Christmas Week

This week is sure to be filled with massive amounts of joviality.  On Sunday I went to my parents' house for a quick visit.  It quickly turned into holiday bake fest 2010.  I made toll house squares, ginger molasses cookies, and 48 red velvet cupcakes.

This is what mom's kitchen looked like at 2 in the morning:



The next day I woke up and made candied bacon fudge.  Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of the final product.  Right as I was extracting hot, caramelized bacon from the oven, Atticus sent up a wail.  He wanted to be held, so I quickly finished assembling the fudge while tapping his bouncing seat with my foot and singing "Have a Holly Jolly Christmas."   The fudge was delicious and quite easy to make.



In addition to making fudge, I spent Monday running errands and cleaning.  I couldn't have gotten everything done with out Sam's help!  He truly is a lifesaver.  On Tuesday one of my closet friends from college, Amanda J., came for a visit.  We went to dinner and spent many hours chatting and catching up.  For Christmas, I gave her a copy of Antonia White's Frost in May and she devoured it that very evening.

Yesterday was fabulous!  I spent the morning talking with Amanda and then we went to Inman Perk for reading and more chatting.  That evening we had a huge reunion of all our college buds.  Many of my college friends hadn't seen Hope since she was in preschool!  It was especially wonderful because we had 3 people from out of state who were able to make it:  Amanda is in law school in Tennessee and Clarissa and Micki both live in California.



All of my friends adore Hope; in fact this group of college women practically raised Hope.  I had Hope my freshmen year of college and, as a single mother, I needed all the help I could get.  This wonderful group babysat Hope, spoiled her to pieces, and were there when things were tough.

The night also offered an opportunity for everyone to meet Atticus.  Little Man was overwhelmed by all the doting women so he stayed pretty close to mom and dad the entire night.



I'm exhausted from the past few days of excitement and preparation.  Today I'm going to spend the afternoon relaxing with the kids and then I'm off to a family holiday party at my grandmother's home.

Christmas is so close!!!!!  I can't wait!!!!!