"The best Christmas EVER!"

That's exactly what Lilliput told me today. I felt so proud. We had a self-imposed lean Christmas since I had lost my job and our income took a drastic nosedive. We didn't buy for each other although we did end up getting something small. I got him an I*tunes gift card and I picked out some Ru**ermaid storage containers.

Once we wrapped Lilliputs gifts, I panicked because there wasn't much under the tree. However, we bought smartly getting only two items she asked for (accordion and guitar). The other gifts were games, mosaic travel unit, mosaic designs to color and HUGE set of markers, Cr*cs were 50% off so I got her two pair, one outfit for school, and a few games that will be challenging for her. All things she enjoys. As you see, it wasn't much...so when she told me it was the best Christmas ever, I was truly proud. Of her, and of us.

We are going on a 7-day cruise with my whole family in February. We've been trying to scrape together the spending money for this trip. Our trip is paid for. My parents are taking the whole family as a celebration of their 50th anniversary. We are really excited and know that Lilliput will have so much fun with her cousin and will get to go to the beach!

Thus, our Christmas was lean. We spent the second half of the day with his family and it was unusually enjoyable. Lilliput was lavished with gifts from aunts, uncles, and cousins. We had made everyone aware that we would not be buying for anyone but Lilliput and asked them to please honor our request for no gifts this year. We just couldn't afford it. We were blessed despite our request. Instead of feeling angry or embarrassed that our request was not observed...I accepted their generosity with graciousness and appreciation. That's what family is for.

We've had quality family time with Lilliput and we still have two days to go! I hope to do some more baking with Lilliput on Sunday. I'm catching up on laundry and digging out summer clothes to get ready for the cruise.

We have found childcare so that He and I can go out alone for our 9th anniversary on the 30th. I'm hoping for a dinner and a movie...but we'll see. He still has to work next week as does the family that Lilliput will be staying with. We'll see...I'm all about being lean right now.

I hope everyone has had a blessed Christmas!