So my hands have been a little extra full for a while. I came back to my blog and felt like a huge chunk was missing. Well, a huge chunk is missing. The chunk that records the "most wonderful time of the year" from Halloween through the new year. Darn it, now I have to go back to blogging about all the regular crazy stuff I have to deal with.

As I come out of my blogging "long winter's nap" here are a few highlights from the past two months --

Places we went: We took trips to a festival of lights, a live nativity, a walk around the temple to view the Christmas lights, a night of caroling, a night of delivering ornaments to friends, a Christmas breakfast with the faculty from my husband's work, a church party, two separate performances to see two separate children sing along with several trips to the pediatrician's office for sick children and, of course, the shopping.

Things we did: We made ornaments for our friends and teachers, made luminaries to display on our front porch to participate in our neighborhood's "Light up the Night," read a Christmas story almost every night, ending of course with THE Christmas story on Christmas Eve, did the usual decorating and Christmas tree trimming inside the house, and decorating sugar cookies (which was accomplished the day after Christmas), and (I) sewed three cloth dolls with nighties for the girls and five dress up capes.

Things we did not do: We did not send out Christmas cards, or even a Christmas e-mail, we did not get our outdoor Christmas lights up, we did not decorate a Gingerbread house, I did not get the new stockings done that I wanted to make this year, we did not bake a million treats to give out to friends, and we did not go over our holiday budget and are not experiencing buyer's remorse.

Other things we squeezed in: Our oldest son's eleventh birthday, some how he was able to get a family party and a friends party out of us this year. Our Twelfth wedding anniversary. An occasional floor mopping, toilet scrubbing, or trip to the gym.

The best gift I received this year: Permission from my five year old to take a bath on Christmas day, which I did and thoroughly enjoyed.