Merry Christmas!

Please tell me I'm not the only person who feels sadness when the holiday is over. With all the build up, and the preparation, and the hoopla when the day of Christmas has ended I feel a little blue. Driving down mainstreet and looking at the store windows filled with Christmas displays, I realize that I have an entire year to wait before I can enjoy the holiday once again. Strange as I struggled so much this year to feel the Spirit of Christmas, but yet I can't quite seem to let it go either.



Christmas Eve was quiet and easy. Kate and I did a little shopping in the morning, and the freeways were surprisingly empty as were the stores. We went to lunch as a family, and the kids and Brett played a video game for a few hours while I read a book. After a family prayer and hanging our stockings, I put the kids to bed. (Kate stayed up for a few hours reading and watching a movie.)

The kids slept quite well, even Kate who is prone to light sleeping and a nervous stomach got a full six hours of sleep. Brett and I, on the other hand were up chatting by 4 a.m. watching the clock in excitement waiting for at least one child to burst through our door. Impatiently we finally woke them at 6:15 a.m. Bodies awake before brains they charged down the stairs to discover their loot.

As a parent, and one who helps provide Santa with a list for each person in our family my main goal is to both surprise and please the kids. One particular gift I was excited about this year was the discover of "DINO Legos" on Black Friday. Santa was quickly charged with the task of making sure these arrived in our home for Christmas as this combines two of the items James loves most: dinosaurs and Legos.
What made this discovery even more exciting was the fact that despite having a monthly subscription to the Lego Magazine, James had no knowledge of their existence. So it was a complete suprise to him to discover the packages Christmas morning.


Kate, on the other hand, has reached the age where the things on her list are not toys but more teenage related. Once again, Santa scored this year when I found a bunch of cool dorm room decor items at JoAnn's on MAJOR clearance this fall. (Yes, our Santa shops throughout the year.) Some fun chairs for her room, a clock, a full-length mirror plus clothes and jewelry topped her list this year.



All Brett wanted was to be able to build a computer from scratch. Here's where our biggest hiccup of the year took place. As he opened one of the parts to place inside the case, he discovered that someone had opened the package, taken out the part, and replaced it with a much older part and then completely resealed the packaging to avoid any detection. We are hoping to be able to get a replacement part, but how do you prove someone else's dishonesty? I was mad and Brett was severly disappointed as the computer build has been interrupted until further notice.



Santa must love me because he thoroughly spoiled me this year with two things I most wanted: a tv that doesn't require my glasses to watch, and a mixer to start baking again. He was very naughty and tortured me all season long trying to guess what was hidden around the house. I think my Santa is a sweetie!

This year I made the tough decision not to host anyone at our house for Christmas. Nor did we make the trek out to see family. Rather we attended our church services and then spent the day relaxing as a family. Not since living in Georgia have we been able to just enjoy one another as peacefully as we did on Christmas day.

I am so grateful to have everyone at home, feeling relatively well (we have a few fevers running rampant through the house). We missed Joey but were able to feel at peace this year. We all wished  my brother and him a Merry Christmas. And once we all hit the sack at 7:30 p.m. I felt at peace and happy with the day's events.

I hope your holidays was just as peaceful!




6 comments

  1. Anonymous7:40 AM

    You are not alone in feeling a little blue after Christmas. Glad to hear you and your family enjoyed the day together!

    Tina Collins

    ReplyDelete
  2. Dear Jen, I'm so glad that you had a wonderful Christmas day, and that celebrating Christmas without your boy was easier this year.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I too hope that Christmas wasn't too hard this year without Joseph. Thinking of you. We too spent Christmas just us. It was a dino and lego Christmas here too! :) Lots of dinos to play with and a new Toy Story lego set. My teen got clothes, leg warmers, new jewelry box and other teenager-type things.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Merry Christmas Gallacher's! We need to get together again soon. :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Sounds like you all had a wonderful Christmas...peaceful family time...the kind that's good for the soul!! :) I

    ReplyDelete
  6. Looks like you had a great time! Thinking of your Joey today.

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...