December was a social month.
Mattea's baptism pulled my siblings and parents out of their Sunday routines and into ours. We fed and watered them, and sent them on their way to second service.
Danielle and I planned and hosted our ESL Christmas potluck, involving a guest list of 45 people when counting teachers/spouses/children, and students, and it was a fantastic time of eating, talking, and carol singing.
Two days later we gathered our small group into our kitchen for a more intimate dinner affair, and though it was a tight fit, it was both comfortable and cozy-- which is exactly what I'm going for in a home whose aim is to be hospitable.
And then my little Anneliese turned two, so we had a party. Why not.
This last little shindig was a last minute shindig, and true to my consistent good luck with all things last minute, it was pretty great. I made a snowman cake, and an Olaf out of our last 2 balloons, (because "Frozen" is a big deal around here) and the stage was set. I also made a few little crafty things with felt (build a snowman) and with baking soda (make snowballs, and blow them up with vinegar) and Anneliese entered happily into her second year of life :)
And now James is on holiday, and we are gearing up. The revolving door reins will slip into my moms eager hands and we will feast on vast quantities of sugar, caffeine, and meat. It's a beautiful season.
To date, this has been a particularly memorable holiday, and I will label it one of my all time favourites. The weather was kind, for starters, and I avoided entirely the clawing feeling of claustrophobia and cabin fever. We did a 3 km hike with 3 kids and no one's face froze off, and continued to hike around various parts of Hamilton over the break.
We had a photoshoot with 30 people, and despite discussing the colour scheme to death, the whole thing actually turned out! Following pictures, we had a "kids christmas day" that went surprisingly well for how much we failed to actually plan it. We ate appetizers, played football and soccer, gave gifts, made crafts, and sat back to enjoy the charming chaos that children bring to any social gathering.
But the real highlight for me was the adult dinner. We did gourmet, and so turned the eating into the event, and throughout the hour or so that we stood and prepared our small individual feasts, kid-free, we connected again as adults, as siblings, as friends, and it was really very wonderful. That will be our last gathering in that home for a Christmas meal. The memories my kids have of grandma's house won't be that one. And so we played it up a little, sharing our most embarrassing stories under that roof (starting with my dad- whose memories stretched back to grade 5 in that house) and reliving some of our worst fights and best memories. Dave and I even managed to wash and dry at least 2 dishes together before he quit on me, and history repeated itself. If there ever was a pair to fail at kitchen clean-up, it was us.
After dinner, we opened some gifts, had some coffee, talked (blissfully uninterrupted by children) and then moved back to the table for round 2. Dessert was another event, a little more competitive with the crepe flipping, (of course) and then back to the living room to settle in and digest. Being a parent is wonderful, but I'd love to see a few more adult dinners sprinkled into my yearly calendar. Seeing my siblings 'off duty' was good. They were fun.
And that's how I'll sum the holiday. Fun. We had yet another party at our house to ring in the new year, which involved games, snacks, Chinese food, and a lot of yawning, and then that was it. Family flew home, we re-established our home routine, and this morning James got up and went to work.
And now I try to implement the resolutions I have set for myself, create good habits that will stay in place as I grow another year older, and steel myself against the inevitable cold that January will bring. And that involves a good reading list :)
