Being on your own with the kids for the Holidays 101

Things I have learned about doing Christmas and the Holidays without the help of my spouse:
1.Wrap presents as you get them, otherwise you will forget how much you have already bought and won't notice that the pile of toys in the back of the closet is getting increasingly bigger.
2. Things that require batteries, or have lots of those little plastic cords keeping the toy in the box should be opened prior to Christmas day and assembled in order to insure that Mom is not spending 3 hours opening those things. (yes this did happen)
3. Buy toys that come in one piece, not toys that have 109 extra pieces, even if you think your child will like it... YOU WILL REGRET IT! (see number 2)
4. Plan to be home a full day to allow your children to play with their toys, and don't expect them to want to share their toys (especially if they are 3) even days later with their cousins that are 6, so don't allow them to take on the trip!
5. Leave on road trips as early as possible to avoid all the other crazy people like yourself that are going to visit others for the Holidays, or just plan to be in the car sitting in traffic for awhile and find ways to amuse three kids. (which we did)

That's just 5 things, I'm sure I could name some more. It seems Christmas creeped up slowly, and ever since time has flewn by! I will post pictures later. We spent two days at home the went to see my sister Marilyn up in Maryland. We had a lot of fun. Eliza especially loved their cats, and the kids had fun seeing their cousins. We got home yesterday and have had a nice start to the New Year. We talked to Josh several times over the Holidays, and that was nice to hear his voice. We miss him a lot, and are now on the final stretch and counting down the days till he returns, which should be by the end of this month! YEAH! Anyway, I'm also counting the days until my 29th Birthday! (yes I'm 29, and can't believe it!) I plan to have all of my best girlfriends that live here over for movies and pizza, and of course cake, and lots of junk food, it should be fun!