Almost There

One week until Christmas and we are making our final push. It has been another hectic week but we have almost made it to the sweet spot. Soon everything on our "To Do" lists will be done. School will be out, class parties will be done, Secret Santas presents and teachers' gifts will have been handed out, Christmas plays and talent shows will have been viewed, the mailman and newspaper man and trash collector will have received their holiday gifts, presents will all be wrapped and in their hiding places, and special Christmas cookies and treats will have been baked and decorated and eaten.

Soon there will be nothing left to do but sit back and enjoy a few peaceful days leading up to Christmas.

But not this week.

This week we are still in the midst of madness.

The week we had four basketball games (and cheering) to play in and to watch, two Boy Scout meetings for Ben, ALL of the Christmas shopping to do (and on this one when I saw "we" I mean "me"), and one school Christmas concert to attend.

The kids Christmas concert was on Wednesday night. They each got spiffed up in festive clothes and sang their little hearts out in front of a packed church.

I tell ya, there is something about a schoolful of children singing about God that makes me bawl my brains out. It was a lovely and touching and special concert.

This time last year Grace was at a different school so she had to sit in the pews and watch her brothers and her friends sing in the concert. It was hard on her. I can't tell you how excited she was to be in the concert this year.

All of the kids did a great job, from the singing, to the bells and chimes, to sitting quietly in the pews while they waited their turns to sing, to Joey and his friend on the sound equipment. The concert was definitely a success and put me in an even more festive mood than I already was.

It has been a busy but productive week. Many of you were freaking out on me when I mentioned in my last post that I hadn't even BEGUN to Christmas shop yet and it was pretty crazy. I didn't even have ONE present. But! I managed to get all the shopping done in a matter of days. And I am very excited about the gifts I purchased. There are not a ton of gifts but they are good ones. The kids are going to be shocked. This is going to be fun.

And not only did I get the Christmas shopping done but I have even WRAPPED them all. Yesterday I spent all day long wrapping gifts. I wrapped the kids' gifts, Todd's gifts, the Secret Santa gifts for the kids' parties, and the teachers' gifts. And, oh yeah, 44 small gifts that I always bring for the favorite dice game played each year at both of the grandmas' houses.  I am ON THE BALL, PEOPLE!!!

I still have to purchase a few snacks for each of the kids' Christmas parties they will be having on Monday at school but that is easy enough. Other than that, I am done. DONE!  

Well, maybe not done. All that will be left is making cookies and treats. And I still have to buy the ingredients. But that is fun! And I am waiting until next week to do that because the kids will be out of school on Tuesday and I know they are looking forward to helping me with the baking. That's the good stuff! 

Yes, the hectic holiday rush is winding down. Soon the sweet spot will be here.   

 Wishing you a lovely sweet spot amid the holiday hustle!