BIG HUGS winging your way, my friend!
I’m so glad you are still standing, and you deserve to give yourself lots of grace at this point! Oh, my!!
More hugs, and I am glad you are such a survivor and a member of our community!!
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they all look great!
and @MistressJennie , I’m always thrilled when you link the inspirations for your crafty gifts! Now to find time to do them myself! (I guess there is always next year, or… I recently read an idea about giving gifts throughout the year instead of such a barrage at Christmas/ holidays, so maybe that will be what my future self will decide to do?)
anyway, thanks for the links and your photos
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I don’t dare to ask this question aloud, so imagine me whispering this…
Hoe much do you guys still have to do???
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I decided that I am done. I’m in “play with seasonal yarn if you like now” mode.
I haven’t figured out a pattern for the sweater yarn (because I broke the rules and bought yarn first, no pattern in mind) so that’s a project for another day. I may end up making it over the 12 days of Christmas, we’ll see.
I don’t do a countdown to Christmas calendar (although Kidlet just bought herself a large Nutcracker decoration that has cube numbers to count down) but I really want a fun one of 12 pouches for the 12 days as that’s something that we embrace in my house. I feel like the hype around us is all set pre December 24 but a lot of the fun gets wrapped up on the 25th and I like to ride the wave into January. I have an idea what I wanted it to look like, but haven’t had the time/bandwidth this month to create it. I might give myself time to do one a day each day as part of my “celebrating” lol
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I still have 3 left to finish and a bunch of ends to weave in on my mini stockings, but they don’t need to be done until Saturday.
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I have a handful of presents for DS2 left to wrap, and the presents for our dog. All I did today was wrap presents, weave in ends, and run to the post office. I didn’t get half the handmade gifts done that I wanted to, but more holidays and birthdays are coming up soon enough. I’m giving myself some grace since it has been a heck of a month of things breaking and me injuring myself (kiddo climbed into my lap and screwed up my thumb somehow). Also, pretty sure DS1 is upset that he didn’t get the huge gift that he mentioned once and never wrote down on any kind of wish list. 
He’s wandering around the tree mournfully.
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Ughh the Christmas gift mourn. Mine is suddenly all about a “6 seater baby doll carriage.” She is not getting one, mainly because I’m pretty sure they don’t exist and Santa brought her a 2 seater one just last year. But if my inlaws, et al., would heed my requests to not buy more babies, rather accessories would be awesome, maybe we wouldn’t be in this predicament. But doll clothes arent as fun to buy as dolls, so… here we are. 
She’s usually pretty good about being happy with whatever we have so I am hoping that holds in the moment Wednesday.
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At a certain point your kids just want money so… here we are. Both teens are off with grandparents for a couple weeks & we’ll be e-transfering them their cold, hard cash. Nobody I know wants anything anymore so this year there have been no presents, no decorations, & thanks to the postal strike not even any cards!
But… we bought ourselves a 2nd property & we’re having dinner with my eldest on the 25th so there’s a little spirit anyhow.
Oh, & I thought our dog hated winter but she’s actually warming up to the snow. It is the season of miracles after all 
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We don’t do presents anymore either…well, not some years, but crazy in others. Because of the move and health issues, this year will be mostly dining with friends and bringing food as “gifts”.
Tonight we do the Feast of Seven Fishes with out lifelong friends and family. Tomorrow will be just the two of us for big brunch and light dinner. Then, it it off to the races to spend with family and out of town friends. We are hosting a small dinner party New Year’s Eve. January is a big month for us since it is cold and no one wants to go out far, but everyone wants to get cozy and have simple dinners together of soups and breads and wine!
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Sounds like everyone has nice plans! I still want to finish some ornaments for the 26th, but I’ll have plenty of time for that tomorrow.
Today we’ll have a friend over and he’ll be here quite early, but this is always a low-key, casual celebration.
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Baking is on the agenda today. I have to bake all the things!
I’m also in progress on 2/3 stitches but these can be late.
I do have to turn the pictures we got with Santa the other day into ornaments. I am thinking of doing a felt frame unless something easier pops into my head!
