It Feels Like Christmas Time

After this weekend, it feels like Christmas time to me now.

-The kids and I have watched the Polar Express movies several times.

-We put up all of our lights outside the house.

-We made a lot of cookies, and ate a lot too!

-We did some shopping for family members.

-We spent too much at the grocery store.

-It’s finally cold here!

The kids and I watched The Polar Express on Friday while I was working. I was trying to really ramp up the spirit of Christmas this Friday. Not only did we watch the Polar Express, but I had also taped some of our favorite Christmas Programs like Charlie Brown’s Christmas, The Grinch, and Santa Claus is Coming to Town. The kids loved it, but also wondered if I had taped any new Pokemon cartoons for them…sigh.

We made a family day of it on Saturday, putting up the Christmas lights and doing some shopping. We bought a couple of new props for the front yard, but didn’t over-do it. In fact, on the way home from Walmart, Jon asked if we had crossed the line into Griswald territory. At first, I thought maybe we had, but after we got it all up, I found that it looked great. We even put some cute little snowmen in the kids’ windows on the second floor.

I made Scottish shortbread cookies for Jon, who absolutely loved them. It was a new recipe and I was nervous, but he really loved them, so I am happy. I also made my almond and jelly thumbprint cookies, made with Dad’s homemade black raspberry jelly. They turned out so good! This time I left the glaze off and ended up liking them even more. Then we made sugar cookies and let the kids pick out their shapes, whether or not they wanted sprinkles or frosting, and then let them go to town decorating them. That had a lot of fun doing that, especially when Grandma and Grandpa came over to help.
Best of all, its cold! We have the heater on in our house because it’s cold! Yeah! I know lots of you are cursing my name, but for me, growing up in Arizona, I really appreciate it when the weather represents the seasons a bit more. I like it when Christmas feels like Christmas and not the end of summer.