Going into the whole holiday season in a really bad mood and feeling rather depressed, I was not optimistic going into Christmas Eve. I still had presents to wrap, I still hadn’t gotten the house ready for our Christmas company, and I wasn’t sure how Jim and the family would get along – or even if Jim would decide to go or stay home.
About 3:30, spinach dip in hand, we headed over to my mom’s. As always, way too much food!! I hadn’t eaten much during the day and was starving, so I started nibbling right away. We had shrimp, chips and pretzels, snack mix, pepperoni and cheese, rolled salami (Eilis loves salami), ham, potato salad, and so much more.
We opened Christmas presents, and we had so much stuff. The kids are all way too spoiled this Christmas – they got so much stuff it loaded up my whole car. Eilis even got a bike with training wheels and a helmet. Brighid got some great clothes, Eilis got a bunch of other toys, and Grace got some beautiful outfits and awesome toys.
We left my mom’s about 7:30, since Meg was getting ready to go to her friend’s house, and we came home in time to sprinkle our reindeer mix. For those that don’t know, it’s easier for Santa and the reindeer to spot your house if you sprinkle the reindeer mix outside. You mix plain oatmeal with glitter, and sprinkle it on your walk way or the front lawn. The reindeer are attracted to the smell of their favorite snack – oatmeal – and the glitter helps them find it.
Brighid and I went to work wrapping the last of the gifts, and Jim and Eilis and the baby were downstairs. We finally had Eilis asleep about 10, and Jim and Brighid went to work laying out the gifts. The tree, as you will see in the pictures in the photo album, was barely visible behind the mountain of gifts!!
I got a fairly good night’s sleep and was wide awake by the time Gracie woke up Christmas morning.