My little sis and her family are here for a visit and it has been like Christmas again. Tonight my nephew Todd is sleeping over and all the kids are sleeping in Luke’s room and as we turned off the lights and I told them to get ready for bed Drew said “Tomorrow when we wake up – it’s Christmas!” So just having his cousins around is like Christmas. Here is a picture of them all jumping on Nini’s bed.

This looks like a really good recipe I am planning on trying. Maybe it’s just late and I’m hungry. Off to bed to dream of chocolate and oatmeal 🙂

RECIPE INGREDIENTS
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons butter or margarine, softened, divided
2 cups packed brown sugar
2 eggs
4 teaspoons vanilla extract, divided
3 cups quick-cooking oats
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt, divided
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk
2 cups (12 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup chopped walnuts
RECIPE METHOD
In a mixing bowl, cream 1 cup butter and brown sugar. Beat in eggs and 2 teaspoons vanilla. Combine the oats, flour, 1 teaspoon salt and baking soda; stir into creamed mixture.
Press two-thirds of oat mixture into a greased 15-in. x 10-in. x 1-in. baking pan.
In a saucepan, combine milk, chocolate chips and remaining butter and salt. Cook and stir over low heat until chocolate is melted. Remove from the heat; stir in walnuts and remaining vanilla.
Spread over crust. Sprinkle with remaining oat mixture. Bake at 350 degrees F for 25 minutes or until golden brown. Cool. Cut into squares.

As I was cooking and cleaning and wrapping presents on Christmas Eve morning I was frustrated with the fact that I had 

1 -waited until the last minute to finish everything up

 2- been so busy that Christmas had gotten here so quickly and I hadn’t done everything Martha Stewart would have 

3- I was frustrated that I was frustrated.  

I “knew” that Christmas wasn’t about having a house that Pottery Barn would photo, or a meal that would make Rachael Ray proud or presents wrapped with perfect bows, but that was my focus that morning.  I finally stopped be snippy, took a deep breath decided I was going to ENJOY being busy.  God brought to my mind all the people who would love to have a house to clean, food to prepare, and presents to wrap.  I thought of  exhausted, worried parents sitting by a child’s bed in a hospital and hearing my little angels fight didn’t seem so frustrating.  I thought of elderly people sitting by the window in the nursing home waiting for someone to come by and decided a houseful of family sounded nice.  I thought of the couples broken by divorce and I cherished my husband a little more.  I wish I could say I stopped all the craziness completely and got my focus intently on Jesus but I did gain a new perspective.  I did continue to clean and cook and wrap but I did it with a joy that I had lost a few hours before.  The house wasn’t spotless and most of the presents didn’t have bows but Mama was happy and you know what happens when Mama ain’t happy . . .

Hope everyone else had a great Christmas and enjoyed the season of life God has blessed you with no matter how crazy it seems at the time.  Sometimes you just have to breath and let God give you a new perspective.