Christmas Recap

I am enjoying the lull after Christmas, finding it a bit hard to get back into the swing and routine of everyday life.  But bills need to be paid and laundry keeps coming, so today is my “get all the little piddly stuff out of the way” day.

But before I “get” to do the nuisance things, here’s a recap of our holiday.

The cookies were eaten.  Santa left his annual letter, responding to the hilarious ones the children still write for him. His large footprint was in ashes on the living room fireplace hearth.

My son was all decked out in his holiday suit for opening presents.

Baby Jesus was in the cradle, surrounded by Mary and Joseph.

There were presents under the tree and the stockings were filled.

We probably say this every holiday, but the tree this year was so beautiful.  It is still very fresh and fills the room with the smell of pine.

As you know, I am such a novice painter, but I tried my hand at my second holiday painting.

Some presents for the children included a painting of my daughter’s dog, Sox. Elisabeth absolutely LOVES this dog, who has been part of our family since 2007. I’ve discovered that animals are hard to paint!

Each child receives a snow globe (until age 21), so here is Julianna’s last one for her collection.

It was an ambitious project but I made two Christmas quilts for the girls, which I will write about later.  During the sewing process, I had lots of help.

After opening presents, we put the ham in the oven.  Instead of a formal sit down dinner, we elected to have a buffet of ham sandwiches on croissants, a salad, and leftovers from the charcuterie and vegetable platters. Very casual and very appreciated…

My son and I baked a cake together.  This recipe did not disappoint.  It is from Tessa Huff’s Layered cookbook, the Red Currant Chocolate Cake. The buttercream was flavored with a raspberry/currant curd and creme de cassis.

We are still enjoying all the lights and decorations and will do so until the Epiphany on January 6th.

I love this time between Christmas and New Year’s where the world seems to slow down a bit.  Enjoy each and every minute.  There’s a New Year right around the corner….