“I thought maybe we could make gingerbread houses, and eat cookie dough, and go ice skating, and maybe even hold hands.” – Buddy

The holidays are upon us and unlike last year, we don’t have a big gathering to look forward to at Christmas.  Two of our three girls and their spouses are not coming home this year due to work obligations.  Our youngest and her boyfriend have assured us they will be home, but they don’t have any solid dates yet due to school and work. 

Last year we only had them for a weekend, but it was everything we could have hoped for.  

So, now what?  Well, we do all the un-gathering things I spoke about last year. I’m not going to lie, though, it’s way more fun to plan for a Christmas full of family, fun, food, dogs and utter chaos than a quiet holiday. Some days I start booking our calendar full of get-togethers and other days I watch Hallmark and feel sad that we can’t all be together. It’s a fine line to walk during the holidays when all you want is to shop, bake cookies and be with your grown up kids and you can’t…but it’s also your favorite time of the year. Some days I am faking it until I make it and other days I am shopping for the un-gathering and just enjoying the season.

We are also implementing the idea of turning the holiday on its head and doing something we have never done. We are planning to go back to Ohio for three days the weekend before Christmas to see our families.  It’s just a short trip, but it will be so good to see everyone back home and enjoy a little bit of the holiday season with all of them.

We have been on a tour of the south to see all of our girls before the end of the year. This, of course, is supposed to help with the idea of not seeing all of them for Christmas. We have shopped, bought things for the holidays and there might have even been some holiday movies and pjs one night.  We are also making the trek to see our youngest for Thanksgiving and I can assure you we will be doing some baking, Black Friday shopping and making plans for Christmas while we are there.  Photos of that stop will follow later.

Yes, we will have a quieter Christmas, but I can’t complain.  We have seen our kids a lot this year and are so grateful. And to ward off any holiday sadness, I have already begun decorating, and the Christmas bedding has started appearing in the bedrooms.  What?  Don’t judge me. There are only 3 weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas.   A girl has to make it worth her effort.  Plus, you never know who might need to spend the night, and now their room will be festive and bright!  Let me know if you would like to book a room, and I will get the cookie dough started.