We had a very busy few weeks leading up to Christmas this year. We kicked the season off by getting out to the tree lot, on the Sunday after we got back from our Tahoe Thanksgiving. We met Gammy and Gampy there, made our selections, then went back to our house for hot cocoa, Toy Story 3, and Gene's turkey pot pie.
We spent many evenings and afternoons brainstorming, shopping for supplies, and toiling away on our homemade gifts for the Alferness gift exchange. Gene and I made three new varieties of handcrafted soaps to give out as gifts. We made Honey Sandalwood with pumice, Grapefruit Lilly with aloe and jojoba beads, and Buttercream Snickerdoodle with shea butter and crushed walnut. I recall rushing to finish the soaps and artfully package them on the Thursday night before the final Friday before winter break. I needed to have them ready for the teachers' gifts. Along with that deadline, I had a large batch of sugar cookies to get mixed, chilled, rolled, cut, iced, and sprinkled by morning, to contribute the Kaia's class Cocoa Poetry Reading Party. Everything got done, but it came with a messy price, to be sure. Kaia read her poem with such animation and clarity. She wrote it about the color Orange, her favorite color. It was clever and colorful. We went caroling with the Kindergarten classes one evening before break. Gabby was thrilled to be out during non-school hours, with Mrs. Riley.
Along with the homemade gifts, the soaps, and the general preparations for Christmas eve (rentals, menu-planning, cleaning), we had to make time for our annual cookie making-and -delivering. Gammy and I made all the treats on the weekend prior to Christmas, and delivered on Sunday. We hammered out 3 goals for next year: 1. We will carry out the entire process a week earlier. 2. The kids (especially Kaleb) will not be present.3. There will be cocktails. The goodies came out really well this year. The spritz had a pretty glaze with sugar. The sugar cookies were perfectly soft and flavored. the peanut butter blossoms had reese's peanut butter cups in the center. We made a new cookie with a chocolate covered cherry in the center of a chocolate cookie. The lemon bars, fudge, and spiders were as mouthwatering as ever. We purchased these pretty red boxes to package them in. It was a treat for ME to deliver them and visit with neighbors, and friends that I haven't seen in a long time. For example, we enjoyed barging in on Rocky and Christine's quiet, tidy and kidfree home with all the kids and a box of cookies; we hadn't been there since the previous cookie drop off, a year ago! We also got to see Jane Negri for a brief while.
Jessica and John Collins payed us a little morning visit as well, bearing gifts for ms. Gabby. Nina J-Neg brought Gabby a pair of boots, a snazzy water bottle, and a little doggy that barks. They enjoyed coloring together and chatting.
Another project that we took on was that of the 12 Days of Christmas secret santa operation. Last year we received 12 delightful gifts on our doorstep from an anonymous source, which turned out to be the Feist Family. We decided to pass on the love to Jess Lane and Haven this year. We enjoyed looking for the perfect little toys and treats, packaging them creatively, and delivering them in the darkness of the night, so as not to have our identities revealed...until the very end. It turned out, they really didn't suspect us! They figured, it was too far for me to drive so late at night, and that the gifts had to be too expensive (I reused pretty much everything the Feists gave us!) Mission accomplished!!
Gene and I had the privilege of hosting a late afternoon get together with some new and amazing friends Courtney and Michael. They were here visiting, from New York, and were able to spend some time with us. Gene made a delicious appetizer at the drop of a hat, whipped up some cinnimon sugar sparkler cocktails, and we nibbled on splendid cheese, and truly relished their company.
We attended Kaleb's preschool Christmas program. Kaleb didn't sing much, but atleast he didn't try to steal the presents from "baby Jesus", like the previous year. We enjoyed refreshments with Sim and his family afterwards. Kaia wore a very bizarre outfit.
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