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I’m officially in the “this might not be ‘enough’” phase of mothering on Christmas eve. But I am pretty good at tucking that back in. I subscribe to the “fewer is more ‘special’” idea and I just keep reminding myself that my MIL refuses to listen and will pour way too much stuff into my house later today. I have one kid, but the way she gifts one would think I run an orphanage. Then we have aunts uncles cousins and all tomorrow.
Other than the elusive “six seater doll carriage” there is nothing on my radar that isnt already showing up between today and tomorrow so I think there won’t be any longings left unsatisfied. And I told her that she wouldn’t get a carriage tomorrow bc she got one last year and either we’ll add seats to that ourselves (engineering lessons!) or she and I will go on a quest to find just the right one that she can save her money to get (money lessons, delayed gratification, decluttering something to add new things!)
Idk. Someone sent me this this morning, and I feel seen lol:
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I’ve always had to mail the gifts to my kids and grandkids, so I have been done for a bit. This year I mailed my daughter’s, but get to deliver my grandkids in person!
I am waiting on the last item to appear in the mail so I can also deliver all their birthday presents. Their birthdays are both on Jan. 3rd. A soon to be 6 and 18 year old.
We are going to relatives for Christmas and to my son’s on Saturday, easy peasy holidays.
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One girl is asking Santa for hamsters. Plural. I’ve already told her multiple times it’s not happening, so I hope her expectations are tempered, lol. The other one asked for “a 100-piece puzzle.” I got her two. 
I am most worried about my in laws. I struggle with what to get them every year.
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I’m plugging away at the last two gifts. Luckily, they dont need to be done until December 29th.
Rinsed and ready tondry and iron.
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Awww! Such lovely, sparkly toes.
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My aunt was very fond of the Christmas holidays and she would buy so many gifts for all of us, a stocking for everyone, full Christmas dinner, a 14 foot tree decorated up the wah. It was joyous and abundant, but also often overwhelming, especially trying to bring stuff home. She gave us duffle bags one year just for our loot.
At a certain point, when we got a little older and weren’t so toy focused, we actually expressed that we would preferred less things because you’d get home with so much stuff plus you’d already have had your immediate family holiday gift-giving and it was just too much, so much, too, too much!
So she started to give us donations in our name to global charities, buying goats and chickens or providing a well or medical care, really beautiful, beautiful, thoughtful presents that everyone loved so much.
This is the second Christmas without her, but her husband has continued the tradition and we got a hand-delivered card this year (because of the postal strike) for a donation in our family’s name and it made me incredibly happy.
I consider that the best gift for people who are hard to buy for or who have everything, don’t need anything, or are maybe not into giving and receiving gifts as much as they are into the spirit of the holidays and just sharing time together.
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That’s such a thoughtful gift! It’s true, must people already have way more than enough stuff. Even though gift-giving is usually done out of kindness, too much of a kind thing is still too much.
We visited my inlaws today, and we got them a little plant (they love plants). They got me flowers and gave us two fancy tiny soup glasses (?). Not sure what the point is. Plus all the leftovers, which we’ll eat for a week. Some of them freeze well, and frozen homecooked meals are always nice.
Seriously though, if we’re talking about too much of a good thing, these people always eat heavy meals, Christmas is extra bad, but this year was record-breaking. Two courses of starters and three dessert courses plus a main course, too. I probably ate less than half that was put on my plate and it was still waaaayyy to much. They’re too old to change their way so we try to host instead of visit as often as possible
I have no plans for tonight other than listening to the radio and doing some cross stitch. In my country we have a thing on one of the main radio stations, people vote for their favourite songs (ever) and from Christmas to NYE they play the 2000 most popular songs, and it’s fun because it’s a bit nostalgic, there are songs from all generations and there’s a lot of “oooh I know this song, I haven’t heard it since high school!”. It’s a nice thing to put on during family gatherings, it’s a fun light-hearted subject to talk about, just this hour we went from Creed to Martin Garrix via Frankie Goes to Hollywood and Sugarhill Gang.
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Got any pictures of those funny little soup cups? That sounds really adorable and weird, two things I like a lot.
I’m not going to complain because it’s great, but I’m really struggling to get this studio organized and ready to sew. There are just so many teeny, weenie, tiny little things… anybody who’s had to move their entire stash will understand how immobilizing this is. I am distracted by absolutely everything!
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