Christmas can kinda make you (or just me) crazy, it seems. Here’s evidence…

On Wednesday, I was frantically running around town doing errands and frantically running around the house trying to clean it and make Kory’s bed for his arrival home from his first semester at Baylor.  Somehow I got it in my head that his plane arrived in Boston at 5:30pm.  This was perfect, since we had tickets to a really special version of A Christmas Carol at 7:30pm in Concord, MA. We got on the road at about 3:45 after having to make two trips to the bank, since the teller forgot to give Robert back his driver’s license.  Kory texted about 30 minutes later: “On the ground in Boston!”

Boston is 80 miles from my house, and we had traveled only about 10 of those.

Robert had thought Kory’s pick up time was 3:45pm, and indeed it was ~ with a 30 minute delay due to snow in Boston.  I pulled up his itinerary, and 5:30 was not a time anywhere on the thing. So, Kory was right on time and I am crazy.  The poor kid had to wait in Boston for TWO AND A HALF HOURS before we arrived.  How’s that for a warm welcome home?

And I’m not even going to describe the traffic going out of Boston to Concord and how we missed the opening scene of the musical and how I was in tears over missing this long-planned-event and how everyone’s bladder was going to burst in the process and how we ate dinner at Denny’s at 11pm and got home at 1:30am.

Hordes and hordes of these

 Last night we planned a family shopping trip to the “big” mall half an hour from our house.  We knew we wouldn’t make it home in time for dinner, since the trip had to be after Cooper’s driving hours scheduled with his Driver’s Ed school that day.  We all had a great time, got most of our gifts purchased, and had a fun Mexican food dinner out.  Watched a movie when we got home while some of us took turns upstairs wrapping gifts. (Not me, though.  NONE of my gifts are wrapped, and only about half of them are purchased. Sigh…)

This morning I realized that while we were out having fun and accomplishing tasks we also missed Kayla’s final gymnastics class before the holidays, which she also missed last week due to being sick, which we also paid quite a lot of money for this semester.

I am losing my mind.

Gingerbread house-making supplies

 But it’s okay.  The Lord is teaching me to trust Him and not myself, and showing me that despite my failing at my to-do lists and obligations, HE is accomplishing things, and we’re having Christmas just like we always do.

There was a tea party ~ or “cupcake and cappuccino” party as we called it this year ~ for Kayla and friends, complete with a French theme. (And yes, I know that cappuccino is not really French.)  And it was complete with all the usual gingerbread-house-making, treat-eating, and craft-for-mom-creating.

Ready to be decorated by Kayla’s guests!

Madeline HAD to make an appearance at our France-inspired Christmas Tea Party

 We even managed a family cookie baking night for the 3rd Sunday in Advent.  Dad, Cooper, and Kayla ALL got in on the action, and while that is a bit stressful for me (I like to be in control of outcomes in the kitchen), it was nice to all be working together and listening to Dean Martin, Amy Grant, and Karen Carpenter sing our favorite Christmas tunes.

One of my favorite Susan Brach Cookbooks ~ opens to this page automatically!

 There was an eye doctor appointment which led to shopping for a new winter coat which led to Christmas shopping for siblings (and self!) and then a lunch at Whole Foods with Cooper, who is quite entertaining to be with at all times, except for when he texts people from my phone and says questionable things without making the true author of the text known. He’s a laugh a minute, that guy.

Did I mention it was an intense snowstorm and snow day for most while Cooper and I were shopping? This is the front of Whole Foods right as the snow started.

 More cookies were made in anticipation of my dad’s arrival Monday, and for dinner guests on Christmas Eve. ALL cookies are snug in the freezer, and I stationed an armed guard in the basement to protect them from pre-Christmas thieves.  Well, not really, but “out of sight” has so far resulted in “out of mind.”

 And while I don’t really have time for trying new recipes, let alone creating them, I have been sipping on a new form of “coffee” that was inspired by a recipe my friend Karla posted on Facebook, as well as a recipe my chiropractor sent out to patients for tea.

It’s delicious, and I look forward to a cup every afternoon if I am home and can spare a few moments to prepare it.  I haven’t had coffee since the beginning of October when I read about its cross-reactant properties with gluten, and I can tell a huge difference with digestion/tummy issues. Here’s the recipe:

1 1/2 cup coconut milk/almond milk
1/2 tsp tumeric
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cardamom (I LOVE cardamom!)
1/4 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp grass fed butter

Here’s a photo of the homecoming.  This was taken at about 10:30pm on Wednesday night AFTER the musical and BEFORE a late night Denny’s meal.  Aren’t they cute?  It’s so nice to have everyone home together for Christmas!

I hope you are not feeling as crazy I am right now.  Still so much to do here. Now, I’m off to shower and then head out to buy LOTS of groceries, ribbon, gift tags, gift cards, and a few remaining gifts.  We did manage to get our 250 Christmas cards in the mail early this morning on the way to the gym. Whew!

Here’s what I’m trying to keep in my heart and mind as I go about the dizzying list of tasks.  It’s what Scrooge said, or actually what he prayed, down on his knees, in Wednesday night’s beautiful performance, (based on Charles Dickens’ own spiritual transformation) when he finally understood what God was trying to reveal to Him all along…

How silently, how silently, the wondrous gift is given!
So God imparts to human hearts the blessing of His heaven.
No ear may hear His coming, but in this world of sin,
where meek souls will receive Him still, the dear Christ enters in.


O holy Child of Bethlehem, descend to us, we pray.
Cast out our sin and enter in, be born in us today.
We hear the Christmas angels, the great glad tidings tell
O come to us, abide with us, our Lord, Emmanuel.

Yes, descend to me, abide with me, enter in to my world of sin and chaos,  keeping my heart meek, soft, and open to You being WITH me, as I forge ahead in my own strength all too often to “do” Christmas.

I pray you are also able to experience His nearness despite the frantic pace, and will have a very merry weekend-before Christmas!