stampin4fun: Another Quiet Christmas

Hello friends! I'm back in the craft cave today! I took some days off to be lazy with my family. I will admit that far too many potato chips and cookies were ingested while sitting on the couch watching TV. It's amazing how quickly the days fly by when I'm doing absolutely NOTHING.

To be honest it actually makes me uncomfortable to not have the satisfaction of crossing items off my "to do" list. I already feel great being back in the craft cave stamping and crossing things off my list!

Just for fun I thought I would share some photos from how our family spent Christmas day.

Due to the ongoing public health recommendations, things were pretty low key. I didn't mind because a slower pace is less stressful and I feel like it helped me to be more intentional about reflecting on the significance of the birth of Jesus. I was reminded that Jesus was born during a pretty dark time in history but his arrival brought light and hope to the world. Despite how this pandemic seems to be dragging on, I know there is still light and hope so I will stay positive!

We have filled stockings for each family member since the kids were babies. Traditionally Kevin and I buy things for the kids stockings and Kevin will fill my stocking and I will fill his. This year my daughter Michelle came up with what might become a new tradition for our family.

Michelle pointed out that the kids now know that it's mom and dad filling their stockings and not Santa Claus. She suggested that we do a "secret santa" type of exchange where each person is assigned a family member and will have the responsibility of filling that family member's stocking.

Since our oldest son Ethan lives out in Ottawa for his school Co-op term, this idea was discussed on our family chat. Everyone agreed to this idea but what cracked me up was the texting thread where Santa was officially pronounced dead in our family.

The final comment from Nathaniel RIP had me laughing out loud!

There was some confusion about how the stockings were going to get filled while trying to maintain the "secret santa" premise. In the end we all tried to discreetly grab the stocking we were supposed to fill off the fireplace mantle, fill it and then discreetly try to return it to the fireplace before the person woke up on Christmas morning.

I woke up first (as usual) and filled up my assigned person's stocking. I tried to patiently wait for someone else to wake up so we could look at our stockings together.

Ethan woke up next which was very shocking since sometimes he can sleep until 1pm in the afternoon. I understood why he woke up early as he still hadn't wrapped his Christmas presents or filled his assigned stocking so he was a busy bee in the craft cave.

Next, Michelle woke up and came down announcing "big scam! My stocking is not there!". (Michelle's typical phrase is "scam" when she feels she has been unjustly treated. If it's a very serious offense we will hear "big scam" instead of just "scam" ) We figured since she woke up well before her usual 11am or noon timeframe, her secret santa was unprepared.

Eventually everyone woke up, all the treats in the stockings were unveiled along with who was the secret santa for each person. There was chatter and laugher and my heart was happy!

We enjoyed a hearty breakfast together then sang Christmas carols (another tradition). Sadly the kids don't sing out loud any more but they still sat and listened then we exchanged gifts. It's pretty fun that the kids are old enough now to buy presents for all the family members so there were a lot of gifts under the tree.

In the evening we had hoped to go to my parents house for dinner. We did everything we could to try to make the gathering as safe as possible.

We all took rapid antigen tests before going over and they were all negative. (whew)

We spaced apart when we ate and when not eating we all wore masks.

In addition, we opened the dining room window and used a hepa filter to help with ventilation.

I know my parents really wanted to see us and especially the kids so taking all these precautions seemed a good idea.

Overall, even though it was a quiet Christmas, it was a wonderful way to celebrate the gift of Jesus to the world and we all felt so grateful for our many blessings.

Here's a few of the Christmas gifts we enjoyed!

A gift and handmade card from team stic sister Kelly. She knows I love chips!

Kevin got me 2000 custom label stickers with my logo!

Kevin and Michelle playing a fun game that Ethan bought for the family

Thanks for dropping in! Feel free to share in the comments how you enjoyed Christmas this year!

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