MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Wishing you a day filled with joy and laughter. 

A heart full of hope and wonder. 

And a home filled with the people whom you love the most.

From our family to yours, MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Five on Friday - Christmas Things

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Two days until Christmas Eve, you guys!  TWO DAYS!  I’ve been preparing all week and I think I’m finally ready!  But before it’s time to break for Christmas, some faves!

O N E – Jacob’s Christmas Program

Jacob’s school put on their annual Christmas program Tuesday evening and this year was by far my favorite yet!  There is a new drama teacher at the school and she is doing a fantastic job with everything, this program included.  The theme this year was The Polar Express, so the kids sang all of the songs from the movie including Believe, Hot Chocolate, and Rocking on Top of the World, among others.  There were lots of little hand gestures to go along with their angelic little voices, and it was just a perfect evening. 

Jacob has always been pretty shy and in past performances he has barely moved his lips and he rarely participates in the hand motions, but this year he was a lot more lively!  He sang all of the songs and did all of the hand motions and it was pretty much the cutest thing ever. 

Following their Polar Express performance, the pre-k 4 kids put on a skit of The Nativity and it was darling as well. 

T W O – Jacob’s Class Party

Jacob’s class party was Wednesday this week and I volunteered to help.  They started with gingerbread house making… one of the other moms had bought little kits for everyone in the class.  They weren’t made of candy so it was a lot less messy, though.  After their gingerbread house making they all feasted on cupcakes and cookies and brownies, and then it was time for dismissal… and no more school until the second week of January!

T H R E E – Seeing This Sweet Face

My verrrry favorite of this week was getting to spend time with my brother, SIL, and nephew last night.  They arrived home from Texas this week and it’s the first time we’ve seen them since last Christmas!  Poor Tucker arrived with a fever and a double ear infection, but that sure didn’t stop me from smooching on him and making up for all of the months that we didn’t get to see him. 

Boy oh boy is it good to have them HOME!

F O U R – This Game

Did you guys ever play Guess Who growing up?  It was always one of my favorite games, but I had since forgotten about it until my aunt and uncle gave us some of their old games a couple of weeks ago.  Well, Jacob is obsessed with it and he and I have probably played at least 30 rounds just this past week! 

If you need a last minute gift idea, this is perfect!

F I V E – These Boots

It has been raining all week here so I have been wearing nothing but boots.  For all of the occasions where I have been casual I’ve been sticking to my beloved Hunter boots, but for all dressier occasions I have been wearing these boots from target nonstop.  They are SO COMFY, you guys!  If you’re in the market for some new boots… I highly recommend these! 

Happy weekend and happy Christmas!

*Linking up with A Liz Adventures and Carolina Charm for Five on Friday, A Little Bit of Everything for Friday Favorites,  September Farm and The Farmer's Wife for Oh Hey, Friday, Meet @ the Barre for Friday Favorites, and Cup of Tea for High Five for Friday.

Six New Year's Eve Dresses Under $55

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Any big plans for New Year’s Eve?  We have traded our partying on NYE for cozy PJs these last few years, and will likely do the same this year, but in case you are still in need of a pretty dress, I’ve got you covered!  All of these are $55 or less, and most are under $30.

ONE // TWO // THREE

FOUR // FIVE // SIX

You just can’t go wrong with black, red, gold, and sparkles!! 

Happy shopping!

*Linking up with Home of Malones for Thoughts for Thursday.

 

What's Up Wednesday - December 2017

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December, December, where oh where did you go?!  It’s hard to believe it’s almost over.  Christmas decorations will come down, goals for the new year will be made, and we’ll all be stepping into 2018 before we know it. 

What We’re Eating This Week

Mon – Pizza because B had tennis

Tue – Out before Jacob’s Christmas program

Wed – Italian Chicken Noodle Soup, broccolli

Thu – Eggs, grits, bacon, and toast

Fri – Out

Sat – Christmas Eve dinner at Momma & Daddy’s… my favorite meal of the whole year!

