Our Weekend – The One with Two More Christmases and New Year’s

Coming at y’all from yet another rainy, dreary day.  We’re on day seven?  eight?  of nonstop rain and clouds and our kids are getting crazier and crazier by the minute!  We were hoping for some pretty weather this last week of Christmas Break, but sadly, we’ve been cooped up in the house.  At least we have lots of new toys to keep us busy, though!

I already recapped Christmas here, so this post will continue from where we left off, the day after Christmas.

Wednesday, December 26

Wednesday was spent lazing around the house all day.  The kids played with their new toys all day while B and I relaxed.  We always let the Christmas mess remain for a day or so after Christmas and that was definitely the case this year.  The house was pretty much a disaster all day. 

We all put on real clothes long enough to head downtown for dinner to a new-to-us Japanese restaurant to surprise my brother for his birthday.  I had been wanting to go there for a while simply because it always looked so cute and inviting inside, and the atmosphere definitely didn’t disappoint.  Twinkle lights everywhere, y’all!  You know I’m a fan!  We aren’t big Japanese food eaters (I worked for a Japanese company for almost 15 years so I had my fill while working there), so B and I had actually never taken the kids anywhere for Japanese food.  They both got to use chopsticks for the first time so that was interesting.  Jacob’s method was to use two hands and Olivia’s method was to stab everything with one.  Haha.

Once dinner was over, we headed straight back home, put on PJs, put the kids to bed, and B and I watched The Hangover… one of our after-Christmas traditions.

Thursday, December 27

By Thursday I couldn’t stand the sight of the mess in the house anymore and I was itching to get it all cleaned up.  It pretty much took foreverrrr and I honestly thought I’d never get it done.  We took a break midway to the day to take the kids to see the new Wreck it Ralph Movie, Ralph Breaks the Internet, and it was really cute.  I actually liked it better than the first one.

After the movie was over, we ran to At Home to grab a couple of Christmas clearance items that I’ll need for next year, and then B took the kids home while I ran to Starbucks to meet my friend, Shelly, and one of our old friends and his wife for a late afternoon coffee date.  My friend Shelly (that you see in plenty of my pictures) and I met because we lived in the same neighborhood 25 years ago and we’ve been best friends ever since.  Our parents both still live across the street from each other.  :o)  I see her all the time because she still lives in town, but one of our old friends, Daniel, who also lived in our neighborhood growing up, doesn’t live here anymore.  He still comes home to visit his parents and they were in town for Christmas, so we all met up to hang out for a bit.  I’ve known him even longer than Shelly – probably for 28 years or so – and it was so great getting caught up.  It made me miss those old neighborhood days when we used to play flashlight tag and street hockey.  :o)

After our coffee date, I headed on home, cooked dinner, and then we opened Jacob’s new Hedbanz game that he had received from Santa for Christmas.  Our family of four had the best time playing.  Olivia was particularly cute because she is right on the verge of not being quite old enough for it, so it was funny to watch her learn to play.  You could practically see the wheels spinning in her little head each time it was her turn.

Once the kids were in bed, B and I watched the movie New Year’s Eve.  We had bought it on DVD years ago after seeing it in the theater when it came out, but we hadn’t watched it since then.  I had forgotten how good it was!  So cute!

Friday, December 28

Friday I still had a bit more clutter to clean up, and then I started all of the house cleaning, too – sweeping, mopping, etc.  I got all of the Christmas decorations down in the master bedroom, the kids’ bedrooms, and my office, and then I took a break to meet my Momma, aunt, and cousin at the movies to see Second Act.  Y’all, I knew little to nothing about that movie so I had virtually no expectations for it, but I LOVED it.  Jennifer Lopez is always fabulous in those romantic comedy types of movies.  It was great.

While I was at the movie, B took the kids to load up on fireworks for New Year’s Eve, and then when they were done, we all met back at home, loaded up in the car again, and headed to Old Chicago for pizza and beer for dinner. 

We still have to get to that restaurant pretty early on Fridays to get in without waiting a long time, so we were done by 6:30 which meant we had just enough time for a family movie night.  Jacob had just gotten The Lego Movie from Santa, so that’s what we watched.  I ended up falling asleep on the couch (as I often do) but the kids loved it.  Once they were in bed, B and I watched the movie Book Club.  Yes, he watched it with me!  Such a good hubs.  :o)  I had already seen it in the theater and I loved it so much my Momma and Daddy bought it for me for Christmas.  I mean, who doesn’t love Diane Keaton?!

Saturday, December 29

By Saturday the house was still half decorated for Christmas and still half in shambles.  There was still clutter everywhere and I was basically on a rampage to get it all completed, so I literally cleaned all day from 9 AM until 3 PM when it was time to get ready to go to my FIL’s to celebrate Christmas. 

