I'm starting this post as I wait for grand daughter #5 and grandson #2 to arrive for some cookie baking and fun. I was expecting my grand daughter but then got a lovely surprise when my daughter said my grandson would like to join. He has always loved baking and cooking but now that he is 15 years old, he spends a lot of his time out on a ranch owned by the grand parents of one of his good friends. They do some work out there but have even more fun with 3-wheelers, swimming, hunting...you name it. All of the things that teenage boys enjoy doing out-of-doors. And so, I figured baking may have taken a slip down his list of favorite things to do. I'm excited to have them both...we shall see how it goes.
I'm back albeit a few days later. What a wonderful time I had with my grand children...even got to see the oldest grandson for a bit. The kids ended up staying til quite late at night so that Mom and Dad could get in one more shopping trip. Since I had no clue that would happen and was in no way prepared for a grand child dinner, my daughter surprised us by ordering and having delivered a fabulous Chinese feast. I probably shouldn't say that she forgot to change the "deliver to" address so we did have to make a quick run to their house to grab it off of the porch-luckily they don't live that far away-but it was all still hot and delicious. And we got all of the cookies made plus worked on the dreaded puzzle and played some games. We were having so much fun that I didn't want to intrude with a camera...sometimes the little unplanned things are the best!
I had an appointment yesterday and had to pick up a few last minute things so, except for buying the fresh veggies for my Christmas tree crudite' platter, I am ready to go. I will be spending Christmas Eve at daughter #3's house. We will do church, a "fancy" dinner and play games. Then on Christmas Day, everyone will start back at Jen's house for appetizers and then here for presents and Christmas dinner-which will be anything but fancy this year as we leave the next morning for Charleston, SC. And, also because we will be a pretty large group and I don't want anyone in the kitchen missing any of the fun. We decided to go with Stouffer's meat and veggie lasagnas, pre-made garlic bread, a pretty Christmas colored salad from Becky and any other sides anyone might want to add. And of course, there will be cookies for dessert.
In the "old" days, I had to do a large ham dinner with all sorts of homemade sides...and it took days to prepare and hours to pull off on the big day. Somehow, I don't need that any more. I would so rather spend the time with family. Besides, we seem to always eat so many appetizers that no one is really ever hungry for a big meal later any way. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. Lol
So all of that leads me up to a quick visit to to family room and then I think I'll finish up tomorrow and that will be the official end of the decor for this 2022.
This year I added the rusty trees to the mix. They are kind of hard to see but I like them.
I finally got some presents under the tree. No where near as many as usual because this year we decided to stop giving the adults gifts...just my grand children. Then we are going to do a White Elephant-one for the grown-ups and one for just the kids. It should be fun. I'm sure the kids will come up with some crazy things as each one is supposed to do their own shopping-no help from moms! Lol
I'm off to get a few more little things off of the list but I will be back to finish up soon. Stay safe and stay tuned...and enjoy every minute of this beautiful season.
No comments:
Post a Comment