What I’m Reminiscing About

Reminisce?  Who has time to reminisce?!  We are FLYING through this month so there hasn’t been a whole lot of time to be doing that.  I’m living right in the present right now, baby! 

What I’m Loving

I’m loving the fact that we’ve slowed down a couple of times to enjoy the precious moments of the season.  Taking the time to unplug, put a fire in the fire place, and snuggle up on our couch in PJs to watch Christmas movies is always one of my favorite things to do this time of year. 

What We’ve Been Up To

Where to begin?  Decorating our home, celebrating our ten year anniversary, breakfast with Santa, snuggling up and watching Christmas movies, playing in the snow??, shopping, wrapping, planning, Christmas programs, girls’ scarf and ornament exchange, a visit with Santa at the mall, and soaking up every other Christmasy thing there is to do before it’s all over.

What I’m Dreading

Another asthma attack.  Sheesh.  My allergies have been INSANE this month.  It all started mid-November with a bunch of congestion, runny nose, clogged head and ears, and itchy red eyes and I thought it would cease this month since we finally had some freezing temps.  Well, no luck whatsoever.  Everything has continued to get worse and now I’m at the point where my asthma has started acting up really bad as well.  I had a terrible asthma attack Monday morning when driving Jacob to school, and it was so bad that my face and hands went numb and tingly.  Thank God for my rescue inhaler… I don’t even want to think about what would have happened if I hadn’t had that with me.  So anyhoo, I’m just praying and praying that I don’t experience anything like that again.  And I’m praying even harder that these stupid allergens GO AWAY.  I’ve never had issues this late in the year!  2017 has been HORRENDOUS for my allergies.

What I’m Working On

What I’m working on is two-fold this month.  I’ve been getting everything ready for Christmas – getting the shopping done, getting the wrapping done, preparing the house for Christmas day, making my list of things I need to cook for the big days, preparing to have the kids home for the next few weeks, and all other things Christmas.

I’m also trying to get my game-plan for 2018 together.  I haven’t had much time to devote to it since I’ve been on the run for Christmas, but I did get my 2018 planner set up this past weekend.  Now to finish organizing my master to-do list and breaking everything down into manageable realistic monthly goals!

What I’m Excited About

CHRISTMAS EVE!  Do I even need to say more?

What I’m Watching/Reading

Watching – Olaf’s Frozen Adventure, Pentatonix Christmas special, The Holiday, The Polar Express, Elf, Christmas Vacation, Love, Actually, and any other Christmas movie I can get my hands on!  I'm really looking forward to watching Home Alone on Christmas Eve like we always do!!

Reading – the third book of Elin Hilderbrand’s Winter series… I am loving these books!  They are so perfect for the Christmas season!

What I’m Listening To

Lots of jolly good Christmas music!  I’ve been shuffling my Christmas play list these last few weeks and it makes me so happy!

What I’m Wearing

Christmas graphic tees and red red red.  It’s been pretty cold here these last two weeks and I’ve been loving wearing all of my warmer clothes.  However, as usual, the weather has taken a wacky turn and this whole week leading up to Christmas is supposed to be warmer topping out at 68 the day before Christmas Day.  They were originally calling for 72 on Christmas, but apparently some cold front has taken over so we’re now going to be cloudy and cold.  Hooray!  I’m just not a fan of warm Christmases. 

Oh, and I'm also wearing these boots on repeat... they are SO comfy and SO gorgeous!  Love love love!

What I’m Doing This Weekend

Finally loving on my sweet little nephew after an entire long year!  Baking.  Cooking.  Christmas Eve mass.  Celebrating the birthday of the most important person ever to walk this earth.  Soaking up every delicious scent, every delicious bite of food, and every single second with the people whom I love more than anything in this world.  It’s Chrismas week, baby!

What I’m Looking Forward To Next Month

A fresh start.  A new year.  And the fact that our not-so-wonderful 2017 will finally be OVER.  #ByeFelicia

What Else Is New

Nada! 

Happy Christmas week, everybody!

