I'm back with a final December Daily post. I love, love love this project, but I am so ready to move on. I was going to break it up in to a couple posts, but I was just ready to be done. So, here are my final days
Day 21
The 21st was a Wednesday. I didn't have any pictures or major stories so I included the paper I put in with a treat bag for my religion class.
Day 22
On the 22nd we rolled and cut out Christmas cookies to frost on Christmas Eve. The kids didn't have school the next day, so it was nice to be unhurried, baking cookies and watching Christmas movies. I didn't do much journaling on this one, just wrote Cutting out cookies + Hallmark movies = Holiday Perfection on the circle cut out.
Day 23
The kids were home on the 23rd and we celebrated with our annual daycare Christmas party. I journaled on top of one of this years date overlays:
Today was our annual daycare party and gift exchange. The big kids didn't have school today so we were able to start celebrating in the morning, which made for a mus less chaotic celebration.
I also added a label sticker from last years kit that read:
Books and cuddly animals and blankets were a bigger hit than any toy has been.
I didn't include a photo out of privacy for my daycare kiddos.
Day 24
The 24th got a little long, but it's Christmas Eve, so I'm ok with that! I started showing us decorating cookies and some of the sprinkly creations the girls made.
followed by a family picture we took before heading to church, and a photo of the kids all dressed up and ready to preform the Children's program. We had Joseph, a Wise Man, and Angel this year.
On the opposite side of the black and white photo I added a photo of the kids ready to open their ONE gift on Christmas Eve. This year it was jammies, a movie, and cozy socks. They always get some form of the same thing on Christmas Eve, but that never seems to make them less excited to open it ;) I also printed out an enlarged photo of Cora and Sylvie getting ready to run outside to sprinkle the reindeer food we made at our daycare party the day before.
The back side is more reindeer sprinkling, but I just love that photo of them, so I couldn't resiest. The final page for the 24th is a picture of our Christmas Eve meal all set on the table. My Grandma always had to take a picture of the table before we could eat, so while it was nothing fancy, it seemed as though it should be documented in her honor. The last picture is of the kids as we finished up watching the Santa Clause. They were dancing around and so excited to get to bed so Santa could come. I used Ali's "make some magic" stamp to create a journal card which reads:
Today was decorating cookies & sprinkles
Today was time in the kitchen and failing at new recipes
Today was the Christmas program with Joseph, a King, and angel
Today was a festive dinner the kids really tried to like
Today was The Santa Clause & cookies for Santa & reindeer food & jumping up and down excited to go to bed.
To finish the 24th I printed out a line from 'Twas the Night Before Christmas. Keep scrolling and you'll see why...
Day 25
I started with an enlarged photo of the kids coming down to see their gifts from Santa. I circle punched the 25 out of one of the 3x4 cards from the kit and wrote The Perfect Christmas morning around it.
I cut one of the page protectors in half for the next page, and used a 3x4 card from a past kit.
I stamped Ali's Merry Everything on white cardstock to create another journal card and printed:
We had a nearly picture perfect Christmas morning. I was up in time to have coffee before the rest of the family was stirring, and i was feeling so grateful for our new home with all the bedrooms upstairs, so we could all come downstairs together. We opened stockings and their gifts from Santa, and then took a break for breakfast. The blueberry coffee cake I had prepared the night before worked just as I'd hoped it would, allowing us to just pop it in the oven and eat. The kids got "jewel mining" kits in their stockings and Sylvie was even lucky enough to find a REAL (almost visible) sapphire when she got to the middle of hers! After breakfast we let the kids open up their gifts from us. They were so happy with them, and received them gratefully. Even with a nasty head cold, it was one of those mornings that make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside.
I also wrote right on the bottom photo:
The long wait for a tablet of his own is finally over. Disbelief, followed by happiness and pure JOY.
And then a spread to show the DRASTIC turn of events our day took. To make a long story short we had a mouse (if you'd have asked Luke) or a mouse infestation (if you'd have asked me). The story reads:
And then THIS happened. Just as we were finishing opening up gifts Luke noticed that the crumbs Santa always leaves on his cookie plate where nowhere in sight. That's when he spotted something up on the shelf. lots of "something" in fact. Mouse poop. He quietly beckoned me over and when I gasped and looked at him with terror in my eyes, and desperately trying to grasp and some form of hope he said "it's what you think it is". WHAT?!? NO! It was indeed a mouse...in our house. Or in my mind a full blown mouse infestation. After all, this is our fist winter here, maybe the previous owners had to battle mice every year! I was certain our walls were riddled with them, I envisioned nests in every piece of furniture, blanket and clothing article we owned. It took every last bit of courage for me to just walk across the floor, I felt like they were just waiting for me to walk by so they could jump out squeaking and run across my feet. All rational thinking was gone at this point. We spent the rest of the day searching the house high and low (and finding!) evidence of our furry friends. And by "we" I mean Luke, I spent most of the day standing on various pieces of furniture and trying to control my impending panic attack. Until, that is, Sylvie came down with a case of diarrhea. Nothing snaps a mom back to reality like a sick child. I was almost happy for the distraction. Human poop...now that I can handle! Cora was struck with the same illness a few house later. It was safe to say that our perfect Christmas morning was over ans we were in full survival mode for the remainder of the day. And as if there had not been enough excitement Cora pulled out her wiggly front tooth! Yay for tooth fairy visits! We ended the night trying to salvage what was left of our Christmas by watching a family movie. On kitchen chairs pulled into the living room, because our couch was wet after throwing it out onto the porch earlier (hey, that was Luke's panic, not mine!) So much for perfect.
I also wrote on one of the 4x6 photos:
Luke's homemade mousetrap, because guess where you can buy traps on Christmas....
I ended the album with just a patterned paper with an epilogue giving more information on how the mouse drama turned out. After 1 mouse was caught, no more droppings were found, and 5 days of intermittent panicking I was finally satisfied that our home was indeed mouse free. I may never walk across the room in the dark quite as easily again though.
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