My December

Hello my friends! Did you wonder what happened to me? I am sure your daily thoughts were consumed with "I wonder what Michelle has been up to since her last blog post on December 4, 2009." Am I right?

It's time we get caught up, don't you think? Let me fill you in:

The King turned 46 years old. Can you believe I am married to such an old guy? That is a homemade banana cream pie he is proudly displaying. (I admit it's not totally homemade. The crust was purchased. But the pudding--from scratch!)

The Royal Family spent many a night partaking in a game or two or three or six of Farkle. We are addicted.

We did our fair share of shopping. Duchess and Maiden are my personal shopping assistants. I don't know how I ever shopped before girls. They have quite the opinions when it comes to purchasing gifts!

Plus, we did a little baking...this isn't really baking, but it was something Duchess could do. These pretzel rods were originally intended to be given to the neighbors as part of a Christmas treat package...but they didn't make it that long.

I guess this is the appropriate time to say, "It's the thought that counts." Next year we'll make more, or deliver them before they are devoured.

We did a little decorating...

And found that a star makes a cute hair accessory.

I wrapped a lot of gifts.

The King read Bartholomew's Passage to the Royal Offspring.

Ever dream of doing this as a child? I always wanted to. This was the favorite spot to lay when being read to in the evenings.

Finally. Gift opening time arrived. It was great fun to watch Prince Charming with his gifts. Every one he opened he said, "Thank you." Such good manners that boy has. Our ever grateful Duchess said, "This was my best Christmas ever." (She says that every year after Christmas.)

Can you believe that Santa came to our house one day? During daylight hours. In a gray t-shirt and jeans. He had the three youngest children sit on his lap and had a little chat with them. They were all happy to hear they were on the nice list. Poor Santa, I don't think he was feeling the greatest that day. His taped on cotton balls mustache and beard kept falling off.

I had all my children under the same roof one night before Christmas and was able to snap a photo for our Christmas card. If you remember, Jester moved out in September. He has not had much to do with our family since. It's not been easy for me as a mom. I thought I still had another year with him since he's still only a senior in High School. Maiden has shed a lot of tears over her big brother. She was really close to him and his leaving affected her the hardest.

This is Jester and his girlfriend. I am very hopeful that we are on the road to restoring our relationship with them. As of now, things are looking better. They were here on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and New Year's Eve. I am thankful that he has made an effort to be somewhat involved with his siblings again.

On New Year's Eve we had a large group of people over. After doing a head count, I determined there were 52 people in this old house my castle. It was a fun night. Lots of little ones running around, lots of food, lots of good conversation.

Which reminds me, I saw the blue moon that night. Did you? If not, don't worry. You can see it again in 19 years. I actually left my guests to walk out past the tree cover to check it out. It didn't look very blue to me. It looked like any other old full moon but now I can say I saw it.

I rang in the New Year doing one of my most favorite things ever, holding a baby. I honestly believe the most satisfying times in my life have been when I was able to rock a crying babe to sleep. There is no better feeling in the world. Isn't she sweet? I could have rocked her all night, but her mama thought it was best to take her home. Oh well, I got my baby fix.

Onto the next big question. What's my New Year's resolution? I usually don't make any because I feel guilty when I don't follow through. But this year I made some private ones in my mind and haven't spoken them aloud to anyone. You heard it here first folks. I want to blog more often, make sure we get school done every day, catch up in my journal (and stay caught up) and exercise more often. So far the blogging thing is working for me.

Until next time,