Tuesday, January 3, 2017

New Year's Weekend + More Christmas Celebrations

Oh what a week it’s been!  We have been cleaning out the house, putting away Christmas decorations, playing with new Christmas toys, and lazing around the house.  This past week I was off every day except for Wednesday and B was off every day except for Thursday, so we had a lot of time off together as a family, which was nice.



Thursday was spent cleaning out a few things around the house in the morning, and then we met B at Chuck E. Cheese on his lunch break so the kids could play.  It was nice to get out of the house with them, and B was able to take a long lunch, so the kids were able to burn off some energy for a couple of hours. 



Thursday evening was our last evening with my brother and his family before they headed back to Texas, and it also happened to be my bro’s birthday, so we met them at our favorite brewery downtown for dinner, and then we went back to my parents’ house for cake.  I snuggled my nephew extra hard because it could be another year before we see him again… he won’t even be a baby anymore by then.  :o(  The kids also enjoyed spending some time playing with him on the floor.  Olivia was completely enamored with him and both kids told us that they want a baby.  Haha.






Friday was another lazy day at home.  It was spent organizing the last of the new Christmas stuff and taking down the last of the Christmas decorations AKA the tree.  It’s always the very last thing that I take down.  I normally leave it up until New Year’s Day, but this year, I was just ready for a clean start.  Aaaand I didn’t want to be spending my New Year’s Day cleaning like I always do.  I posted this picture of my new gold Swell Bottle on Instagram... it was one of my gifts from B and it’s just so beautiful!  I can’t wait to chug-a-lug tons of water from it!


Friday evening we headed over to B’s dad’s to celebrate Christmas with him… B’s sister and her family live a couple of hours away, so we always wait until they come to town to celebrate with his side of the family.  We had another Christmas dinner, opened gifts, and spent time together.  Olivia got to spend loads of time with her cousin, Haley, and she was in heaven.  She and Haley are the only girl grandchildren in Brian’s family, and they are the bookends – Haley is the eldest at 17, then there were five boys born including Jacob, and then Olivia is the baby at 2.  Those girls have to stick together, I’d say… and they do!  And please note that there are zero pictures of Jacob from this Christmas celebration because he and all of his boy cousins were too busy running around to take pictures.  Every time I would even try, he would run in the other direction.  Sigh.



Saturday was New Year’s Eve, but we had one more Christmas celebration with Brian’s mom and step-dad before turning the holiday over to NYE.  We had a huge feast at their house for lunch, followed by opening loads and loads of gifts.  I mean, look at all of them!  I was so excited to receive a new gym bag that was on my Christmas wishlist, along with a couple of books I have been wanting, as well as a few other things.  One of the gifts I was most excited about is a new organizing tray for my office.  I didn’t even ask for it, but his mom just knows me too well!  I can’t wait to get it put together and organized! 




Once the Christmas portion of the celebration was over, we also celebrated my nephew, Braden’s, birthday as his birthday is the day after Christmas.  We have just been celebrating nonstop this past week, y’all!

Saturday afternoon and evening we kept it low-key… Olivia napped and Jacob played with some of his new toys.  I spent the afternoon putting away all of the new toys and clothes the kids had received at the last two celebrations, and then we went out to run a couple of errands. 

Bath & Body Works has had their semi-annual sale going on, and they had the three-wick candles for only $10 each.  $10 each, y’all!!!!  I was on a mission to grab a couple of the Champagne Toast candles since those are my favorite New Year’s scent, and I ended up getting the last three in the store!  As a matter of fact, the lady who checked me out said that people had been looking for them high and low and they had thought they didn’t have anymore, but they had just found three in the back and they had just put them out, so I had gotten there at just the right time!  She said both locations in our city have been sold out for a while now, so I got really lucky.  And they were only $10 each.  And I had a $10 off coupon!  Man, I sure do love a great deal!!


Anyhoo, after B&B Works we headed to Five Guys for a quick dinner, and then we ran to Walmart to let the kids spend some of their Christmas money.  Jacob opted for a car crusher to go along with his Hot Wheels set, and Olivia opted for yet another princess dress… this time it was Sleeping Beauty.  Although the sleeves ended up being really itchy so we ended up exchanging it the next day for an Elena of Avalor costume… who by the way I’ve never even heard of.  The dress is really cute, though! 

On the way home, we swung by the liquor store drive-thru to grab a bottle of Tito’s to make some Moscow Mules to have before our champagne toast at midnight.

