“It’ll all get done. It’ll all get done. It’ll all get done!”

Hey, what do you know? If you keep chanting that mantra in your head, it sort of, kind of, works!

I’m surprisingly kind of calm, with very little (ok, maybe a leeetle) crankiness, even after this past week of mayhem. Oh, I still have plenty to do and we leave for Michigan in one week (Yahoo! New nephew here we come, be prepared to be all cuddled out by the time we leave!), but it all seems very manageable and doable. And, dare I say it? Enjoyable.

Yes, we might even get to enjoy the holidays this year.

A few things that are contributing to the enjoyability (I may have just made up that word) of the season:

• My Christmas cards are o-u-t! Why, oh why do I insist on making my own cards? This year the cards incorporated five “pieces” that needed to be cut and assembled. I’m pretty sure J. was cursing my name the other night as we were assembling them. But, I got them out.  And they turned out close to what I had envisioned. I’ll post them for Crafty Tuesday since they should all be delivered by then.


(Em and Audrey after their Christmas program – the white gloves on Em
were for the dance number – jazz hands!)

• And all of the “school stuff” is done.  All of the teacher presents have been delivered. All of the Christmas programs have been performed. The Christmas parties were organized and carried out. The Nutcracker field trip was chaperoned. And now, the girls are officially on vacation. What a difference that makes just knowing come Monday we don’t have to get everyone all out the door and going their separate ways.  (I’ll try to post the program videos that J. shot soon – the programs were very fun. Addie sang this year – as opposed to last year. And Emma was one of the “dancers” in the front row of all of the first graders. My little stars!)


(Addie trying to muster up an angelic look during her program.
And afterwards testing out the “twirlability” of the Christmas dresses.)



• The first and second Daisy outings were successfully completed. The girls have now earned two of their petals (patches).  I was so very proud of the entire troop when they charged into the senior center on Friday and sang their little hearts out for the seniors. I think the residents really enjoyed the Christmas carols and the handmade cards, cookies and cider the girls shared with them as well.


(Gracie trying to congratulate the two monkeys on their performance – Ad and her BFF E.J.)

• I have pretty much purchased all of our Christmas presents or have sent them along to their destinations.
• We have experimented with a half a dozen recipes and types of toffee and holiday bark and I think finally found some good concoctions for J’s office gifts. We have most of them all boxed up and also ready to go.

(I told them they could do a silly pose if I could get one “nice” photo. Needless to say I have a string of these shots…and not one “nice” one.)

So we have rehearsals for the Christmas pageant, costuming (hopefully not too many alterations!) and the pageant on Christmas Eve this week. Plus, many gifts to finish sewing. And, of course, lots o’ wrapping to do.

But I have a good feeling it’ll all get done.