We just celebrated Christmas at Thanksgiving with 7 of our away grandchildren. I had had big plans, but just as you experienced, unexpected things kept happening. I always make things for the grandchildren to put with the toys or other things, so they have come to expect it. What I ended up doing was making pajama bottoms for all 7 with a matching pillow case, and it was a big hit. I bought solid color tee shirts on sale at JoAnnis for $2 each to match. Although it may sound like a lot, they make up quickly. You can even wait to hem them until they have tried them on; I did this with a couple of them that I knew had grown a lot. Now I need to make these for our two grandsons who live near us. I love doing it, but next year I'm going to have to start earlier because I'm not as fast as I used to be:-)