Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Feliz Blabby Blah and all that good stuff...

Sorry for the lack of posting the past month, the holiday season has struck and contrary to Mike's belief Christmas presents don't just magically appear under the tree. Someone has figure out what to buy, where to find it for the best price and then brave the crowds and go shopping for them....lucky me!

But now the presents are all bought and wrapped and tomorrow I attempt to bake 7 dozen cookies for a cookie exchange (what was I thinking?). I'll be honest I opened up my cookie cook book that I've had for 13 years and never cracked open, looked for a recipe that I knew I had all of the ingredients in house for (I'm so the scoop and bake kind of cookie maker...love those tubs of cookie dough) and said I'll make those. Jam Thumbprints anyone? My mom made them all the time when I was a kid so I've enlisted her assistance, I've been told they're quite labor intensive ~ great. Hopefully my baking does not kill off the rest of the PTO board as they are who I am exchanging cookies with.

Last weekend we celebrated Christmas with Mike's side of the family. A nice casual gathering at his dad's house in Durand. It was actually a pleasant day...everyone behaved!

This weekend we have a birthday party on Saturday (who the heck has kids in December so close to Christmas?????) and we'll be baking & decorating our Christmas cookies that night. Gotta love the pre cut shapes with icing and sprinkles ~ thank you Market Day.

Sunday we're off to Greenfield Village to freeze our butts off and enjoy Holiday Nights with the Guilbeaux's. Our family looks forward to this outing every year no matter the weather. There seems to be something magical about the Village in the snow all decorated for Christmas...we'll ice skate, sing carols while riding in a two horse open sleigh, eat chestnuts freshly roasted over an open fire, visit Santa & his live reindeer and listen to our favorite story teller recite 'Twas the Night Before Christmas.

A couple of spare days off to chill and then the hustle & bustle of family holiday celebrations. Looking forward to seeing those family members you only see about once a year...thank God for Facebook, we've been able to keep in touch a little better this year.

We're going to need a vacation after this Christmas vacation...3 months til Mexico ~ let's hope I make it!

Hope everyone out there has a safe, happy and healthy Christmas and a Happy New Year!

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Mike claims he's got a post brewing in his head...now that they've cancelled about 3/4 of his favorite TV shows, he might actually find time to come in here and post...we'll see ~ I wouldn't hold my breath if I were you!