A Christmas Catch-Up

Happy New Year! We had a comfortably quiet Twelve Days of Christmas and are finally getting used to the idea that we are back to lessons tomorrow after three weeks off. I didn't get quite as much done as I was hoping to over our break (nothing new there!), but I did do a lot of pre-reading and a good amount of work for the CMEC, and I finished a first-round edit of Gianna's first novel! (Well, it was the first round for me, but probably the third or fourth round for her. ;) She finished it last spring and is determined to publish it this year.)

But we're still celebrating the Christmas season here, so I thought I'd do a little catch up this evening with some snaps from our festivities over the past few weeks.

One thing I never thought we would have to do is go to Christmas Mass in a car...but such is life in California right now (and since March).

A beautiful sunrise greeted us on the way home, though!

Since we weren't getting together with family at all this Chirstmas, the kids and I did a bit of extra special baking this year. These were our three favorite cookies! (My usual gingersnaps came in a close fourth.)

But we couldn't skip our usual Christmas brunch -- the kids want that meal to be the same every year.

After breakfast, we always do a procession around the house to add all the Baby Jesus figures to their respective mangers...

The kids did a secret santa swap this year. They were most excited about giving their sibling gifts! They all pitched in to get Emilia a gift...

That big smooch was just the reaction they were hoping for!

Each year I make each of the kids an ornament. I usually tie it to one of our handicraft projects from the year. This year we have been working with raffia, so I made these raffia circles using plastic canvas coasters:

I took the advice of a friend and kept my middle kids busy prepping some "fun" foods...

A little wonky, perhaps, but everything tasted great. ;) We did appetizers and pies for dinner and it was all so good. I have been working on my pie crust this year and the holidays are a good opportunity to practice! I should have made a couple more because these didn't last long. ;)

I'll be back soon to share some favorite gifts as well as what we have been reading -- LOTS and LOTS of reading by everyone (including me) over the break!

Wishing you a happy, healthy, HOLY New Year!