Five Golden Rings

What is today, the fifth day of Christmas? With all the activity around here and the family coming and going, I’m having a hard time keeping track of the days of the week, much less the date or anything else. It’s been a whirlwind of activity, even counting the day I stayed in my pajamas in front of the fireplace until two in the afternoon.

Christmas started early for us on the 23rd when Trent’s family arrived. We had a great evening opening presents in our pajamas and then eating a scrumptious breakfast for dinner. We’re calling Rush’s Christmas pajamas his party clothes because it seems like every time he puts them on something festive is happening.

It really was a blessing that we were able to see so much family for Christmas, especially because everyone came to us. Rush was able to spend time with all four of his grandparents and almost all of his aunts and uncles. Trent and I were able to get enough done before everyone arrived (our freezer was full of muffins and mushroom soup and quiche), so we could pretty much sit back and enjoy time with our guests.

What is it called in the Navy when sailors switch their hammocks between shifts? Hot bunks? That’s essentially what was going on at our house as Trent’s family left on Christmas Eve and mine arrived about an hour later. Rush stayed awake through the entire Christmas Eve service at church, tired, but clapping after every song.

Christmas morning was a little different than usual as we waited to open presents until my sister and brother-in-law could arrive that afternoon. For once in was actually cold on Christmas day so we actually had a fire in the fireplace all day, from about 7 AM until 10 PM. Rush had his first taste of Julekake and gjetost, Norwegian Christmas bread (that thankfully my mom baked) with a carmely goat cheese, and I think the bread went over better than the cheese for him.

After months of work, especially that last crucial month leading up to December 23 when it was completed, the play kitchen Trent built for Rush was unveiled on Christmas morning. We moved it into the kitchen and it looks awesome. It’s worth posting more pictures.

We’re still living among stacks of presents yet to find a home, Christmas tree needles covering the floor, ashes overflowing out of our fireplace, and leftover baked goods. Combined with the rain outside and the leftover ham bone simmering in a pot of 15 bean soup, it’s the perfect 5th day of Christmas.

White Christmas

Today is the official Christmas baking day at the Williams house. Rush helped me all morning and is now exhausted and taking an early nap. So far we just have dough chilling in the freezer for Santa’s Whiskers, the buttery cherry, pecan, coconut cookies I discovered last year in the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook, and cheese crackers, a recipe from the cookbook my sister-in-law Kim made for me for Christmas last year. Not cookies, but I ambitiously added it to the menu around 4 AM when I was watching tv.

The remainder of the cookie menu includes peanut butter blossoms (you know the ones – with the Hershey’s Kisses) and a yet undecided bar cookie. I really should go start one of these while Rush is napping… If you’re joining us for Christmas in a few days, don’t shy away from the cookies based on the fact that there is coconut everywhere and Rush’s hands are in it. He did wash his hands first, but also these pictures are post-dough making, when the kitchen was already such a mess that I just let Rush play with the remaining coconut.

Even though our house is kind of a disaster zone and we have family arriving in two days, I feel like making Christmas cookies is the priority here. Besides the fact that mopping the floor before we baked would have been pointless, I think Trent and I can just stay up late cleaning on Wednesday night if needed. Plus we’re stocked up on wine and Shiner’s Holiday Cheer, so if things don’t get totally spotless we can always mellow out the grandparents, aunts, and uncles with cookies, beer, and the warm glow of the Christmas tree.

Halls: Decked

Ah, I love our Christmas tree this year. I could just sit and stare at it for hours, or lay under it and snooze with the cats. Sometimes Rush will walk in the living room, turn on the tree lights, then throw his arms back, clearly amazed that something so awesome is in our house. I feel the same way. This is our first year to have Christmas stockings in our own home. My mom made Trent and Rush’s, Gran made mine back when I was little, and I just made a tiny stocking for the baby. I intended for it to be whimsical and actually go with the other three stockings, but I made it while watching two back to back episodes of Law and Order SVU, which wasn’t really putting me in a whimsical mood. Next year it will be a tree ornament anyway, so it’s fine. Hopefully my mom has another fantastic stocking up her sleeve for the new baby.

This year I took an idea from Martha Stewart’s Good Things and made a Christmas card holder with clothespins, wrapping paper, and Mod Podge. The cards were hanging from some really cool paper ribbon that I found at the dollar store, but the cats have made it their nightly goal to sabotage the ribbon. After fixing it every morning after breakfast, I’m finally adapting it: no more hanging ribbons. It’s still a decoration that I love.

I love the days leading up to Christmas when the preparation really gets into full swing. Rush and I made Chex Mix for the garbage men this morning so we can give them their gifts tomorrow, and it’s really barely enough to thank them for not only keeping the neighborhood clean but also being the highlight of Rush’s day every Tuesday and Friday. As soon as I post this, I’m going to wrap presents while Rush is napping. My agenda for tonight includes working the two gifts I’m still trying to complete, one for my dad and one for my niece Trinity, the name I drew in the Williams family homemade gift exchange. In an odd way, I’m also looking forward to making a grocery list to get ready for all the food we’ll be making while our family is here, and about making cookies. ‘Tis the season!

Celebrating Like It’s 1985

My friend Kellaura shares my love of 80’s Christmas crafts, so she came up with the idea of making salt dough ornaments from a recipe in the December 1985 edition of Gourmet magazine.  We spent all day Sunday making ornaments, listening to –mostly bad- Christmas music (we need to delete some of that from our computer, or at least make a playlist of music we want to listen to), drinking hot Dr. Pepper and eating cookies.  Regarding the Christmas music, Trent texted me earlier to let me know that NPR has it’s streaming Christmas music again this year.  We found it so late last year, but now that I know it’s back, we’ll be listening.

Anyway, getting back to the salt dough, it was exactly the kind of December day that I dream about all year.  Last year we were so busy remodeling our kitchen, a horrible plan for December, that we didn’t get a lot of time to leisurely make ornaments.  Trent and Nick made a few, then moved on to hang out in the backyard, but I think Kellaura and I could have sat at the table decorating with seeds and beans all day.

  The ornaments were baked and cooled by Sunday night, and since then have been sitting on our kitchen counter awaiting a coat of shellac.   

Besides the ornaments, we also ended up with some entertaining self portraits of Rush and his godfather that I found on the camera… So far this December has been heavenly.  As a family, we’ve finished off about 5 dozen cookies since Saturday.  Literally, that is not an exaggeration.  It looks like I’m going to have time to do at least two of the Christmas projects that I classified as “optional.”  And I just answered a knock on the door and it was the UPS man delivering a box from Williams Sonoma.  I would wait for Trent to open it, as it is addressed to “The Williams Family”, but it says “Perishable” so…

Christmas Card: Behind the Scenes

Not every picture could make the Williams family Christmas card this year, but that doesn’t mean that we didn’t get quite a few interesting shots…

  There were a lot of the “I’m laughing an looking upward because my mom is singing and dancing behind my dad like a maniac trying to get a good picture” pictures:

The eye-roll, “let’s wrap this up” picture:

The sand in the hair picture:

The listening to the ocean in a shell picture:

  And the post-listening to the ocean in a shell picture:

I love that one.  It’s so peaceful.  I briefly considered sending a totally artsy Christmas card and just using that last photo, but Rush’s cute face won in the end.