Our Week - The One with Spend the Night Company, Ice Skating, New Year’s Eve, and Two More Christmases

We had another amazing week of Christmas break, and I’m recapping all of the goodness today!  

Monday, December 26

Monday was the day after Christmas, so we had zero plans, and we ended up staying home all day long.  It takes me forever to get down all of our Christmas stuff since I put so much up, so I spent the entire morning taking down all of the décor upstairs – my office, our bedroom, Jacob’s bedroom, and Olivia’s bedroom.  I managed to get it all down, and by the end my back was killing me, so I spent some time laying on the bed afterward.  Haha.  #OldLadyStatus

Meanwhile, the kids played with all of their new stuff all morning.  We had a light lunch at home, and then after that, I worked on blog stuff for a bit before getting ready for the day and heading to Publix for a few things we needed. 

I cooked dinner Monday night, and then we watched some more of the Lego Masters holiday special + Handmaid’s Tale for B and me after the kiddos went to bed.

 

Tuesday, December 27

Tuesday morning, I took down all of the Christmas decorations downstairs (aside from our main tree), and then we all got ready for the day.  The boys had a day date planned to go see Avatar with my father-in-law, and if you’ve seen anything about that movie then you know it’s pretty much an all-day commitment because it’s so long.  Haha. 

Since the boys had plans to do that, Olivia and I planned a girls day out, and I let her make all of the plans.  First up, we headed to Walmart and Target to exchange a couple of items that we’d bought for Olivia for Christmas.  She asked for “fancy, comfortable clothes” so I bought her a few things I thought she’d like, and the sizing was off for two of the items. 

We were able to exchange one of the items at Walmart for the right size, but the shirt I’d bought at Target was out of stock, so I let her pick out something else instead. 

After Target, it was lunchtime, and Olivia chose Panera.  I got a sandwich and soup, and she opted for the mac n cheese (theirs is soooo good) and we chatted and ate together.  And of course, we had to get in a good cheers with our cups.  I love spending one-on-one time with my girl!  ;o) 

After lunch, Olivia wanted to go get pedicures, but I couldn’t make that work with my tight jeans, so we opted to do manicures instead.  Olivia picked out silver and gold nail polish for New Year’s Eve, and I went with white because that’s my go-to color.

While we were out and about, Olivia had requested to listen to Mariah Carey.  She looooves All I Want for Christmas is You, so I put on Mariah’s greatest hits album and we jammed all day to all of the classics.  I have been a HUGE Mariah Carey fan since I was about Olivia’s age, so it felt like I had come full circle playing all of those songs for her.  And she loved all of them which made my heart so happy!

When we got home, we had the Mariah Carey Christmas special to watch that we’d recorded earlier in the Christmas season, so Olivia and I finished watching that while the boys finished up with their movie. 

The boys got home just as we finished the show, and then Jacob and Olivia played some video games for a bit before heading outside to play to round out the afternoon.  It was so cold for the first part of Christmas break, so the kids didn’t get much outdoor time.  We were thankful that it finally warmed up to 50 degrees on Tuesday so they could get some fresh air.

I worked in my office while they played, and then I cooked dinner.  After dinner, we played the kids’ new Disney trivia game that my brother got them for Christmas, and then the kids got showered and ready for bed while I did a stair stepper and arms workout.

Once they were ready for bed, it was more of the Lego Masters holiday special and then two episodes of Handmaid’s Tale for B and me.

 

Wednesday, December 28

Wednesday morning, Brian and I got the main tree down in the living room.  It always takes forever, and it makes a huge mess, so I was dreading it. 

Once the tree was down, we had lunch, and then Brian took the kids to get fireworks for New Year’s Eve so I could have the house to myself to get all of the deep cleaning done – vacuuming, dusting, mopping, cleaning toilets and countertops, etc.  So awesome to have a clean slate!

I finished up just as they got home, and I jumped in the shower before spending a few minutes in my office working on some blog stuff.  It was a no makeup or hair styling kind of day...

Wednesday evening, I cooked dinner, and then I spent some time in my office planning New Year’s Eve food while the kiddos got showered and ready for bed. 