When we got home, the kiddos started playing some more, and I was just getting ready to settle in to play with them, and I started feeling really nauseated (and no, I’m not pregnant, haha.).  I ended up feeling that way for the rest of the evening, so all of our festive Moscow Mule and Champagne dreams went out the window.  Instead, I put on my PJs, rocked Olivia to sleep (because she was petrified of the fireworks that our neighbors were doing), laid on the couch while B rubbed my feet, and we watched that train wreck of a performance that Mariah Carey had put on.  Did any of y’all see that?!  It was just awful.  We ended up staying up a little past midnight to get our NYE kiss (B was brave and kissed me even though I wasn’t feeling well) and then it was time for bed.





New Year’s Day didn’t start out any better as I was still feeling super nauseated, so I laid around and watched cartoons with the kids most of the morning, and then around lunch time I finally started coming out of my funk.  I have no idea what it was, but I’m just glad that a) I never threw up, b) that nobody else got sick, and c) that it’s over!!

It rained all the live long day New Year’s Day, so we were cooped up in the house for what seemed like forever (with the exception of about fifteen minutes where the kids were able to run out and play in the driveway when the rain slowed to a drizzle), and in the early evening we ran to Walmart to exchange that dress for Olivia, and then headed over to my parents’ house for dinner. 



My mom always cooks a traditional southern New Year’s Day dinner that consists of pork chops, rice, turnips or collards, black eyed peas, and corn bread.  I don’t know if you do anything like this when you’re not from the south, but this meal is what you’re supposed to eat on New Year’s Day to bring you good luck for the rest of the year!  The evening with family and wine and good food was quite welcome after our kind of dismal start to the new year.  My uncle and his girlfriend had not been able to join us on Christmas Eve, so we exchanged gifts with them that evening and the kids got a new game called Pop the Pig.  They LOVE it.



Fortunately both Brian’s and my employers observed New Year’s Day on Monday, so we had one last day together yesterday.  We started the day with donuts, and Olivia devoured hers while wearing her donut footsie PJs.  Hehe.



It rained nonstop again yesterday, so we took the kids to Chick-Fil-A for lunch so they could play on the indoor playground and burn some energy, and we also went to Lowe’s to grab some shelving for that downstairs closet that we added on in 2015.  B is installing them as I type this and I’m soooo excited!


The rest of the evening was spent having breakfast for dinner (including mimosas to use the champs that I couldn't drink on NYE), getting the kids bathed and back to bed at their regular time of 8 PM and watching TV.  We’ve all gotten way off track since we’ve had so many days off lately, so 6 AM is going to come very quickly every day this week.  Yuck.  



Once the kiddos were in bed, B and I flipped back and forth between college football and… The Bachelor!!!!  I suppose that’s the one redeeming quality about January… my favorite guilty pleasure is ba-aaaack! 

Happy Tuesday, all!  Enjoy the short week!  (If you have one, that is!)




*Linking up with Our Pretty Little Girls for Tuesday Talk.


22 comments:

  1. Your last two weeks have been filled of so much fun & family time! Hope today goes quickly for all of you! Yay for the Bachelor! Whoa, some of those girls are just crazy.

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  2. Girl, you have been BUSY! So sorry to hear that you weren't feeling well on NYE, but luckily it passed quickly! I have plans to take down my decorations this coming weekend and I am dreading it...so fun to put up and even though I am ready for a fresh, clean start, it's just not fun putting them away! Hope you have a great day back!

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  3. Woo-Hoo! Happy New Year! I'm so happy you're feeling better, Lindsay. I've been sick since Christmas Eve with that same nauseous feeling and just can't seem to shake it, but still trying to make the best of the New Year! Complete change of subject, Olivia's Moana costume is sooo cute. Where was that found? The Disney Store? Also, yay for The Bachelor! Nick is NOT my favorite, but I'll be watching for the drama, per usual! ;)

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  4. SO MUCH FUN!! Happy New Year! Glad you are feeling better and how in the world did I miss B&BW semi annual sale??
    And can you believe that I was born and raised in the South and I do not eat the traditional New Year's Day meal... I know just awful!!

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    1. Girl, head to B&BW immediately and load up! I don't think the candles are on sale anymore, but the semi annual sale is still going!

      And that's just blasphemy, Heather! You better go get you some collards and black eyed peas for good luck! Haha.

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  5. Wow, so much celebrating going on for you guys! How fun!! I cannot believe all those presents at B's Moms house! holy moly!! That's so odd you were feeling nauseous like that on NYE - I had the same thing happen to me a month ago where it came out of nowhere but felt sick to my stomach but it only lasted a day - so weird!! Oh you guys should watch the Alena show on Disney, it's really cute, my girls love it!

