More Christmas Magic

This afternoon, my Facebook status read,

“After a rousing afternoon of moving around the furniture in Gabe’s room, I think I might have to “quit the family,” as Gabe calls it.”

So instead of licking my wounds or drowning them in gobs of truffles, I’m going to revel in a little more Christmas magic!

 

Every year – I think since Gabe has been 2? – we’ve hosted an annual “Reindeer Party.”  The theory is that just like athletes preparing for a significant race, reindeer also need to prepare for their big journey on Christmas Eve.  To celebrate the season, we join in their preparations by eating a carbohydrate-laden meal, watching Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, making Magic Reindeer Food, and decorating cookies for Santa.  Our house is small, but we invite tons of people anyway and the children run around wild and it’s total chaos.  I love it!  As it draws closer each year I dread it, because preparing food and cookies for 30-50 people is a bit of an undertaking, but once everyone is here I’m always thrilled to have made the effort.  It is one of my favorite parts of our holiday celebration!

I keep things pretty simple, making pasta with red sauce (this one is to die for!) and white sauce (my own concoction taken from several recipes).  This year my mom helped me make 220 shortbread cookies (you MUST try this icing!), and it was definitely too many.  Sometime I’ll try to remember to do a post on what I’ve learned about throwing reindeer parties, because if you want to try it, you should.  It’s so fun!

The reindeer party is good for us, too, because it forces me to finish the decorating.  We kept it pretty simple this year.  Christmas didn’t cover every surface, but it was festive and simple and I liked it.

It also forced me to finish decorating this wall in my dining room…

 

I had been stacking the various frames around my dining room and figured if I was going to have 30-50 people over for dinner I had better get the frames out of the way.  I’m so happy with it!  It has nothing to do with Christmas, really, but I was so thrilled with how it finally came together!

We attended a Christmas Eve service before going to my sister’s house for dinner.  Loved the pictures I got at church, but I didn’t take much at our dinner, so that’ll have to stay tucked in my memory, I guess.

 

Isla really wanted a candle, but I wouldn’t let her have one.  ;)

When we got home, it was time to sprinkle reindeer food.

 

Note to reindeer food enthusiasts – sprinkling it on concrete isn’t great.  If you forget to sweep it up before Christmas morning it has nothing to blend into.

 

 

We slept in front of the Christmas tree that night – well, all except Isla, who slept most of the night in her crib.  Actually, there was minimal sleeping.  I was so excited I couldn’t sleep.  I instagrammed instead.

 

I had been asleep for about an hour when Gabe woke up and decided it was Christmas and we should get up.  Since it was only 3:00 am we decided it was too soon, and eventually Tahd took him upstairs to his bed since he couldn’t settle down.  He was a little more calm in his room, and I think everyone went back to sleep until 7:00.

We do Santa and stockings at our house.  Gabe was giddy but Isla wasn’t quite sure what to make of things.  She didn’t even really seem to care about the packaging, mostly interested in eating the puffs she got in her stocking.

We walked over to my parents’ after stockings and did the rest of our gifts.  It, too, was pure chaos, but so much fun!  We start with my dad reading the Christmas story and prayer, and then the madness ensues!

The rest of our week has been spent going to other Christmas events with Tahd’s family and attempting to reorganize our house to accommodate the collection of goodies we were blessed to receive.  With any luck I should be ready to start the New Year by the end of the month!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all of you!