We watched a few more minutes of the Lego Masters holiday special after that followed by two more episodes of Handmaid’s Tale. 

 

Thursday, December 29

Thursday morning, I worked on some blog stuff after breakfast, and then I got in a cardio workout.  After my workout, I got showered and ready, and then Olivia’s friend, Cami, was dropped off at our house to stay the night.  Jacob and Olivia have spent the night at grandparents’ houses, and we’ve had my nephew spend the night over here, but this was Olivia’s first time having spend the night company that wasn’t family. 

We all had lunch together shortly after Cami arrived, and then the girls spent the rest of the day doing each other’s makeup, dressing up, playing, and crafting… just living their best lives!

Brian and Jacob played poker for a while, and Jacob played some video games, and I spent the entire afternoon in my office catching up on blog stuff.  The blog definitely goes on the back burner during Christmas break, but this year was worse than ever, I think.  I had soooo much catching up to do! 

Late in the afternoon, I made a trip to the Walmart Market down the street to pick up everything we needed for New Year’s Eve, and on the way out, I saw one of my old coworkers who I hadn’t seen since I left five years ago.  He and I ended up chatting in the parking lot forever, and it was so good seeing him. 

By the time I got home, it was dinnertime, so B headed out to pick up Chinese food.  Then, after dinner, all three kiddos went upstairs to watch a movie, and I got them all set up with popcorn, candy, and drinks. 

While they watched their movie, I spent that time in my office prepping my blog content calendar for 2023.  I ended up getting the entire thing printed, added to my planner, and prepped for the whole year, leaving a few blank days here and there so I can add content as I come up with it… it was a hugely (unplanned) successful evening.  I felt so accomplished and relieved.  I typically have this done much earlier in December, so I was sweating getting it done in time for the new year.

After the kids’ movie was done, we got them all in the bed, but Olivia and Cami ended up staying up pretty late chatting.  B and I watched one episode of Handmaid’s Tale, and by the time we went to bed at 11, the girls were out cold. 

 

Friday, December 30

Thursday evening, Cami had informed me that she wakes up at 5 AM every day (WHAT?!), so I was worried we’d all be up extra early on Friday, but thankfully, the girls slept until 6:20 AM (still waaaay too early) and they played quietly in Olivia’s room until I finally pulled myself out of bed at 7:45 AM. 

I made some French toast and fruit for everyone for breakfast, and then I got in a yoga workout before showering for the day.

Cami’s mom came to pick her up around 11 AM, and then B and the kids and I all had a light lunch at home after she left.  

The early part of Friday afternoon was spent doing some laundry, and then at 2:30 PM, we met my friends Jeannine and Khristina and their kiddos to ice skate.  I hadn’t ice skated in, like, 20 years, and the kids had never ice skated, so I knew it would be an interesting afternoon.  Haha. 

Thankfully, our place here in town has those little boxes with handles that you can push around the ice to help you keep your balance, and the kiddos were able to use those the entire time.  I struggled when I first got out there, too, so I used one of the boxes to push myself around the rink once to get the feel for things again, and then after that, I was good to go. 

By the time we left, I was whizzing around pretty good!  I guess it’s just like riding a bike!  You never really fully forget once you get the hang of it.  And I rollerbladed a TON as a kid, too, so I’m sure that’s why it was easier for me to pick it right back up.  We used to play street hockey on rollerblades in my neighborhood when I was in my early teens, so I had tons of experience on inline skates.

Both of our kiddos ended up LOVING it and I was so proud of them for trying something new and sticking with it.  Jacob has a tendency to be afraid of new things like that, and if he struggles, he sometimes wants to give up, but he didn’t give up on this even after falling a couple of times.  We ended up having to coerce him and Olivia to get off the ice because they didn’t want to leave.  Haha.

By the time we got home, it was nearly dinnertime, so B headed back out to pick up pizza, and I tackled a couple more things in my office.

After dinner, it was showers for the kids, more Lego Masters, and more Handmaid’s Tale.