*Linking up with Shay, Mel, and Sheaffer for What’s Up Wednesday and Jessi's Design and Going the Distance for What's Hap-"Pinning" Wednesday.

The Cutest Snacks for Class Christmas Parties

Olivia had her class Christmas party last week, and her teacher put up pictures of what they wanted for the party with regard to snacks.  She posted a picture of these adorable little Santas made from fruit and marshmallows and I knew immediately that I wanted to make those.  You may have seen them on Pinterest, but I thought I would post mine here on the blog in case you haven’t.

These are very simple to make, although a little time consuming.  The end result was totally worth every second.  And the kids loved them.  Bonus?  They’re healthy!  #Winning

Buy It

Green grapes

Bananas

Strawberries

Marshmallows (regular sized, not large)

Toothpicks

Make It

1.      Wash and dry all of your fruit.

2.      Slice bananas into thin slices.

3.      Chop the stems off of the strawberries.  Depending on how large your strawberries are, you may have to cut them down a bit.  The smaller the strawberries the better for this as you have to be able to fit all of the fruit onto one toothpick.

4.      Take one toothpick and slide a grape onto the bottom.  Top the grape with one banana slice, one strawberry, and one marshmallow, in that order. 

5.      Repeat until you have as many as you need.

There are 15 kids in Olivia’s class so I made 30 of these, or two per child.  From start to finish it took me about 40 minutes to make 30.  Yes, a bit time consuming, but not complicated at all!

The kids loved them and I think the teachers and parents loved them even more!

And one important note before I go, do watch the kids carefully when they're eating these because the toothpicks can obviously be dangerous, and so can whole grapes!  We always slice grapes for our kids vertically so they're not a choking hazard.  

Weekend Vibes - Santa & Other Christmasy Things

It’s a Christmas miracle that this post is actually coming at you today because I had LOADS of technical difficulties yesterday… if it wasn’t for the fact that I had pictures on my computer that hadn’t been backed up, I probably would have thrown it straight out the window.  And if it wasn't for using Brian's computer then this post wouldn't be here either.  Anyway, I apologize in advance for the picture quality and for how brief this post will be.  Now let's pray my computer is up and running today. 

Anyway, technology issues aside, this weekend was a pretty great one.  We started it out Friday night with a trip to the mall to see Santa Clause.  The kids have seen this Santa every single year since they were born, so even though we now have breakfast with Santa at the kids’ school, we still have to go see our original Santa at the mall each year, too.  This year was a great trip… the kids were both excited, zero fear, and they both hopped right on his lap without any qualms.  

Here's the official picture for 2017:

And here are a couple more that the photographers took:

After our visit, we let the kids ride a couple of the rides in the mall and then we stopped in the food court for Chick-Fil-A before finally heading home to have a family movie night.  B put a fire in the fire place and we all watched The Polar Express.  Then once the kiddos were in bed, B and I made some Merry Cherry Mules and settled in to catch up on a couple of shows before finally calling it a night.

Saturday we spent the day hanging out at home not doing much of anything.  I got my planner for 2018 all set up so it feels good to be somewhat organized going into the new year.

Saturday my parents took my grandmother to the wreath laying at the cemetery where my grandfather was laid to rest, and my mom sent these pictures to me from their day.  I definitely want to attend next year.  It looked so beautiful. 

Saturday evening we headed to church and then we ate at one of our favorite pubs for dinner with my parents and uncle, and then B and I built another fire and watched The Holiday after the kids went to bed.  I hadn’t seen it in years and I had forgotten how much I love it.

Sunday was lunch at my MIL’s and the kiddos hung out indoors all afternoon because it was rainy and dreary for the rest of the afternoon.

My uncle and his girlfriend who always come to Sunday dinner at my parents’ house decided to host dinner Sunday evening, so we went to Stephanie’s house for dinner. 

Another great weekend in the books and only one week until Christmas!!  

*Linking up with B Loved Boston for Weekending, My Glittery Heart for Hello Monday,  More Pieces of Me for Hello Monday Linkup, and HoHo Runs for Weekly Wrap.