I got the main tree down, I got all of the Christmas decorations cleaned out, organized, and put away, and I got the rest of the house swept, mopped, and vacuumed.  I was exhausted, but it was finally almost done.  Almost.  But not quite.  #NeverendingITellYou

The rest of the evening was spent at my FIL’s celebrating Christmas and then watching the boring football playoff games that should have included Georgia.  I actually love Notre Dame (probably because I’m Catholic) but I still can’t believe that they made it into the final four for the playoffs… yes, they were undefeated, but the fact that they don’t play in a conference (and therefore don’t play many decent teams) nor do they play for a conference title should have been considered when they were making that decision.  As we all predicted, they just couldn’t hang with the big boys and they got their hineys whooped by Clemson.  #WeALLSawItComing  And I laughed all night at the memes that kept popping up in my feed making fun of the playoff committee for their lopsided top four. 

Sunday, December 30

I spent the morning finishing up the cleaning – neverending, I told ya – and then we headed to my MIL and step-FIL’s Sunday to celebrate Christmas with them.  We always celebrate with B’s family late because we have to wait for his sister and her family to arrive since they live out of town.  We had a huge spread of deliciousness for lunch, and then we opened presents.  We also celebrated my nephew’s birthday since he was born on 12/26.

The rest of the evening was spent relaxing at home, and then B and I watched a Netflix original movie How it Ends.  It was pretty good, but I was pretty disappointed with the ending.

Monday, December 31

New Year’s Eve was pretty low-key.  We spent the whole day playing (I think Jacob put together every single Lego set he got!) and getting things done.  I did a brain dump in my new planner and got to work crossing things off.  This picture was taken towards the beginning, but I actually ended up crossing off about 75% of the things!  I love a good productive day after spending so much time not being productive! 

We headed out late in the afternoon to run a couple of errands – library book returns and a return to Kohl’s – and then we headed to my parents house for dinner.  My Momma had made Santa Fe soup and my faaaavorite appetizer Mexican dip that she always makes on NYE and we enjoyed margs, too!  As you know, my oldest brother and sister-in-law, and their kiddos now live here again, so they now get to come to all of the family dinners again!!  So wonderful!

After dinner had been cleaned up, we all headed back over to our house to shoot fireworks.  It had been dreary/rainy all day so we weren’t sure we’d even be able to do them, but the rain stopped long enough for us to get them all done.  I should also mention that it’s been freakishly warm this past week here, too.  I promise we don’t neglect our children (Olivia’s bare feet!).  Hehe.

It’s legal in Georgia to shoot the full-size fireworks, so we had quite a display.  Olivia is usually terrified of them – she spent the entire Fourth of July holed up in the living room with my Dad watching cartoons on BLAST so she didn’t have to hear them – but she was so brave this time for some reason.  We’ll see if it lasts until next Fourth of July!

After the show was over, it started to rain again, so we all went inside and watched a very rainy New Year’s Rockin’ Eve from Times Square on TV.  Ryan Seacrest was rocking his University of Georgia scarf and naturally we thought it was a hoot since we’re diehard fans, too. 

My momma and daddy, bro, SIL, niece, and nephew all left around 10 and then B and I got the kids in the bed and rang in the new year with Moscow Mules, just the two of us.  And these Snapchat filters made B look like a woman and made me look like a totally different person.  Lol.

Tuesday, January 1

Monday was spent relaxing, playing, and staying inside YET AGAIN because – rain.  I spent a little more time crossing some more things off of my to do list, and then late in the afternoon we all got ready and headed over to my parents house again for our traditional New Year’s Day dinner – pork chops, rice and gravy, black eyed peas, turnips, and corn bread.  If you’re not from the south, you probably don’t understand, but us southerners eat this every New Year’s Day for good luck and prosperity in the new year.  :o)

We headed home around 8:15 and got the kids in the bed so we could watch Georgia play in our bowl game.  Our boys were definitely still reeling from our loss to Bama and they barely showed up, and Texas was there to PLAY, so we ended up getting beaten.  Womp womp.  Hopefully that’ll be our one and only loss in 2019. 

Wednesday, January 2, 2019

B had to go back to work for the first time since before Christmas, so the kids and I stayed at home for yet another rainy day.  We did step out to get groceries, and then it was back home for Hedbanz, Candy Land, A Night at the Museum (a game that the kids made up), and playing in a “band.”  Jacob on the drums, Olivia on guitar, and Mommy on the tambourine… boy, was that a sight to see! 

Today it’s supposed to rain… again, so who knows what we’ll be up to!  One thing I know for sure, is we probably won’t be playing outside yet again!  EEKS!  Send wine!