This is my third attempt at writing this Christmas blog post. The first two were from my phone on the Amtrak train yesterday (that will be another blog post) and my WordPress app got wonky (that’s a techical word, right?) and lost everything. I was annoyed and my thumbs were sore, so I gave up after two tries. Today I’m on the computer and hoping things will go a bit smoother.

The blog and my blogging habits have been changing lately. Now that the kids are older and I’m working full time I feel less need to vent share in this forum and as I take more pictures on my phone and share more often on Facebook and Instagram, there seems to be less urgency for regular blog posts. Of course that means all the thoughts and photos I used to capture in one place are now being spread across multiple platforms, which in some ways is less ideal. Additionally, it occured to me this week that almost every grown-up at Christmas had a camera phone and was taking and sharing their own photos. Gone are the days where my camera was “the one” and I was the somewhat sole holder of holiday photos. Now everyone has their own copies and people are sharing through the day/event, also creating less of an urgency for frequent blog updates. There seems to be no perfect solution, only ever evolving technology and habits.

Anyway, enough of my tech thoughts, on to Christmas!

This year Christmas was AWESOME! It’s great every year, don’t get my wrong, but this is the first year since…. I’m not sure when, that all four of the Collier kids were home together. Rosy has been working holidays in the ER, Barney moved out to CA two years ago, and Joyce has been Navy-committed for what seems like forever, but this year the stars aligned and everyone came home. Well, to my home anyway. :) It was great. Barney even brought his new (to us) girlfriend and she survived (I hope!) the very silly Collier clan reunion. :)

Eve made up her own cookies this year. They included very fine peppermint candy cane dust. It took her awhile to chop up the candy candy as fine as she wanted them.

They came out pretty well, though a bit too crunchy. We’ll work on it for next year. :)

Decorating the Christmas tree. It was up for three days before we got a chance to decorate. I think that’s a record for me. Usually it’s barely up for an hour before I’m stringing lights!

Daisy was intrigued. She has been VERY good with the tree, though she does like to drink the water.

We experimented with Peanut Butter Blossoms this year. Lots of variations, all delicious.

Goody bags for the teachers and staff.

Joyce came to back to see that all of her hard work sorting Legos had been undone. Sorry J!

Cookies for Santa.

Santa usually leaves the kids little gifts in their bedroom as well. This year they each got a karate bear and a few books.

Stocking time!

Each year the kids get a project to do in their advent boxes. This year it was a tree made with tiny Lego-like building blocks. They got 14 pieces a day and on the final day the star went on top. It was fun.

Uh oh, Lex opened a book first! Good thing he understands how Christmas works these day so the book didn’t slow him down for too long. :)

Aww… kittens. Eve loves anything cute.

Rosy will be stylish and warm this winter!

I got a Selfie Stick in my stocking. It’s totally dorky but we all had a great time with it!

The 2015 calendars came out, with a #tbt theme this year! Everyone looks forward to this gift. :)

Haha… selfie stick fun!

Do we look a little tired?! :)

After lunch we took a walk to the playground to shoot some hoops.

Unfortunately the basketball court was covered in snow. Fortunately we can have fun wherever we go!!

Bitty Baby came along for the walk too, wearing her new snowsuit. Eve took her snow-mountain climbing.

Eve dressed for dinner. Bitty Baby joined us too.

We need some practice with the selfie stick! I have about a dozen pictures, all totally silly, of me trying to get a group shot. This is the best. :)

Maybe we should have stuck with the old fashioned tri-pod method. :)

Saying goodbye to Uncle B. Come back and visit us again soon, please!

In case that wasn’t enough photos, I added all of my Christmas photos to a Google album for your viewing pleasure.

The kids and I decided this year to give their teachers crafty reindeer bags filled with cookies for holiday gifts this year. Shhh… don’t tell. It seemed like a good idea until this past weekend when I sat down with the calendar to map out the next two weeks. Turns out to have an assortment of cookies available we have to bake cookies every day this week! I don’t remember ever being stressed about making cookies but somehow this year we are having trouble getting it done.

Then, this afternoon, I got a box of cookies from one of my students, a tin from Greg and Kathy (thanks!!), and a text from Rosy saying she’s bringing lots of cookies. Hmmm…. then it hit me why I’m stressed – school is out so early this year! Our last day is Friday the 19th, which is nearly a week before Christmas! So having all the cookies ready, to provide a variety for teacher gifts, we have to have all the baking done a week before Christmas. That doesn’t make any sense at all! Somehow that realization completely calmed me. I decided to scale back the treat bags and just relax! We made chocolate pretzel treats today, wrote holiday cards (check your mailbox… eventually!), sang carols, and had a lovely afternoon.

Sometimes you just have to step back, take a breath, and check your expectations.

Happiness is.