Christmas 2009

This was by far the most hectic, out of control Christmas I have ever had. I refuse to allow next Christmas to be like this one. I can honestly say there were days when I really just wanted it to get here and be over so life would go back to "normal" (for what that is worth). I have always hated the fact that I have to go to print in December. That is just one more thing to stress about in the midst of the holidays. Plus the fact that my sales always go down for that print cycle frustrates me. This year, sales were better than ever and the print went fairly smooth. However, I have a second job now and it required more of me then ever before. I wish I could set limits for myself, but when the opportunity to make money presents itself, I have a hard time saying NO!! There were weeks that I pressed nearly 400 shirts. I pressed so many shirts that I pulled a muscle in my rib cage. When mommy us working like crazy and mentally exhausted, guess who suffers - my kids!! I do not feel like they got to enjoy the true meaning of Christmas this year and I do not want that to ever happen again. We didn't press shirts the week of Christmas and the directory was at the press, so we enjoyed some down days leading up to Christmas. The girls enjoyed their break from school.. They had days that they loved being home together and other days where they were ready to kill each other.

Robin didn't arrive in town on her normal schedule, so we ended up having Christmas dinner on Christmas Eve this year. Cacki spent the night with us as we have grown very excited about each and every Christmas Eve. Santa made his appearance in the night and the girls were very excited when I woke them on Christmas morning. I will never get over the shock that my kids do not wake from the anticipation of Christmas. 2008 was the most magical year for Molly, but the magic was not gone this year. She was very excited about Santa and thrilled to see what she got. Maggie has always been very reserved with her excitement!! The first present that Molly opened was a zhu-zhu pet accessory. Her excitement quickly changed and she said, "Maggie you can have my zhu-zhu pet toy, you were the one that asked for it." She is the most compassionate child in the world!! Her favorite gift was her second set of Bob Books. She is so excited about learning to read. Both girls got zhu-zhu pets, snuggies (reverse robe) and a new board game. Maggie was very excited about her new Liv doll and accessories to go with it. As usual, they got more stuff then we will ever be able to find a home for.

We rushed to Granny and Papaw's at 9:00 to open gifts and eat breakfast. Their favorite gift was their Just Like Me American Girl Doll. Who knew that those dolls would bring the girls together for hours of playing time together. They love to dress them up, play school with them and set them up for camp-outs!! I am so thankful that they both love playing with their dolls.

We had hoped to go to Cacki's around noon and be able to make it home early so the girls could spend the evening playing, but that didn't work out. They had gone to a train exhibit, so we went home and played for a little while. Maggie and I went to Childrens Hospital to visit Ethan and take him a DS to play. That is not where I would want to spend my Christmas!!

We got to Cacki's around 4:00 and opened presents and stayed for Christmas Dinner left-overs! The kids had so much fun playing with their Chixos that we didn't see them until it was time to leave. We were exhausted by the time we got home.

For New Year's Eve, we were invited to the McCay's house for food, drinks and laughter. It was a nice night out and the kids had a blast. We didn't get home until 1:30!!