Christmas Prep – 2017
Our eldest son, Trae and his sweet wife Corie come to our house for Christmas every other year. The other years, of course, they go to Corie’s parents’ house.
We have two other children (whom we adore!) who are with us every year at Christmas. Our middle boy, Mel, is still single and lives about 3 hours away in Austin. He comes to visit about once a month or so and we always have a great time.
Our baby Jack is married, with four babies, and lives down the street from us. This is the most delightful turn of events, for sure. We get to see those precious boys every few days which is the best.
I guess what I’m doing is making an excuse for trying to show out when Trae and Corie are here! We just don’t see them that often and I want things to be really nice. Also, Corie is a talented artist and really appreciates home-made things. I’m no artist, but I am an aspiring crafter. So, I always like to have a few new homemade goodies each time they come.
This is our off year. We have been with Trae and Corie a couple of times this year (which is great). We met them in Santa Fe and then again in Wyoming for the eclipse. They are ultra-fun! But, I always feel a void when they are not here for Christmas.
It’s been a busy fall for us, with lots of travel, some remodeling at the beach house, a little babysitting (very fun!) and visiting with Mop in Assisted Living. We started the fall with her evacuation to Houston (for Hurricane Harvey), which had me on the road for about 4 weeks. I was so glad to be able to be with her during that hard time.
This is my pitiful way to explain why I am SO FAR BEHIND in my Christmas-making. So far behind, in fact, that I am not making Christmas PJs for the kids this year. I BOUGHT THEM. Yes. I sold out to the man… and I don’t even feel bad about it (well, maybe a little bit, or I wouldn’t have mentioned it).
If you live in a small town, you will relate to this story. If you are a city slicker, consider this some great travel writing. This will take to a different part of the world.
In our small Texas town, we just got a new Kroger! Now, this is big stuff. We’ve had a very nice small grocery store for a few years now, but Kroger is exciting. They not only sell groceries, but on this opening weekend…they were selling really cute CHRISTMAS PAJAMAS! $40 (on the tag) for $6..98, with a 25% off coupon which brought the price way on down! (I don’t have my calculator with me, so I can’t tell you exactly how much :)) So, along with the fact that it’s Thanksgiving week and I haven’t even started making pajamas AND I have about a jillion other projects that must be done, that just seemed like too good a deal to pass up.
And besides, they are really cute. Elf outfits. And ELF is my theme for this Christmas! See how it all just works together?
Though I usually sew the adult pj’s, I always purchase pajamas for the 4 grands. They are still little and I prefer the flame resistance that is available in store-bought pjs. I had just (the day before) found some adorable elf pj’s for the kids at Target. So, it’s coming together.
So, anyhow… I am in the beginning stages of Creative Christmas mode. Our house will be a “Cookie Stop” on our annual neighborhood Christmas Light Walk-about, so I am making Mrs. Santa and Father Christmas outfits for Mack and me (I didn’t want to do a Santa suit for him because I thought it would confuse the kids. His suit will be green velvet and no beard). I have a vision for painting the garage like Mrs. Santa’s kitchen and serving delightfully decorated Christmas cookies from there. A good plan. Not sure I can pull it off in a month!
For that evening, I am making elf aprons for the grands. Last year, I dolled up some brown aprons and made them look like gingerbread men (that was last year’s theme). I ordered the green aprons and will get to work on embellishing them this afternoon. I am also knitting elf hats for each of the grands in their favorite colors: red, blue, green and orange…yes! an orange Santa hat. I found some adorable Christmas-y button down shirts with bow ties for the 3 little kids, but fear that I will need to make one for the 6 year old, as I can’t find one anywhere – online or elsewhere. I’m on it!
Here’s my list, however lofty it may be.
Mrs. Santa dress (trim only – bought dress)
Mrs. Santa fur(ish) cape
Mrs. Santa apron
Mrs. Santa cap
Father Christmas – whole outfit: jacket, pants, vest, hat
Elf aprons (4)
Elf hats (knitted) 4
Decorated cookies – a million
Clean out/paint garage
Refurbish cupboard for display of cookies
Reupholster 3 kid rockers
Make 2 camping-related pillow cases (already have really cute fabric)
Make one Christmas-y button down shirt
Invitations for Gingerbread house party on 24th
Luncheon with old friends
Cello performance at Assisted Living with church group
Cello performance with my mom’s Memory Care group
Book Club Christmas party
Photo Christmas ornaments for Moppy.
Bookish Christmas apron for Book Club Christmas party
Unrelated to Christmas
Paint chicken over stove
Move office from back to front room in house
Move furniture back into back bedrooms when carpet finished at beach
Move bed from house to beach house
Monday/Wednesday morning babysitting
Book Club meeting
Sew curtains for beach guest room
Paint beach porch furniture
Well, that should keep me busy!
BTW….since a couple of days ago, when I started this post, I have decorated for Christmas, finished the kids’ aprons and knitted hats, finished Moppy’s photo Christmas ornaments and started on my Mrs. Santa dress. I’m on a roll!
