It's been busy!

Over ten hours of wrapping through-out the week, Christmas Eve came together around our Christmas tree at 1:30am! During Christmas Eve we played pass the present and it was successful! (no one cried) The game consists of taking a present from someone else if they want it, three times around you are left with what you're holding. I had Dora's bubble bath that I'm using for our littlest daughter. Christmas morning started at 8am. All our children found their "spot" to sit while opening their stockings, then I continued handing out their presents one by one. It's nice to enjoy the morning and to see every ones reactions. It took approximately two hours to finish unwrapping! (12 hours to wrap - 2 to unwrap) Christmas day for my husband was building toys and collecting garbage. For myself it was cooking and cleaning. I will admit it was work all day long.......we had a total of 26 people here. Mostly family and some boyfriends and girlfriends of older children. The next day we had some birth family over while serving different platters with turkey buns. They enjoyed playing puzzles at our kitchen table with some of our children. Then we had a huge platter night with some of our friends. I made a comment that we needed to invite more people with the amount of food we had! Today is the 28th, we're taking down our Christmas decorations. I love Christmas but I'm having a change in heart, a change in what my favorite season is. I've been already contemplating about changing next years Christmas to something completely different, to where my husband and I aren't swamped by materials, by food. (I will let you know next year!) My favorite season?  It's summer. One fact about our family and friends, we don't need an "occasion" to get together. We just do all throughout the year. Today I awoke and accomplished 1170 stairs outside next to the ocean. 117 steps x 10 this morning! A beginning back into my healthier lifestyle I once lost. I feel rejuvenated and ready to tackle my neglected laundry! New Years for us will be quiet at home celebrating being together, entering another New Year of successes, my last year of my thirties! My oldest daughter and her boyfriend gave my husband and I a gift certificate to the Keg, an evening out on my 39th birthday (coming) which includes them babysitting! Time to celebrate and develop more plans for making memories in 2012! Now - dancing with laundry!