To Christmas and beyond!

Is anyone ever really ready for Christmas? I thought I was, but I didn't count on my daughter's list of things to do. For a number of years she has put together gift bags for young children or donated to the Food Bank, sometimes both. This year she decided her gift would be to make Christmas special for the four children next door. If you recall, they live with their father, who is pretty much useless as far as I can tell. Their mom left around Christmas last year and has been living apart from the family since then. We did see her there a couple of times in the summer but D says she hasn't been back recently.

In any event, D feels/knows that Eli is a very fortunate child and the children next door are not. She made up t-shirts for them ($ store tees) with transfers she purchased from Temu. We went through the craft room and found a number of items that we aren't using that kids would enjoy. In addition, D had a number of toys in the "gift" closet - she picks these items up throughout the year, usually at a deep discount and tucks them away. Sometimes they are gifts for friend's birthdays, occasionally as a reward for Eli, and often for the Christmas donations. Then she and I picked up a few other items to add to the children's gift, including a game for all four to play, toiletries, tiaras for the girls and colouring books or pad of paper. She even made fairy wands for the youngest twin girls. Can you imagine the excitement the children felt?

In addition, she went through the pantry and selected some items for a couple of meals. The school social worker dropped of a box of food for Christmas dinner but they would need more to get through the holiday season. D did a lot of baking this year, and put together a container for our other next door neighbours as well. 

I'm not sure I've mentioned R & K before. They are an older First Nations couple and absolutely wonderful neighbours. They take care of the yard (unlike the previous tenants) and R brought over blueberries and strawberries during the summer. D made blueberry jam from the latter, and we used that to fill the mini cheesecakes, so good! Since the recent snow fall, he has come over and shovelled the front sidewalk and he even cleared out the space where D keeps the garbage and recycling bins. They are often away as R is an elder and provides his knowledge and support to various bands. K is very quiet, and I haven't had a chance to chat with her yet but she always has a smile on her face. 

On Christmas Eve day, I wrapped gifts for the children - each got a personally curated box, the game was wrapped separately, and the craft items were divided into two containers based on age. I also baked a package of gingerbread, D and I filled thumbprint cookies and mini cheesecakes, and she baked a batch of buns and French bread. Half of the buns went to the family next door. By mid-afternoon we had the containers filled and we took a break before delivering the goodies to the neighbours on both sides.

It was closing on dusk when we finished our deliveries, so we hopped in the car and went out to look at the Christmas lights. For a small community, there were a lot of homes lit up for the season. There were two in particular, that rivalled anything I've seen in the city. No photos as I was driving and D was busy oohing and aahing over the lights. 

Christmas morning arrived, ready or not! D and I had a couple of hours of quiet time before one excited boy woke up. He removed everything from his stocking - it was so heavy, it had to be set up on the table as the hanger couldn't hold it. After a quick breakfast we moved onto the gifts under the tree. The kid got what he really wanted - a VR (virtual reality) headset. It took a couple of hours to get it set up and there was a bit of grumbling but he was happily playing before lunch.

Meanwhile I had a chat with my brother and texted back and forth with my son and his girlfriend. Everyone seemed pleased with their gifts including Sage. :) 

The rest of the day was pretty quiet. D and I watched a couple of episodes of The Floor. If you haven't watched it, it is quite interesting...some categories are easier than others but there is some real strategy to the play. I had an afternoon nap, then D and I decided we'd had a big enough lunch and Christmas dinner could wait until Boxing Day. Why not? Eli continued to play on his devices and D and I watched a couple more episodes before bedtime.

On Boxing Day, D was up early. I was not - an afternoon nap and late bedtime the day prior contributed to less sleep than I needed. After I was up and alert, we un-decorated the house. Normally, I would leave the decorations until after New Years but D had to do all of the decorating on her own and said she didn't want me to leave this task to her. There was a bit of Boxing Day shopping done - she found a bag for the tree storage. I found a couple of couch cushions and some gift tags, a small wreath, and toilet paper and paper towels. D also picked up items for her gift closet, and chocolate for next Christmas. 

Back at the house we fixed our Christmas dinner for lunch. Air-fryer chicken, mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, and corn filled our plates. It would have been peas and carrots but Eli ate the last of those. It was a bit of a beige plate...but something my Dad would have appreciated.

The rest of the afternoon was spent puttering and watching a few more episodes of The Floor. At some point we took a break from television and put the trees away.

The two trees easily fit into the storage bag. It looks like we could use it to move a body or two as well. :) It's even on wheels.

Today, D will do laundry and I'll pack my backpack, as we are planning to drive into the city on Sunday. I'll be staying with my son and his g/f for a few days before I fly south. We are expecting some snow during the day- I'll help shovel and D plans to try out her new snowblower. 

I hope you all had a wonderful day, with time to relax. Have a great week ahead everyone!