In a moment of insanity, I took both Future Farmkids to the mall on the day after Christmas. To my surprise, we had a great time. It helped that the mall had indoor play areas and 50 cent rides. I managed to hit some after-Christmas sales and let my kids run off some steam on a cold day.
The best sale yet was on Christmas village figurines. I’m assembling the ingredients to make the snow globes I saw Farmgirl Martha making on her show. I’m only missing the glycerin and distilled water…and a few more jars.
I’m hoping to have this be a craft for the kids this weekend in Brown County. But, if I run out of time tomorrow and don’t get the lids painted, we may have to save this for a family activity next year.
We had a great time on Christmas, our first at home ever. We had a chance to visit our neighborhood shops and go to Christmas Eve service at our church, something we’ve never done (we’ve been out of town the last 10 years). The place was packed. Even though we were early (for us), we had to squeeze in a pew with an obstructed view of the pageant. Next time, we’re getting there even earlier.
Still, I missed being with our families on the big birthday celebration. It was good to be with our nuclear family, but I missed all the kitchen time with my sisters and sisters-in-law and, especially, my mother-in-law, who died in March. 
That’s probably why we overdid it a bit on our Christmas meal…a glutenous feast of New York Strip with Boursin & Merlot sauce, the biggest king crab legs I’ve ever had, Brussels sprouts and fully-loaded baked potatoes…Oh…and a tasty strawberry and Champagne cocktail.
We liked it so much we’re hosting a cocktail hour in our hotel room later this week to share it with the family.
Virtual Farmgirl 