If you’re a fan of the Little House on the Prairie books, you may remember Ma Ingalls speaking of a “whirl of gaiety”. That phrase perfectly describes the scene at our house these last several days . . .

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day have their own special excitement but, this year, our festivities lasted even beyond those days because we had an additional celebration with the extended family on December 26th.

On the day after Christmas, we drove to Cape Cod for a bonus day of feasting and merriment with my siblings and their families. Some of you know that I am the oldest of six “kids” and when we all get together with our spouses and children, we number 25 or so – depending on whether anyone has to work that day.

But even if there hadn’t been an extra day of partying, the 26th of December is always a special day at our house – it’s my daughter’s birthday. I know – probably not the best day of the year to have a birthday. Poor kid. Most December babies are used to receiving a birthday gift wrapped in Christmas paper, or a gift that’s presented with the words: “This is for Christmas and your birthday!” But imagine how tough it is to be born the day AFTER the big celebration! I remember when I was registering her for kindergarten. The new teacher looked me in the eye and said in a serious tone, “You really didn’t plan that very well!”

I had to chuckle silently. I don’t believe we were thinking of birthdays on that particular evening . . . ahem! 😉

Anyway, it was a lovely Christmas season.

Now we’re looking forward to a new year with new projects, new pastimes, and maybe even some new adventures!

How did you spend the holidays? 🙂

Hugs,