 

Saturday, December 31

Saturday morning, I made homemade waffles for breakfast, and then we watched College GameDay since all of the bowl games and playoff games were on.  I also spent some time decorating for New Year’s Eve since we were hosting a party for family Saturday night.

We finally celebrated Christmas with B’s family New Year’s weekend since we always wait for his sister to come to town since she doesn’t live here.  First up, was Christmas at my father-in-law’s house at noon.  He picked up a Honey Baked Ham, and we all made some sides, and we ate lunch and opened presents and watched the Alabama vs. K State game.  Side note, Olivia is wearing my old sweatshirt from when I was her age.  <3

By the time we got home, it was time to start prepping for our New Year’s Eve party, but I had to make yet another Publix run to grab a couple of last-minute items.  Naturally, it was a madhouse.  I saw yet another old coworker, though – not from my last job, but from my second job ever – and I hadn’t seen him in 20 years, so we had a lot of catching up to do, too.

By the time I got home, it was time to get rolling on making all of the food.  We did mini pizzas, mozzarella sticks, ham and cheese sliders, homemade guac, a fruit tray, and a dessert board, and my Momma brought over meatballs, pigs in a blanket, and her famous taco dip, so we had quite a spread.

Everyone arrived between 7 and 7:30, and we had a slightly larger gathering this year – the four of us, my parents, Brian’s mom and dad, and his sister and two of her three kiddos. 

The Georgia/Ohio State playoff game was on at 8, so we all settled in for that after dinner, and it was stressssful.  Georgia did not bring their A game, and there were several times throughout the night when I thought for sure we were going to lose. 

My uncle is a huge Ohio State fan, so he and I texted back and forth all night, and every time they would score, he would text me and say, “I love you.”  Hahahaha. 

At halftime, we took a break from the game to shoot fireworks in our back yard, and then after that, my MIL and SIL and niece and nephew all left.

My parents and FIL and the kids and I settled in for the second half of the game, and it was even uglier than the first half.  I was so stressed out that I got up and started putting away all of the food and cleaning and stuff because that’s what I do when we’re losing.  Haha.

Just before midnight, I knew the game wasn’t going to be over in time to watch the ball drop, so we went ahead and got our champagne ready to toast anyway, even though I had a feeling we’d be toasting to a losing game. 

Somehow, Georgia managed to pull off a miracle and pull ahead by one point with less than a minute to go, though, but then Ohio State marched right back down the field and got into field goal position with just a few seconds left.  I knew at that point that it was over – we were going to lose – but then another miracle happened literally as the clock was striking midnight, and the Ohio State kicker botched the kick and the ball hooked hard to the left and they missed the field goal, giving Georgia another win to advance to the National Championship yet again. 

WE COULD NOT BELIEVE IT, and you should have heard the noise in our house.  All of us were screaming and shouting.  My mom had set up her camera to record our toast at midnight and she ended up getting the whole thing on video unbeknownst to us, and it’s a video that I’ll treasure forever.  Our reactions are just priceless. 

Once everyone had settled down, we got in a proper New Year’s Eve toast, and then my parents and my father-in-law all left to go home.  We had some of the densest fog I’ve ever seen in my life on New Year’s Eve night, and the drive home was just horrible for all of our family.  My mom said that she had to roll down the window and hang her head out to direct my dad how to go.  She said they couldn’t see anything. 

Our neighbors a few doors down started shooting full-size huge fireworks at midnight and we literally couldn’t even see them because the fog was so thick.  We could barely see the trees in our front yard… it was crazy.

Thankfully, all of our family made it home safe and sound even though it took them twice the time to get there since they had to drive so slowly.

We were all pumped and didn’t get in the bed until nearly 2 AM, and I may have drunk more than half of the bottle of champagne, but OH WHAT A NIGHT.  That was my first time ever missing the ball drop at midnight on New Year’s Eve, but it was so much better watching Georgia get that win than anything else.  And the kids declared it their favorite New Year’s Eve ever, so it was definitely a success!

