? I did it all online, sitting in my pajamas until noon and got FREE SHIPPING on all of it. No lines, no crowds, no far-away parking spots in the cold, no dragging kids along - and I could do it all with bed-head and a cup of tea in my hand! I love technology! Inevitably, I will have to show up at a mall and be annoyed, but that all goes away once you get home and it's time to wrap. I love to wrap! Not that I am super good at it or anything, I just like to do it. I love choosing wrapping paper and bows, and seeing the growing pile of presents before me of things that are going to make people smile. Carter is getting really excited about the festivities, and it's contagious!

This weekend, we're taking the kids to buy presents for a family that my Mothers and More group "adopted" for Christmas through our local fire department. Our assignment as a family, is to get Star Wars items for this family's 7 year old boy. Carter is eager to shop for toys and it is going to be a great opportunity to discuss the act of giving and helping others with him. He asks some hard questions though, so we'll have to be prepared with some good answers!

I'll leave you with this.... It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!



First snowfall - Dec. 5, 2007