Finding where you need to be on your Christmas “To do” list

Hello everyone, This is Christy’s mama. I wanted to take a few minutes to sit and visit with you on this exciting week leading up to Christmas.

I hope you are organized and right on time with all your Christmas plans. Or, you may be more like the rest of us.

We all start out with the best laid plans. By this time of the season, we had hoped to have all the gifts purchased and wrapped, all of the decorating done, the calendar all planned, and the groceries purchased for the Christmas baking. The reality is that I have a few gifts bought, none of them wrapped, a few baking needs purchased and I noticed there are a few days when I should be in two places at once. It is the same every year and every year I resolve to do better next year.

I read in a magazine a few years ago about a lady who was stressed one Christmas because everything was pushed to the last minute. From that year on, she made sure that her house was decorated and all the gifts bought and wrapped by the first of December. Then she was able to relax and enjoy the baking and festivities with the rest of her family. I admired her for being able to do that and hoped to learn from her.

What I ended up learning was that I am not capable of being that lady. No matter how much I try to stay on schedule, life happens. Opportunities come about that are just too good to pass up, shopping with friends, dinner out, visiting with family, or just sitting and stitching. Somehow though, everything gets done and the kids don’t seem to notice that decorations are not perfect or that a few of the cookies are store bought ( put the store bought cookies on a pretty platter and the kids marvel at the new recipe and how good they are!).

Now to get back to the purpose of my little story. One thing I do to make the holidays a little more organized is mark the holiday recipes that my family loves and expects with a highlighter. Then I can easily turn to them and make a few that everyone expects. I am attaching links to the ones that have become tried and true recipes for our family. These are the ones that we usually have every year and the ones that we all love.

I hope that you take the time to relax a little and reflect on the true reason we celebrate Christmas. It’s not really about all the rushing and gift buying. Christmas is to celebrate our Savior’s birth and spend time with friends and family. When everyone is gathered together, no one notices if the ornaments are perfectly hanging from the tree or if the tablecloth is pressed. Look at the gleam in the little ones eyes and experience the magic of the season. When you do this, everything will be put back in perspective and you will see that you are exactly where you should be on your “to-do” list after all.

Have a Merry Christmas and enjoy your friends and family.

Now I’m off to bake red velvet cakes and wrap gifts! Enjoy the season and remember, Mama loves you!

Must do recipes in our Family:

• Red (green) velvet cake (Christy explains why we make ours green in her cookbook, page  170)
• Mini Cheesecakes (Christy’s cookbook Page 169)
• Holly Jollies (we always make a TON of these for teacher and classmate gifts)
• Cut Out Cookies for Santa (We’ve been making these since Christy was a baby)
• Peppermint Bark
• Peanut Butter, Chocolate, and/or Cinnamon Fudge (One recipe, three flavors can be made)
• Fruitcake cookies
• Creole candy (Christy’s Cookbook, page 159 )
• Microwave Chex Mix

“Happiness will never come to those

who fail to appreciate what they already have.”

~ Unknown