 

Sunday, January 1

New Year’s Day morning, I got out of bed at 9 feeling a bit on the struggle bus.  I headed down to make some cinnamon rolls, and then Jacob came downstairs at 9:40 which is suuuuper late for him since he’s our early riser.  Olivia finally rolled out of bed at 11 AM – hahahaha – I couldn’t believe how late she slept.

At breakfast, I chugged a ton of water, and then afterward, I got in a pretty hard cardio workout to kick off the year on a healthy note, and then we all headed to my MIL and step-FIL’s to celebrate Christmas one final time. 

They made a huge spread of food, we opened gifts, we spent some time outside, and then we headed home where I did some more blog work.

My Momma cooked our traditional Southern New Year’s Day dinner – pork chops, rice, black eyed peas, turnips (sometimes she does collards, too), and cornbread, and we ate our good luck meal for the new year.

We got the kids in bed early, just before 9 on Sunday, and then B and I watched a Handmaid’s Tale before heading to bed early ourselves.

And that was our New Year’s week!

Happy Thursday, y’all!

Our Week - The One with Fantasy in Lights and New Year’s

The week after Christmas was, thankfully, a lot less eventful than Christmas week itself and the lack of pictures on my camera roll definitely backs up that statement.  Brian had some more time off, and he and the kids and I had lots of down time to relax, recharge, and get lost in life’s little moments.  You know those memes that start floating around on Facebook after Christmas about not knowing what day/time/year it is?  Yep, that was us all week long.  I can’t even tell you how many times I had to ask Brian what day of the week it was.  And it was awesome.  As a matter of fact, I had to keep notes in my phone so I could remember everything for this recap.  There’s no way I would have remembered what we did each day if I hadn’t. 

Monday, December 30

Brian did have to work Monday and the kids and I decided to lay low at home.  I was still in the midst of Christmas and house clean-up, so I spent a lot of time that day getting down the rest of the Christmas decorations (aside from our main tree and mantle) and I also finished the house cleaning chores.  Olivia had received a headband making kit for Christmas so she and I worked on that together, too.

One of our annual traditions is to make the drive to Callaway Gardens in Pine Mountain, GA to visit their Christmas attraction, Fantasy in Lights.  We typically prefer to do this prior to Christmas, but due to extenuating circumstances this year (sickness, tons of rain, a shorter Christmas season due to Thanksgiving being so late, and a death in the family) we never made it.

After a long day at home, the kids were starting to get a little crazy from being cooped up, so B booked some last minute tickets for us to ride the jolly trolley Monday evening when he got home from work.  I cooked a quick dinner at home, we bundled up, and then we headed out. 

We couldn’t have asked for a better evening to go!  It was cold and the air was clear and crisp, and there were loads of people there despite the fact that it was five days after Christmas.  We were able to hop right on a full trolley, and we spent the next 30-45 minutes snuggling up, singing Christmas carols, and enjoying the lights. 

Once the ride was over, we decided to explore the tent that houses the Christmas crafts and goodies.  I couldn’t resist getting a salted caramel hot chocolate and the kids opted to make s’mores over the open fire beside the beach.  For just $5 we received enough graham crackers, marshmallows, and Hershey bars for the both of them, and we were given a couple of long metal marshmallow roasting sticks for the fire. 

The kids enjoyed roasting their marshmallows, that is until Olivia’s got too close and caught on fire.  Haha.  She was devastated that her marshmallow was “burned” even though we told her that’s what makes them so yummy!  She got over it pretty quickly and both of them ate every single last bite of their s’mores.  Must not have bothered her too much.

We all piled back in the car after the s’mores had been consumed and on the way home we made a short detour to stop in a subdivision just outside of Callaway Gardens because we’d heard that they had a really cool high-tech lights display.  The lights all danced to music and it was fantastic.  They played a plethora of Christmas songs plus a few bonus non-Christmas songs like “Devil Went Down to Georgia,” “Let it Go,” and “What Does the Fox Say?”  The kids cracked up at the last one.  It definitely didn’t disappoint and I think we’ll probably be making that detour after Fantasy in Lights every year from now on!   I saved a few of them in my Christmas ’19 highlight on Instagram if you’re interested in seeing them!

