'Tis the Season

We've been busy around here with Christmas-y things: baking, wrapping, playing, listening to lots and lots of Christmas music and watching every Christmas movie we own over and over again.

My sweet friend, Kitty brought me an early Christmas present last week, this vintage apron--to make my holiday to-do list more fun. I just love it.

This is the only non-blurry shot in the whole batch of about twenty photos. My son took it. He stood on the couch (because I didn't want a picture that was looking up my nose and emphasizing my double chin), thus the weird-helicopter angle.

Blurry, but you can pretty much see what the apron looks like. I guess this is what happens when you have a seven year old take your picture with no flash.

I have been wearing it every time I work in the kitchen. Like when I made this:

Yum. I found it on Pinterest (where else) and had to try it out. I made it for our family night treat on Monday.

I also spent a huge chunk of my day Monday getting packages ready to mail--eight in all, plus one letter. I had my husband help me bring them to the post office this morning to mail them. The lady working there said "you need to tell all your family to move closer".

If only.

It cost an arm and a leg to mail everything. I mailed many of the boxes parcel post but sent most of the fragile things priority. When she told me that the parcel post things are just tossed around with car tires up to 70 pounds and they use a fork lift to scoop all the boxes up and then dump them into bins, I started having visions of all my pretty gifts arriving smashed to smithereens, SO priority mail for the breakables.

Today I made two kinds of Christmas cookies. I will probably make more tomorrow. I'm slowly checking things off my list and it helps me to feel more prepared and relaxed.

In between it all I am making time to play and read Christmas books with this boy (and his brothers).

 I love listening to him talk to himself. He has such a great imagination. It is fun to play with him or just to sit and listen to him. You can practically hear the gears turning as he thinks, gets ideas and figures things out.

I'm also trying to make a little time to just be still and reflect on the season. I love the quiet moments. 

It is such a treat to read by the glow of the Christmas tree while sipping hot chocolate or eggnog. I finished A Christmas Carol a few days ago and have been reading The Mansion by Henry van Dyke. I just finished that one tonight. It is a good one and very short. What should I read next? Any suggestions for great Christmas reads?