Where did the holidays go?

WOW! This year has flown by especially these last few months.

Thanksgiving was so nice and quiet for us. It is nice to be able to relax and not have to go here, be there, stop by here. I really enjoy being simple at the holidays. When we were in Illinois with our families it was always so stressful because everyone demanded our time and just didn't get it....we are our own family. WE need to make our own traditions. It seems that every year my mom has to work so we are so glad to have JD over for dinner. The kids love having Grandpa eat with us. Andy cooks the traditional Thanksgiving food. It is so YUMMY! I am so glad he enjoys cooking.....way more then I do! That night Andy I went out shopping at midnight! YES...we got up at 11:30 (well he got up because I never made it to bed) and left for our annual black friday shopping. Oh what deals we got. I LOVE shopping on this day for some reason. We try to get all of our shopping done in 1 day! This year was no exception and we got everything we wanted! I love this tradition for us. There is definite strategy when we go in some stores. We came home around 11:00, picked up the kids and went out for lunch as a family then quickly came home for a much needed nap!

Where did Christmas go? It came and went so fast this year. Unfortunately Andy had to work this year so we had to get up at 6:00 so the kids could open their presents. This is the only downfall to him working for the airlines but you can't have it all good. There is sacrifice with everything in life and this is no exception. We had a good Christmas. It feels so good to be able to say after the holidays are over that I am not in debt to pay for it. Something we have tried really hard to do the past 4-5 years, pay with debt or cash....NO EXCEPTION!

While I enjoyed having my kids home for 2 1/2 weeks for Christmas, it was so nice to have them back in school. I may be one of the ONLY moms to admit it but I know many feel it!