Tuesday, December 31

B was off Tuesday and we used the day to finish getting the Christmas decorations down.  There’s nothing like removing the lights from a dead, dry Christmas tree to put me in the worst mood ever.  Hahahaha.  Seriously, it’s my least favorite thing about the clean-up… it’s just awful!  If I didn’t love real Christmas trees so much I would definitely get a fake one just for that purpose!

We vacuumed the house about 84 times after that because there were pine needles everywhere, and shortly after lunch everything was officially undecorated, organized, put away, and the entire house was clean from top to bottom.  PRAISE!  I always love starting out the new year with a clean and tidy house with all of the Christmas decorations put away in their respective bins, so it felt good to have it done. 

B and I pretty much stopped going out for New Year’s Eve after we had kids, and we don’t really have any NYE traditions or standing plans so we’re just kind of go-with-the-flow.  Tuesday afternoon, on a whim, we decided it would be fun to throw together some appetizers and have some family over for drinks and fireworks. 

I headed to Publix to grab some things because our fridge and cabinets were pretty much bare at that point, and then we spent the rest of the afternoon prepping for the evening.  I made my momma’s famous Taco Dip (I’ll put it on the blog soon!) and some pigs in a blanket from Little Smokies and crescent rolls, and B made some killer guac.  He doesn’t do much cooking, and he’d never made guac before, so he just googled some recipes, threw some stuff together, and BOOM!  It was BOMB. 

My father-in-law and his lady friend (she doesn’t live here so we only see her a couple of times per year) and my parents all came over around 6 and we whipped up some Winter White Cosmos and grazed on all of the appetizers. 

I know a lot of people wait until midnight to do fireworks on NYE, but we try to be courteous and do ours earlier since midnight is so late.  We fired ours up around 8 or so and the kids loved every second.  Olivia used to be terrified of them, but last year something changed, and she’s now a huge fan… while she’s not sleeping anyway. 

After the lights show everyone left and B and I got the kids in the bed, got in our PJ’s, and settled in to watch Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rocking Eve as we always do.  Right at 11:55 our neighbors a couple of doors down started shooting massive fireworks that were SUPER LOUD and Olivia woke up in a panic.  I carried her downstairs with us and she sleepily rang in the new year with us at midnight.  Our neighbors continued to shoot fireworks until nearly 1 o’clock, so Olivia ended up coming to bed with us because she was too scared to be in her room alone.

Wednesday, January 1

Wednesday morning we started the year off right with cinnamon rolls at home for breakfast.  We are not the people who immediately start diets/healthy eating on January 1.  We treat the kids’ Christmas Break as vacay mode so our healthier eating didn’t pick back up until earlier this week when they went back to school. 

I spent some of the morning prepping my planner for the new year and the month ahead and then we took the kids out for lunch at Panera.  After Panera we made a quick stop at Target.  I wanted to pick up a new book that was cheaper in-store than on Amazon, and we also let the kids each pick out something small with some of the Christmas money they’d received.  I also scoured the clearance Christmas section and came away with several packs of the cutest Christmas gift labels for only $0.30 per pack!  That’s my kind of deal!

The weather was gorgeous on New Year’s Day, so we headed back to that new park that we had tried the previous week.  The kids love it so much and I have a feeling they’re going to request to go there every time we mention going to a playground.  We spent a good long time out there in the sunshine and then on the way home we made a couple more stops to look for Christmas lights.  The lights on our bar cart went out right before Christmas and I wanted to find some to replace those while they were on clearance.  Unfortunately I waited too long and nobody had white lights on white wires anymore, so I had to pay full price for some in Hobby Lobby’s wedding section.  Womp womp.

When we got home B and the kids played Zelda on our old Wii for a while and they finally beat the game!  They’ve played it almost every Sunday afternoon for nearly a year and they finally finished it! 

