Making My List & Checking It Twice

Last night I performed the Great Gift Wrapping of 2008. That's right, I buckled down and as soon as Grace was safely tucked into her bed I began a wrapping frenzy that lasted until midnight. I wrapped every gift that I could and will have more to wrap in Idaho once we get there since I didn't think everyone left on my list wanted a gift from Walmart. Good thing Amazon Super Saver Shipping was still on early this week! It feels good to have it done (mostly) and Grace is loving it. She keeps making her "oh" face every time we look at the presents which is pretty hilarious. I love how excited she gets! Makes all that wrapping worth it!

When we got the kids' gifts out I realized that Ethan is only getting one toy from us for Christmas this year. Everything else is practical stuff he needs which made me feel a little bad. But then I remembered that he's probably going to get a mountain of toys from everyone else and then I felt better! Good thing the one toy he's getting is the Little People Farm, he loves to play with the one at Indoor Park and Little People toys are always played with a lot here. Grace isn't getting too many big gifts from us either, though I'm pretty sure that the "pink dress ups" she told Santa she wanted will be waiting for her under the tree.

Yesterday we made sugar cookies and I frosted them while Grace sprinkled them. I also made a double batch of Chex Mix which I promptly hid as soon as it was cooled off since David would most likely eat the entire thing before we even packed the car to leave. As a peace offering I made a Ziplock bag full that I plan to put in the car to snack on while we make the long drive to Nampa on Saturday. I also made some other secret goodies, and this morning I baked the dikke speculaas just for David. The last time I made it was seven years ago when we were first married and David said it wasn't very good. He made a pretty big point of saying it was good this time around in hopes that I won't wait another seven years to make it again! Amazing what we've learned in seven years of marriage isn't it?

Today I'm finishing up all the laundry and starting the packing process. Packing all the supplies for Christmas on top of the pile of stuff a family of four requires for a week is a full day's work. I'm sure we'll forget something critical but I always remember that they have stores in Idaho so if I forget the package of diapers we can always buy some more. We also have Grace's Ballet Recital tonight provided the snow doesn't cancel it. Since the Dallas schools are open today I'm hoping it's still on!