I was so excited when the girl said they would drive home for Christmas...and then my excitement went swirling down the drain when she called a few weeks later to say they had changed their minds - they couldn't come for Christmas, driving was too risky, they'd had tons of snow and the SIL needed to stay and work...of course I understood, things happen, plans change...and somehow my broken heart would mend and we would have Christmas. Although not any Christmas that would be recognizable to me! Christmas without the girl? Christmas without the Max and Elsa? What kind of Christmas would that be?!? I consoled myself by deciding to have a Christmas party - a house filled with people and lots of kids and of course, some pretty tasty food, would surely take away my Christmas blues...
And I must say, it did help! I baked for three days and three nights (or maybe it just seemed like I did) and we had enough sugary treats to keep every good little boy and girl happy bouncing off the walls for hours, with enough left over to take care of the naughty ones!
We called it a Christmas Cookie and Milk Party and I invited the girls I teach and their families - it was quite a crowd!
Since man cannot live by sweets alone, we had to have some savory things, too...meatballs, smoked salmon, cranberry salsa, fresh shrimp prosciutto wraps, bacon-wrapped dates, cheese and crackers, nuts, and even some fruitcake, baked up by my Aussie friend. They mainly served as decoration because Americans don't seem to share the love of fruitcake that Aussie's have...but I have to say, I ate two of her fruitcakes and they were delicious!
The milk bar had chocolate milk, strawberry milk, eggnog and cider...and almost every drop of milk was guzzled!
Look who happened to stop by, just in the Nick of time? Santa, Mrs. Claus and some strange elf...I did warn the parents that the elf might cause their children some psychological damage, he was rather uncivilized with just a tad of grumpiness thrown in (it's hard to find good elves these days!) Santa, who is usually so very jolly, seemed to be off his game just a bit...I actually heard him arguing with a child! Sheesh! Mrs. Claus had the kids write any last minute requests for Santa on a piece of paper...most of them wrote sweet things, or drew pictures...and then there were these...
Seriously, some kid wrote he wanted an AK-47...oh I DO hope Santa gave him one!!! I withheld their names so they would not be punished for infinity and beyond. The party ended, we collapsed into bed and I can promise we had no visions of sugarplums dancing in our heads! Christmas Eve was spent returning the house to "normal" and some last minute baking had to be done...just as I was pulling the last of the Christmas Puddings from the pan, the doorbell rang...and what to my wondering eyes should appear? But two miniature humans, who I love so dear! MAX AND ELSA WERE STANDING ON MY PORCH! The girl and the SIL decided, last minute, to drive up for Christmas!
My heart surely skipped a beat or three! It was the nicest surprise ever...and Christmas morning was just like Christmas morning!! Kids, toys, laughter, merriment...it was Christmas through and through!
Here's Max with his favorite Christmas presents...his case full of markers and crayons (he's way into map drawing these days) and his Dino-Head-Lamp that roars! Could he be any cuter?!? It's been a whirlwind of fun and we still have another 3 or 4 more days! Merry Christmas to US!