Hustle and Bustle

The holidays are here and I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed with everything I have to get done. The shopping is done (big accomplishment), most of the presents are wrapped (thank goodness), and most of the cookies are baked. It's the cooking and cleaning that I'm not looking forward to. Not to mention I still haven't finished up the quilt! I had hoped to finish it by Christmas, get the quilt rack taken down and out of the living room, and make room for everything and everyone. Who knows, maybe I'll stay up late tonight and get it done.

We went and visited Santa over the weekend at the Candy Castle at Santa Claus, Indiana. He was WONDERFUL! Even Kaylee who normally wants nothing to do with him, sat on his lap and talked to him. They gave him their Christmas letter and each told him a few things they wanted for Christmas. Kaylee- an Easy Bake Oven and a guitar; Jacob- a gun, binoculars, and a deer hat. Santa wanted to be sure Jacob wouldn't shoot his reindeer and then told him that he'd see what he could do. Before we left, he said he needed to be sure that they still believed in the magic of Christmas. He touched his finger to each of their noses and his finger lit up to prove that they do in deed believe in the magic of Christmas. AMAZING!

We Tree-hopped Jesse's Mom's side of the family on Sunday. For those of you who don't know what Tree-hopping is (I didn't until I moved here), Tree-hopping is where a group of people get together and go house to house, see everyone's Christmas trees, visit with everyone, and eat LOTS of very yummy, very fattening food (just what I need.) The kids kept asking when we were going to actually get to jump over someone's tree, how big would the tree be, etc. Finally at our last stop (Uncle Jack's house) Joyce found a small Christmas tree she had up on a shelf and let Kaylee jump over it. Everyone got a big kick out it.

We're looking forward to having my Mom and Dad down for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day and then spending Christmas evening with Jesse's family here at our house. I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas!