I just noticed a bunch of pictures left on my camera. Here are the last of the holiday photos:Making cookies on Christmas Eve for Santa. And mommy.
Smoked turkey leg with no teeth. The best!
Dude, Santa totally came to our house!

The interior of the house has been stripped of all things Christmas, and I feel kind of melancholy about it. We had such a great month and memorable, relaxing holiday. It wasn't hard to beat last year, what with Mitch recovering from surgery and heavily medicated, piles of moving boxes everywhere, the kids trying to make friends in a new school, etc. My mom came for Christmas last year also, but arrived with pneumonia, so there was that, too. Here are a few pics from the past month. Above, the girls were helping to make Christmas candy for the neighbors. And when I say helping, I think everyone knows what I mean. Below is a pic of our annual gingerbread house. This is one of my least favorite holiday traditions, but Mitch and the kids love it. Hmmm, let's see. Mitch designs it (thank GOD for that master's in architecture), the kids frost and decorate it. I get to shop for all the stuff, make the dough, painstakingly measure out the dough as per Mitch's blueprint, bake it, and assemble it. With real candy stained glass windows! I can't believe I didn't get a close up of the gumdrop Jesus Henry made hanging above the doors of the cathedral. This year, it ended up making our New Year's bonfire smell delicious. Not my gumdrop Jesus!

My ginormous first ever fake tree. Yep, we had two Christmas trees this year, and that's a lotta freaking ornaments to put away. It took me two days. I would love to have a Christmas tree in every room, but the divorce rate is already way too high for that. Wishing you peace and better hair than any of us have on this windy ferry ride in the New Year. Oh yeah, and damn you, Santa, for bringing a new Candyland game into our home. Damn you to the South Pole.