Friday, December 26, 2008

Happy happy after-Christmas lull

We have fallen into a happy post-Christmas lull. How I love the feeling of getting to relax and play after the hustle-and-bustle of Christmas preparations (despite trying to keep everything simple and mellow, there is still a lot of stress and pressure. Is there any way to get around that?) I love this whole after-Christmas week for its simple pleasures.

I have to say that keeping the Christmas presents simple and limited worked so well for our boys. They weren't overwhelmed by tons of toys. They got something and time to play with it--that was so much more fun than being rushed by the adults to open gift after gift. There were some stocking stuffers, this farm and a wagon, and some books from family. It's just how Ken and I envisioned and planned it.
When I lay down with Rainer to nurse him on Christmas day I could see Dieter out in the living room playing so mellowly and focused-ly with the farm. It made my heart swell.

Today Dieter and I made some zucchini bread from our garden zucchini we froze way back in July (thanks for the tip, Libbey!). We're sending a loaf up to Ken's parents and keeping a loaf for ourselves. The boys each had a warm slice when we went on our evening stroller-walk. It was very storybook, in my opinion.



Now all we have to look forward to is more of the same. Good stuff, I tell you.

11 comments:

Melissa said...

How wonderful! I love the farm and wagon. I went overboard with gifts for O, which I realized as I was setting things up on Christmas Eve. She realized it, too, and she told us that Santa brought "too much toys!" Next year she wants only 1 or 2 things. Sometimes kids know best :)

Beth H said...

I was so happy to see that Grandma and Grandpa paired down their giving this year for our little one too!! So nice to open maybe 3 things that were nice instead of gobs of junk. He has also responded well.
By the way...the farm is awesome! Where did you get it?

Celia said...

Simple pleasures is the best description! Rainer seems to be havingt the best holidays at home! Hopefully you're all enjoying the Holidays together in your cozy, beautifully decorated home!

Anonymous said...

i love the wagon and barn! we did the same with miller...one really great gift ( a wooden kitchen) and then a few small stocking items and a play banjo. then we asked all the family to gift one item each (while most cheated)we still ended up with much less, and for us less certainly seems to = more!

Anonymous said...

where did you get the horses and wagon?

Mary Beth said...

Melissa--it is so interesting how the children instinctively know these things, much more than the adults sometimes. We can learn so much from them!

Kristi--the covered wagon and felt horses are from Magic Cabin.

Beth said...

How great! love that little farm and the wagon! We did a scaled back Christmas, each kiddo had 3 or so presents. Works out nicer that way.

Anonymous said...

where did you get the barn? i love it!!!

Mary Beth said...

Anonymous--the barn can be found here. It comes with a selection of wooden animals.

vincent said...

Someone got some nice presents! I love those horses...

Our Adventures As A Family of 4.... said...

MaryBeth,

Haven't seen you update your blog in a long time. Really enjoy reading it. Hope everything is going okay for you. Just was thinking about you and your son.

Take care and update when you can. Miss reading your blog.

Molly