I cooked some veggies for dinner (had to get some greens in for money and luck in the new year!) and then we had a family movie night since Secret Life of Pets 2 is finally on Netflix.  After the movie the kids went to bed and B and I grabbed some drinks and snacks and settled in for the Sugar Bowl.  Our Georgia Bulldogs beat Baylor, proving yet again that the SEC is the best conference in college football.  ;o) 

Thursday, January 2

Brian had to work on Thursday and the day was rainy and cold, so the kids and I holed up at home yet again.  We watched Secret Life of Pets 2 again (why oh why do kids love to watch the same things over and over?!) and then when that was over Jacob and I spent the rest of the day in his room, getting it cleaned out and organized for the new year.  The struggle is always real after Christmas, trying to find a place to put all of their new things, so we always take some time in the new year to clean everything out and make room for all of it.  We got rid of two bags of stuff in his room alone (mostly clothes he’s outgrown) and it feels so good!

We all showered and then got right back in PJs and never left the house.  We made breakfast for dinner and then had another family movie night to watch Monsters Inc. because Olivia had never seen it.  She’s always said that it was “too scary” and she didn’t want to watch it, so for her to finally agree with watching it can only mean one thing… she’s growing up.  :o(

Friday, January 3

Brian had to work again Friday morning but he decided to take a half day on a whim so he could spend the afternoon with the kids on their last day off from school.  The day was rainy and cold again, so we decided to head out to a local arcade (similar to Dave and Busters) and let the kids play.  B had bought all of us a gift card full of points for Christmas, and we all played for a couple of hours. 

We made a stop at Chick-Fil-A for Peppermint Milkshakes afterward, and then we made another stop at Michael’s to get a new frame for a poster Jacob wanted to hang in his room. 

The rest of the afternoon was pretty lazy.  I did some work in my office and B and the kids played some more video games.  The kids also took some time to arrange all of Olivia’s stuffed animals on the stairs.  One of Olivia’s best friends at school just moved away to Florida and her mom had posted a picture of her on Facebook doing the same thing in their new house, so our kids decided they wanted to do the same thing so we could send a picture to them.  Haha. 

We ended the evening with dinner at Five Guys and a few Disney shorts, and then the kids went to bed and B and I watched a few episodes of Gossip Girl.  We’re in season five now and I’m still over here trying to figure out why I didn’t watch that when it was on TV.  It is SO good. 

Saturday, January 4

Saturday was another lazy day at home.  We all played Olivia’s new Frozen 2 game, I got some tidying done in my office and finally got all of my Christmas gifts put away, we got Jacob’s new poster hung, Brian got my new Echo Dot set up!!, we did some laundry, and we got some other loose ends tied up around the house.  I made grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch, and then after lunch the kids went out in the back yard to fly a kite they had received from my aunt a couple of years ago.  It’s been sitting in our closet forever so it was kind of random that they wanted to pull that out considering they have a ton of new toys that they just got for Christmas!

We went to 5:30 mass and then ended the evening at our favorite Mexican restaurant with my mom’s whole family.  I love when my grandmother and aunts and uncles and cousins all get together for dinner on Saturday nights.  We’ve been doing that frequently since I was teeny tiny and I love that we still do it after all these years. 

After dinner I bet you can probably guess where our family of four went… Dairy Queen!  Haha.  Our kids are such creatures of habit that they’ve just been conditioned to ask for it every Saturday evening after church and Mex.  We swung through the drive-through and the kids ate theirs in the car, and B and I saved ours for after the kids went to bed… while we watched more Gossip Girl, of course!  ;o)

Sunday, January 5

Sunday was our last day of Christmas Break.  We had lunch at my mother-in-law and step father-in-law’s house and then the kids played outside for a long time because it was another beautiful day.  When we got home, B and the kids started a new game, Super Mario Galaxy, since they’d beaten Zelda, and I spent the afternoon prepping for the week ahead and getting things ready for back-to-school. 

My mom had decided to take a break from cooking Sunday dinner after all of the craziness of the holidays, so we stayed home and heated up a Digiorno.  We did some reading to make up for all of the lost time during the break, and then we got the kids off to bed early so they could get back on track for the week.

And the end of this post means that I’m finally caught up on the recaps!  Woo hoo!  Stay tuned tomorrow for my 2019 recap!!

Later, y’all!