The holidays will always be a little different after these last few years. I don’t know about you, but we went from loud chaotic family gatherings, to quaint holidays with the people we live with, and now we’re wading back to the big loud family gatherings. We started new traditions, made the holidays about truly spending time together, and now we’re trying to get back to our old traditions while squishing in the new.
I’m thirty something, and these last couple years were the first times I was able to make a holiday dinner. I only cooked for our little family and maybe a couple to extra guests. It was a different kind of special. While I was able to make a holiday meal, it still didn’t feel right making the traditional family recipes without the whole family so we put our own spin on things. We smoked a turkey until it looked inedible, I found a spicy chorizo stuffing recipe that’s a total hit, we even made cranberries from scratch instead of popping open a can. It was all delicious, except that poor turkey.
This year will be a little different again, we’re all stuck home with a flu and the weather is truly frightful. We were supposed to be traveling today, instead we have to get scrappy and figure out a plan to make today special with what we have. Something we’re basically professionals at these days.
This Christmas I’m going to cherish my little family, and I’m going to look forward to seeing the rest of our family when we’re all well. It’s a big year of firsts for us too. Our littlest’s first Christmas ever. Our middlest’s first Christmas understanding a little bit more about what’s going on. Our oldest’s first Christmas where she can really help bring the magic and joy to her little sisters.
Let’s enjoy it all, the gatherings big and small, loud or quaint. Merry Christmas to all.
Written by, Brittany, the geek behind the blog. Sharing tips and stories from the trenches on navigating life homeschooling and homesteading as a stay at home mom.