Christmas Reflections~the best ever!

 Sitting with a cup of coffee in the dining room where all is quiet and bright.

We had back to back family parties starting on the Eve of the eve for Christmas,

which is what happens when you have to share family members after they marry.

Such is part of life, and as children grown into full fledged adult hood,

our roles as parents change with their growth.  So we are lucky to have 

them in our lives and watch them become happy in their own lives.  And thankful

to have the kids still at home that make holidays especially happy times.

 Our home was all set for the celebrations as this year I had every day

to focus on the needful, as my dad likes to call it.  And relish the needful

I did, as I love to entertain and set the stage for everyone to gather and have fun.

 From the meal planning and cooking to thinking of meaningful and thoughtful

gifts for those you want to remember, that is what this Christmas was about.

Mr. Maison Decor and I felt like we hit a home run, and although we 

didn't share a single gift with each other this day, we took great joy in seeing

the gifts we gave to our children bring them happiness.  And more than

that, it was the special activities we did together that made it 

one of our most favorite Christmases of all!  

Colby was our most favorite gift of the year, and we are so happy with

the little inquisitive but relaxed puppy he is becoming.   On the Eve of 

the Eve party he was out of his mind with excitement when Sylvia came

back to her original home to see us.  After the first hour of getting over the 

excitement they both settled down and shared the family party like they had

known each other forever.  Sylvia came into the house looking for Dillon and

Tobey, at least that's what Justin and I thought...and instead only found a very

perky pup that she really had no interest in dealing with.  After a few time outs

in his kennel, Colby realized that he had to be nice and calm when he got released

back into the party.  And since he is very smart, it didn't take long for that to happen.

The Eve of the Eve party may become a new tradition, and it really was 

nice having back to back parties as it extended the Christmas celebrating

which is often over way too quickly. My boy's father came bearing gifts and 

Justin and Madison and Sylvia were there to celebrate before they would go 

and see Taylor and Madison's parents in Maine on Christmas Eve.  

The end of the night family portrait was a bit of a challenge trying to get

the dogs in the mix, but Mr. Maison Decor did a great job taking one million

pics so I could choose one to share.  The next day would come quickly and 

and suddenly it was Christmas Eve and time for another party!

For Christmas Eve we had a small dinner party with just the two kids and my 

mother in law, who lives next doors.

I changed the decorations up a little bit for our formal sit down dinner.

Purple glitter snowflakes from Walmart hung from the chandelier.

A silver tray carried a bed of greens and ornaments as the centerpiece.

English crackers were laid out at each place setting. 

 We wore the English cracker paper crowns and instead of tiny novelty gifts, 

this years crackers had tiny horns in different tunes that required us all 

to toot our own notes to produce well known Christmas Carols.

 The number on your hat was related to the note you were to play.

We pretty much nailed White Christmas, but weren't so great at the rest.

It was pretty funny and made for a special time after dinner and before dessert.  

After dinner the men opened red plaid pajama bottoms

that Santa had left for them.  All cozied up, we watched a special movie together.

Truman Capote's 1963 narrated version of his short story, A Christmas Memory.

I had forgotten that it had a melancholy ending, but the heart of the story was

how Christmas is what you make of it, and it can be so very special without 

things and money.  Its a touching tale and one of my favorites.

We ate cannolis and drank eggnog and after the movie we all hit the hay.

Who says small gatherings can't be extra fun and meaningful?

Then Christmas morning arrived.   

We handed out some gifts and had more eggnog 

and coffee and even cookies from the night before.

 Even Colby got a Disney Pet Stocking from Santa, filled with "Frozen" toys.

Wearing the plaid PJ bottoms Santa handed out the night before,

the men in the house turned into a real life version of

Three Lords a Leaping!!  

(Of course I know its ten lords a leaping...)

 As Mariah Carey's "All I want for Christmas" began to

play in the background, the men leaped into full out dance mode!

This was a very happy Christmas, and our house was filled with love.

My husband's son's mom would come over for a Christmas coffee

and it really doesn't get any better than that for our kids.

Lucky are those that are in their original families, and luckier are those

that have created new "blended" families and found a way to respect 

family traditions that are important on both sides.  Its super special and a real gift

and one that all of our kids enjoy, thanks to all of their loving parents.

Later on Christmas day we took advantage of the bizarre and balmy 63 degree 

Boston weather and took Colin up on his great idea to take Colby 

for a walk along the Atlantic coast, where he took his first dip in the ocean.

We racked up a pile of incredible memories, and 

today hubs and I are talking about how special this Christmas was,

how blessed we are to have each other and our health and all those 

in our lives.  From both sides of our families, to our ever growing ones,

it just felt so perfect this year.

Wishing you also had a lovely and loving Christmas.

Looking forward to New Years and spending time with some

special friends to ring in the year 2016! Wow.