Christmas this year for us was a little different.
DD moved out of our home in February and I suffered quite a bit of anxiety wondering what Christmas would be like for us this year.
It was not like Christmasses in the past but it was fine. DD and BF spent Christmas Eve and Christmas morning with us so that was lovely. It was nice to have a new family member share our Christmas with us.
The lead up to Christmas was very relaxed, I think because we had scheduled baking days quite early and I had also used the wrapping party days and Rudy days to do some planning and prep.
Baking was good, just the right amount and variety. I have got biscuits in the freezer for early in the new year but besides that the rest has gone.
There are a few things that were missed so I will add those to the baking list for next year. I am glad that I did trial runs throughout the year on a few new things. A caramel cheesecake that was on the list for Christmas was an absolute fail which left us more time to try something else.
Dinner on Christmas Eve was very simple, we had fresh fruit, strawberries, blueberries, cherries, pineapple, kiwi fruit and grapes. We also had a cheese and cured meat platter. This was well received, was easy to prepare and easy to clean up. I bought the cheeses and meats at the beginning of the month and the fruit a few days before Christmas. This is something that we will do again next year although I probably will not get cherries as they were untouched.
Christmas morning breakfast was very simple. DD and BF were going to his parents for lunch so we needed a light breakfast. We had coffee, fruit juice, ham and cheese croissants which were prepared early in the morning, apple danishes and cereal..The cereal were types that we would never have throughout the year and they were a hit. Simple breakfast served buffet style and hardly any prep. Will certainly do that again next year.
Gifts were very well received. Once again I am so glad that I have the means and time to buy all through the year. There was a nice mix of practical things and fun things. Some gifts were very small and others were a bit more substantial.
The stocking were filled with mainly practical things that will help the kids throughout the year. Things like, mascara, foundation, (for DD not the boys lol) deodorant, shampoo, razors, shopping bags, bottles of soft drink, teabags, socks and the like. The stockings are always a challenge to come up with interesting and useful things but is something I take great delight in organising every year.
Dinner at my mum's was once again a lovely evening. We had a lovely meal that my mum had prepared the days leading up to Christmas. Cold meats and salads and a lovely trifle, fruit pudding and this year an ice cream station for desserts.
There was a lot of food and we will sit down at our first planning day and see where we may be able to pull back a little. The variety was fine but we are still preparing way too much and think we can pull back a little on that.
I also feel that mum gave out too many gifts, I will speak to her and see if we can pull back a bit on that. It will save her a lot of money and time if we can cut down a bit, As adults we really don't need a lot of things. She buys for a lot more people than I do so maybe this will help her.
I am sad that we did not take many photos, I really wanted some this year but got too busy and forgot. I really wanted a family photo in front of the tree but never found the time. A must for next year.
I cut back a bit more on Christmas cards this year, but did once again enjoy taking part in the MHH Christmas card exchange. Have made notes for next year and will budget for this swap.
I made the decision to buy anything I needed before Christmas as over the past few years I find after Christmas shopping to be a bust. I have enough paper, tags and gift bags to last me a few years.
All in all we had a great few days.
Over the years I have struggled with changing times and how to adapt from doing Christmas with kids to doing Christmas with all adults. I hope that the family had a great day, it seems like they did.
So now to move on to planning for Christmas 2019 and make more happy memories for my family.