We're so close now!!! Just days to go!!! How are we all doing with the preparations? Did you remember all your Christmas dinner, jumper, party days? Is everything wrapped and are the cards posted? and the big question did everything in your grocery shop delivery arrive? Hopefully all the prep is done so you can sit back and watch the festivities unfold!
Last Week's Christmas Prep Week 7
Remember all of kids social engagements
Pre-make Christmas Dinner food where possible
Our home group Christmas evening
Wrapping!!
Christmas Cards
Prep for Christmas celebrations over weekend and following week
Pray all the food shopping actually comes in the delivery!
Well we have finally made it and now it is time to enjoy the fruits of our labour. School finally broke up on Friday and all balls, Christmas dinners, Christmas jumpers, Christmas Fayre's, Christingle carol services, cards and teacher presents are done - phew, no wonder this time of year is tiring - so much to remember!
In terms of adult celebrations, we enjoyed our small group Christmas meeting with cheese and wine, we had friends over for an evening of nibbles, chat and games and attended the candlelight carol service at our local church. We just have the Christmas eve family services to do tomorrow, where our children are in the choir. We have invited our parents to this service and will be coming back to ours Christmas Eve dinner.
We have done Christmas Day on our own as a family for the past few years and this works well for us. As you know our older children have autism and so we manage their anxieties through repetition - knowing what to expect on the day and allow the day flow the way they need it to be so we can all enjoy it.
The arduous task of wrapping presents has been completed! I'm so thankful to my husband for doing the majority of the children's presents. I love how he likes to take care and wrap them all up well. I am a lot more slap dash when it comes to wrapping the children's presents. I will spend more time wrapping adults presents and be more creative. Probably because I know they will appreciate that time spent, more than our sons.
Presents have been exchanged and our children's presents have been stored so we can get stockings out easily from the main. We colour code each child's wrapping paper, so it makes it easier to see who's is who too. Typically, child 1 = red, child 2 = blue, child 3 = green and child 4 = white/silver.
I also managed to write and post out all my Christmas cards to family. I can't believe how expensive stamps are! - I can see why fewer people are sending cards. However I still like to receive them and like to decorate my house with them. I appreciate the sentiment that someone has thought of us. I'm not sure if I will send cards next year, perhaps it would be better to send emails/messages and donate the money to charity instead.
We had a little drama with our food shop delivery - the bank declined our payment as we had spent more then we usually do. I was really cross - its a regular payment and most people spend more money on their food shopping at Christmas. I didn't want to risk losing our delivery slot and I had to spend a lot of time 'on hold' getting it sorted out. However, it was sorted and delivered.
We were short a few things but we had time to pop out and get that today. Now that all the food has arrived, I wrote a master plan of what needs to be cooked and when, and on what temperature for Christmas Dinner. I had already pre-made our stuffing, so that is in the freezer. I will prep all the vegetables etc on Christmas Eve whilst making the dinner (in the slow cooker) for that day. We will also do housework so we don't have any of that lingering over us and we'll be free to enjoy the day. I find it much easier to write out what needs to done and just follow instructions, then try to work it out on day the day - it means I can focus on the family rather than the cooking.
So that is our Christmas organised and leaves me with just one more thing to say!
I will be taking a break from blogging and be back in the New Year!
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