A friend shared this post on Facebook right after Thanksgiving and it made me laugh so hard. The funny part is that I am so torn about how I feel about the whole thing. I have zero desire to have our sweet little elf create a mess that I'm required to clean up. I don't want his antics to take any sort of significant amount of time or energy on my part to execute at night before bed. I didn't want to feel bad when I inevitably forgot that he needed to travel home one night, because I was sure that it would happen and I would be forced to explain why he was hanging out in the same spot for another day. The other part of me knows how my children look forward to this. The first thing Ella says every morning in December is "Where is Scout? Have you seen him yet?!" I'm trying to create the best ...
Christmas
The Day After Aftermath
The day after Christmas is one of the days I look forward to most. There is still a Christmas tree and there isn't anywhere to go or do that you don't want to. There is candy for breakfast and you can wear your pjs and strew your toys all over the house without getting into trouble. Don't get me wrong, I love the excitement and magic of Christmas morning, but the relaxation of the aftermath is pretty fantastic. A few years ago we started celebrating with my parents the evening after Christmas. This year, they came over bright and early to deliver a very special gift for the girls. There was a TON of squealing and jumping up and down and cheering when this Hello Kitty paper came off. I think Josh was a little upset that the jumping capacity won't allow us to participate. Heck, I'm ...
Our "Merry Christmas" Morning
When we last left off, this is what things looked like around here. For whatever reason, after the girls went to bed on Christmas Eve I started to panic about what my photos would look like. I hate using the flash, I was worried about things being blurry without it, my video camera would be on the tripod so that was out. I think I just like to worry in general. I decided I should shoot Christmas morning in manual mode. For the first time. I sat down with my camera manual and figured it out. Sort of. Granted, many of these have a smidge of blur and they are far from perfect -- they are MUCH brighter and prettier than any of our previous Christmas celebrations. So, I'm trying to have no regrets and just go with it. Now onto the big day! I woke up at 5:30. I made coffee, pigs in a blanket ...
Twas the Night Before Christmas
When Scout came to visit on the morning of Christmas Eve he left the girls a note, so they knew to expect a little surprise from him when we got home from Nana's and Communion later in the evening. True to his word, Scout was on the living room buffet with a pretty package for the girls. Can you tell they were excited? On top of the gift was a silver key just for Santa so that he could let himself in since we don't have any working fire places in our home. It took some discussion to determine just what the key was for, but Ella was really excited once we all talked about it. She was puzzled that it wouldn't fit in the front door, but decided that it must mean when Santa touched the key it was magically transformed. We were all about the magic of Christmas this year. They also got ...
Christmas at Nana’s
On Christmas Eve, we always celebrate with Josh's parents. His mom cooks the BEST lunch -- country cooked ham, chicken & dressing, macaroni & cheese, lots of veggies that I avoid on principle, rolls and lots of homemade desserts. We all pretty much stalk the kitchen until the dressing is out of the oven and then eat way too much. This year, Ella wasn't feeling well and we knew she had an ear infection in at least one ear. We were waiting to hear back from the nurse, but I felt sure we would be traveling into town to the after hours clinic at some point in the afternoon. We ate quickly and opened gifts early so that she wouldn't miss any of the important parts of the day. We knew that Sophie was going to be fun at Christmas this year. At twenty months old, she's the perfect age to ...
Catch him if you can!
The night before Christmas Eve, we were cleaning house, wrapping presents and eating pizza as a family when we heard sirens. I did a double-take and realized that they didn't sound like warning sirens and that Santa Clause must be in the neighborhood! We went out on the porch and could see him a good ways in the distance making his way towards our house. When we realized that his entourage was going to miss our house (we are only one of a few which face the road and he took the street behind us instead), we started grabbing mittens and boots and threw ourselves in the car. A few neighborhoods away, we found him. Sophie held onto Josh so tight, but both girls were excited to see him so close to Christmas! ...
What Christmas Looked Like
I had big plans to go overboard with the Christmas decorations this year. I made a schedule for the blog in December to keep myself on track and I found a bunch of really cute ideas on Pinterest. Remind me next year not to take a vacation in December and then wonder why I don't have enough time to get it all done! We barely managed to secure the list of must-haves for underneath our tree, so things like unnecessary live garlands over the arch just had to wait. I even considered doing some decorating on Monday, after the fact, but we were so exhausted that it never materialized. It seems a little silly to add decorations on the 28th, so I'm going to file these really good ideas away for next year. I did have some pretty sweet vignettes to share with you, though. ...
the Good, the Bad and the Ugly
Since you guys seem to like the "real" posts the most, I thought I'd start there with our Christmas recap. For those of you who are my friends on Facebook, you might have already seen an abbreviated version, but this still shouldn't disappoint. Let me start by saying we had a fabulous Christmas and we are still very much enjoying our wilted Christmas tree and lazy days at home together. I'm off work until next Tuesday and even though Josh is working (locked in the bedroom while we have fun without him), it's nice to eat breakfast and lunch with him and have a few moments throughout the day as he takes a break. The girls got everything they wished for this Christmas and it is all still strewn around the living room floor. This is the only week of the year when piles of toys and evergreen ...