I spent all day Tuesday packing us up for our holiday voyage. We of course, had to have coordinated outfits for Christmas Eve dinner and for the Christmas Day festivities! With the packing and the anticipation...I've discovered that while I have snow pants...I have no heavy winter coat or boots. Emmanuel's heaviest article of clothing is a pair of dress shoes appropriate with a tuxedo. Some shopping is in order for this family.
Later Tuesday night, a good friend of ours, Devon, stopped by to share some Christmas joy with Fallon. She brought with her several gifts that she and Fallon quickly dove right into enjoying.
She also helped us put together the gingerbread Christmas tree I picked up from Michaels.
It was a messy process...
But it was fun!
On Wednesday about noon, we loaded up the car and forged the 500 mile trek to Fairfield, VA to spend the holiday with half of my side of the family. We were bound for snow, pets, family, good food, and of course, good times.
We arrived at about 9:45 that night, and I was able to meet Brian's girlfriend, Sydney. Because of Sydney's generousity, Fallon acquired an early Christmas gift: a mini guitar!
So of course, this meant Uncle Brian had to show his niece how to play.
Thursday morning, after watching the weather forecast, we realized that there was a slight threat to our holiday plans. A winter storm was on its way, promising to dump piles of slippery white stuff from Atlanta to the northeast. The storm was to hit on Christmas day, and to continue through the next 2-3 days. As we could not stay in Virginia indefinitely, we decided to pack it all back up and head home on Friday.
This of course meant that we were going to condense our vacation into accomplishing the essential activities in just one day.
We worked on a Thomas Kinkade puzzle in the morning.
We watched some Christmas Classics as we waited for the warmer temperatures of the afternoon.
We bundled up to play in the snow.
We re-tested Emmanuel's courage around horses (this time with the little guy).
I spent some time with my pony (that I got for Christmas 22 years ago).
I introduced him to Fallon.
And then we started up the pony rides (with my old saddle)!
After spending so long outside, we had to come back in to warm our tingly fingers.
We sang Christmas carols.
And we got all dressed up and pretty for our "Christmas Eve" dinner.
Grandma JoAnne even stopped by to join us!
By the way...I've been working on warming Emmanuel up to the idea of getting a sweet and cuddly kitty cat...
Thursday night, we started baking cookies for Santa.
Fallon was really enjoying the process of decorating the cookies.
But maybe a little too much.
Thankfully, Nana was there to help!
Thursday night we unwrapped all the gifts so we could condense them into boxes to make the ride back a little more comfortable. However, it seems we may have acquired more than we originally packed.
We arrived back home Friday night around 8:30. On the way home, it hit me that we left our kitchen nearly bare. We had no cereal, meat, eggs, or several other cooking essentials. So, I thought, we'd stop by Kroger before we got to the house to do some quick grocery shopping.
Kroger closed at 7:30.
Walmart closed at 8.
We'd just have to make do until Sunday!
Saturday morning, I woke up with a fever, a stiff neck, a sore throat, mild nausea, and general ickiness all over. However, maintaining my stubborn determination....I made sure Fallon had some fun on Christmas day!
Santa made a second visit to Fallon on Christmas Eve (I suppose he decided she deserved it considering that she spent 18 of the last 36 hours strapped in a car). He left her a couple little trinkets in her stocking, including a twisty snowman and a mini automoblox car.
For the most part, we did try to stick to four gifts from us (as parents) for Fallon that shadowed the gifts presented to Jesus upon his birth. (Something you need, something to wear, something to read, something to share.)
To represent the gold, we decided to give her something we thought she "needed." Or okay, really really wanted. Gold can buy you what you want and what you need, right?
Do you think it was worth the six long, labor-intensive hours it took me to put this thing together?
You bet.
To represent frankincense (used back then as a holy annointing oil), we decided to give her something that would stimulate her mind...or assist her in her artistic endeavors.
Her grandparents certainly assisted in contributing to his area as my dad sent her a Junior Tag Reader and a Crayola Magic Wonder painting toy.
To represent the myrrh (used back then as an incense to treat nearly every illness), we decided we would give her something she could share with others to bring happiness.
So we bought her a couple movies for which she promptly hopped on the couch with her pillow pet (compliments of Pop Pop) and her Disney Fairies sleeping bag (compliments of Nana...but not pictured) to watch with us.
Christmas dinner was soon to follow. I stuck to Progresso's canned chicken noodle soup, while Emmanuel and Fallon enjoyed chicken nuggets and tator tots. Maybe not the most glamorous dinners for the holiday...but at least we did have some food in the house!
Overall, we've had a great Christmas...even with all the the hang ups!
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