*As previously published on Hybrid Mom

It is so funny how things are now. My kids are coming home from far away places to gather for the holidays…Geez it seems to happen so fast that we as parents are sitting on ‚the other side.‛ Just this week we heard our youngest son got into college … for pete’s sake empty nest is around the corner. What happened to my babies? Of course we all know what blood, sweat and tears goes into raising our children, but hindsight is so blury for me. Now my husband and I are so sentimental about little kids. Last night he invited this adorable family to our house for dinner. Their kids are 3 and 20 months. My two older kids shared the fun with us and we all sat at the table and enjoyed lasagna I made since their mom told me it was one of their favorites. Their three-year-old daughter did a mini concert of Christmas songs for us and we were all in love. What a treat! I thought about how much fun they will have at Christmas! With my ‘old kids’ we have to wake them up Christmas morning or it easily turns into the afternoon before we see them. The years of ‘holding them back’ were so fun! Enjoy those little ones – they will be all grown up before you know it.

To get into the holiday spirit, I made a few pies for my neighbors and I thought I would share a few pictures.

Happy Holidays!!