    It was so rough getting back into the swing of things today - Rick was home for 11 days so I was sleeping in, working out later in the day, just being lazy ha ha, now it's back up super early and I literally thought I blinked when it was time to get up today! Hope your week goes by quick :)

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  6. I was really eager to get back to normal today but I have to admit, we are taking it slow. Today is our last day of break so we may just stay in pajamas all day and do lots of cuddling.

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  7. I am so very happy that you had the best holiday break. I woke up today feeling a bit sad that our LONG family break is now over and we are back to reality. But, the tiniest part of me is almost ready for things to get back to normal. I hope your Tuesday is great!

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  8. Woohoo, what a fabulous holiday week! I just love how Christmas flows into New Year's and the celebrations continue. I always feel like I don't even know what day it is. I'm so looking forward to a fresh year too! Love everything about your time with family, soaking up that cousin/baby time and all the sweet traditions you have.

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  9. I'm so sad that all of the Holiday season shenanigans are over...and I ended up sick AND no short week for me.
    Glad you were able to snag 3 of your favorite candles. I picked up 2 and a few lotions and soaps.
    Hope you guys have a great short week!

    PS - Did you get my email? :)

    xo, Lily
    Beauty With Lily

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  10. Oh girl it went way too fast! Can you believe I still have not taken my tree down? I am still loving sitting by the lights at night but my husband said I've got to do it, LOL! You're gonna miss that sweet little nephew of yours. Aren't those Swell bottles the BEST! ! I sure hope 2017 is wonderful for you! I can't wait to see what you have in store on the blog and I know it's going to be a great year!

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    1. My mom hasn't taken hers down yet either, so don't feel bad. I would love to just leave mine up year round because it's just so darn festive! And yes, I'm going to miss Tuck so much. It's hard being so far away from them! Happy New Year, Andrea!

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  11. You're ahead of me with the unpacking. We are starting tonight but I was hoping to get a lot more done than we did. Looks like you guys were having a lot of fun. We did the same thing with taking the kids to Chuck E. Cheese. I met them over there on my lunch break. Unfortunately no time off for me this week :( I'm sorry to hear you weren't feeling well either. I'm still not 100% and just can't wait to be back to myself. On a happier note, Happy New Year! Beautifully Candid

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  12. Sorry to hear you weren't feeling well, but I'm glad that it was a short lived thing!! Yay for getting everything packed away and organized - your favorite thing I'm sure!! Happy Tuesday! xo, Biana -BlovedBoston

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  13. Wow so much happening with your family this weekend. Lots of good stuff. I am sorry that you felt sick on NYE. And thankfully no one else got sick. That would have been awful. Love your Cheers shirt. You are so brave for going to Chuck E. Cheese. I fear that place. Ha. Have a great week!

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  14. It looks like you had a fun, busy weekend! I love the new teepee and your Swell bottle. I love all things gold, so I'm a fan!

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    1. Thanks, Stef! Olivia is loving her teepee!! I'm loving it, too! The kids look so darn cute when they play in it together! Happy New Year!

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  15. What a great two weeks you guys have had, minus the feeling sick in the middle, but at least it passed an no one else got it. Christmas is still going strong at our house, mostly becasue we decided the kids got way too much at Christmas and we need to organize BAD! So we concentrated on that...which ended up being a good thing, minus now I still have loads of decorations to take down. Boo.

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  16. So much celebrating! That Bath and Body Works deal is insane! Our mall just opened a Bath and Body Works store that is JUST candles. I was there yesterday and had to go down the escalator so I wouldn't walk by it and spend a million dollars!

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  17. Oh, what a fun Christmas for you all! Isn't time with family just the best? And babies? I love that your kiddos told you they wanted one ;) I missed the candle deal?! Bath & Body Works are my favorite candles of all time, and their Christmas one are the best! We were gone when they had their big sale going on and so I missed out on getting three for $20 - such a good deal!! Enjoy your candles and I hope getting back to work is going smoothly.

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  18. You guys had such a fun wrap up of 2016! We do cabbage instead of greens here but NY day dinner is always one of my faves. My cousin we were staying with whipped up a cabbage dish I had never tried and it was so good. Happy New Year!

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  19. So much fun and family time! What part of Texas does your brother live in? I wonder if we’re (almost) neighbors. I have never smelled that Champagne Toast candle. I wonder if our B&BW are sold out. Sounds amazing! Love the photos. You always document so well with pictures.

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