Okay, so the Christmas Post

Things go along more or less the same for so long when you have kids and then everything changes. This has been happening around here as Eryn and Kaetlyn set out on their own and establish their own homes. I knew this year was going to be quite different. Eryn and Tyler have his family to spend time with and Eryn was working on Christmas Day at the radio station. Kaetlyn decided to do her own thing for Christmas which didn't include us. She's 19 - what can I say?

So it meant that Christmas morning it would just be the four of us - Rhiannon, Andrew, Dean and I. It would be oh-so-much quieter and oh-so-much smaller and just oh-so-different. I must admit that coming up to it, I felt a little trepidatious and nostalgic for earlier times. But of course, in the end it was perfect. But let me start at the beginning.

Dean's last day of work was the 22nd so our holidays started on the 23rd. It was nice, we got to spread things out instead of cramming them all into Christmas Eve. He took Andrew and Rhiannon sledding in the morning. Then after lunch, we headed to the Towne theatre to see Harry Potter. It was a surprise for Rhiannon but she figured it out just before we left when Dean mentioned popcorn.

Then Christmas Eve I woke up around 4am as I had done the previous two mornings - my mind full of all the things to finish. I got up worked until 9am. By then I was tired... really tired.... so tired I didn't feel like doing anything. So I wrote up lists for Dean, Drew and Rhiannon, woke them up and put ear plugs in and went back to sleep myself. I slept for a solid 2 and a half hours. When I got up they had each completed their lists. It was amazing!

We went to get some hay for the sheep and Rhiannon and I managed to make to the Christmas Eve service at the Alliance Church. It has been a few years since I have done that. I just felt the need this year. I just love to sing the Christmas hymns and carols in the middle of a singing congregation. You can sing at the top of your lungs. I love it. At home Andrew and Dean finished dinner preparations.

Rhiannon and I got home just before Eryn and Tyler got here. We made enchiladas together - they were really good. We used the Mesa sauce from the Rebar Cookbook but just made simple enchiladas with refried beans, salsa and cheese. After we ate, we each opened a present. I opened my gift from Tyler which was some fleece pj pants. Eryn and Tyler left for Tyler's parents place and the four of us watched A Christmas Carol - Dean's contribution to our Christmas Eve traditions. Rhiannon and Drew went to bed (rather early) and I started (yes, I said started...) on Dean's gifts. Drew had bought some flannel for me to sew him some pj pants for him to put in his stocking and I got some flannel to make him another pair. I sewed both of those on Christmas Eve while listening to Christmas music on my ipod. Have you heard the Annie Lennox Christmas CD? I LOVE it.

After I finished my mad sewing, I stuffed the two meagre stockings, arranged the Santa gifts under the tree and went to bed. Dean who had been coming down with a cold was already asleep.

Amazingly, I was the first one awake on Christmas morning at 8am. I put Andrew and Rhiannon's stocking on their beds. Before too long, Andrew brought Dean and I our stockings. Thoughtful boy! He knew that Eryn and Kaetlyn would not be contributing to them this year and he just took care of it all himself. He got me several bags of loose tea - my favourites from Simply Delicious (rooiboos bourbon and rooiboos chai, blueberry rooiboos and good Japanese green tea). With only the four of us, opening gifts did not take that long. We waited for Eryn to get here to open the ones from her and Tyler.

I got spoiled by Laura. She gave me some things from Lush, some earrings that she and Katie made, some prints of her gorgeous photos and that gorgeous book she made herself that she talked about on her blog. So beautiful and special, it is hard to think of actually writing in it... We opened them together on Skype which was fun.

Eventually Eryn and Tyler got here. We opened more gifts. We worked on dinner preparations together. People were a bit crabby from all the sugar but mostly it flowed along. Rhiannon especially was over tired and sugared out. But dinner was nice. Eryn and Tyler left shortly after we finished eating. Everyone was so stuffed that hardly any of Eryn's decadent desserts were eaten.

So that was Christmas. It was fun. It was busy. And I missed Kaetlyn. We dropped off her gifts on her doorstep a couple of days before Christmas. It was different but it was okay. Things are changing. Either I need to get some grandchildren, or I am going to have to go visit sibs who have younger children. I don't think I am ready for an adult Christmas....