Christmastime is Here

Greetings and Salutations! Merry Christmas! I’m back!

I hope you all had a very blessed Advent and Christmas.

While I missed blogging, and keeping up with all of your lovely blogs, I so enjoyed having more time for reflection and for spending quality time with Atticus after Maggie’s bedtime.

Taking a break made me realize how attached I am to the blog world, and a period of detachment helped me to see that while I love blogging, this world is just a very, very tiny fraction of the real world. Perspective is good.

So here’s what’s been happening in our little domestic church.

Maggie is pulling up now. She did it for the first time about a week before Christmas. She’s discovering new worlds on the couch cushions.

The view of our little hearth was particularly special to me. We have our stockings, each monogrammed with our first initial.

On the mantle, the nativity creche that my grandmother made for me.

As Christmas approached, Maggie became more interested in the tree.

On Christmas eve we attended a beautiful Mass at our parish, in which Maggie lasted much longer than we thought she would. A gift from her to us.

Christmas morning found our little one waking up to some new treasures.

At first she thought it was a piece of furniture, but once we put some toys in it, then she was really interested! Can’t wait to see how she plays with it when she gets bigger.

There was her first dolly.

And of course, the wrapping paper was the most fun of all!

On Christmas day Grandma, Grandpa, and Aunties came over for dinner and play time. A good time was had by all.

I was particularly pleased to receive a fluffy white robe, a brand-new silicon rolling pin (no more rolling pie crusts with a wine bottle for me!), a coveted face scrub, Fiesta ware, and some money with which to buy a new camera (thank God!, because ours stinks).

Atticus was happy to open a Notre Dame tie, a book on vegetable gardening, and Fr. Barron’s Catholicism DVD set, among others.

I’m making a list of books I want to read in 2012, and thinking about some blog posts for the new year.

In other words, things are good here. I pray they are for you as well.

Look for a picture post later this week from Maggie’s birthday, which is Wednesday. What a year it’s been!

Merry Christmas and lots of love,

Sarah