Christmas prep is almost done

so far this month we've had two birthdays.  Erica, then the next day Timothy.
I keep forgetting that Timothy is 16!  the other day I was thinking about it and was just floored when I realized he is not 14 anymore.  I think it's harder for me to remember his age because he has been so very tall for so very long.  it's almost like he's frozen in the age he was when I noticed that he was much taller than me - not that achieving that height is difficult...

Erica is 19.  that's not hard for me to remember.  it's a constant reminder of my old age :)
next year she will be half my age and therefore I will be twice her age.  Ugh.
perhaps I shouldn't think of it like that but I just can't seem to help it.


so then Amy had her Gingerbread party.  yep, she made houses for the 19 year old 'kids'.  she didn't make one for the 6 month old so in total she made and assembled, for the kids' decoration pleasure, 17 gingerbread houses.
oh my!
I think next year those (then) 20 year old kids should help her bake and put them together instead of getting their own.   that still leaves 15 houses for her (them) to make.

but the biggest deal (apart from the birthdays and Christmas it's self) for me is that today I wrapped the last of the presents and I packed - in ziplocks - all the Christmas Stocking candy for each of the kids.
that way when Santa comes he won't have to stay awake until 2am sorting through the candy for 6 kids
I had this epiphany last year when I had a 6 week old baby and I was a bit sleep deprived and wanted to spend as much night actually sleeping, et voila! wonderful inspiration.
why oh why did it take me 18 years of motherhood to figure out that gem!

now I only need to pick up a few perishable items that I don't want to have for a week... I'll get some vegetables for a tray and some clementines that we all love and I need to get a pomegranate, mostly for Timothy, and a couple of other items and we're all set!  YAY