And There it Went....

....Christmas that is. It's all but a memory now. The great crescendo of events leading to the height of "the season" and then, that's it. The tree comes down, the music on the radio goes back to playing Bon Jovi, and your wallet feels a tad lighter. But it was all good while it lasted!

It was rough going there for a minute, but the tides turned and it made for a sweet Christmas. I'm not gonna lie, I won't say it was the best Christmas ever, but it was as good as it could be.

I stole my 7 year old sister for the week and it's amazing how the excitement of a little girl really brings out that "Christmas Spirit" and what's even more amazing--that 7-year-old little girl is so great at preoccupying a 17 month little boy so his momma can get her mile long list done...imagine that!

While I worked and cooked my butt off last week, I made sure I sprinkled in all of the "good stuff" for my youngest sister. I wanted it to be a special week for her. Memorable and magical. Starting with her room.

We made ornaments,

and gingerbread houses.

I took her and Kidd-O to visit Santa,

and then "Santa" came to us at our family Christmas party,

 and finally, she made reindeer food. She insisted that Veggie Straws were the way to go since I didn't have carrot sticks and the glitter is what makes them fly. So glitter and veggie straws it was. She wrote a letter to Santa and put out milk and cookies....

And then I gave her a "special delivery" in her room on Christmas Eve. Christmas PJ's. 

 My mom and I decided that she would enjoy Christmas Day more at my house since she "still believes" and Christmas for my other siblings was going to be sparse...like, one present sparse, since we are ALL going to Disney next week, so that's why she stayed with us. And she got everything she asked for. A cupcake maker and the Justin Bieber DVD were at the top of her list.

 

 

 Kidd-O got everything he "asked" for too! A basketball goal, so he can stop running to the neighbors to play with theirs, a guitar and a train table.

 After the gifts were ransacked, I made my very first Christmas breakfast since my mom bailed on us this year and took the rest of the kids to the Waffle House...for the record, my mom's breakfast is still way better.

 And on the final leg of this Christmas "marathon", I prepared dinner for my husbands side of the family...all 26 of them. It was exhausting but it was lovely.

And as of today, the house is cleaned up. The tree is put away and now it's time to ring in the new year and start 2012 at The Happiest Place on Earth!