Today was 11 hours of straight family time with some of my favorite people. It was glorious. There were delicious cookies, sweet presents, yummy holiday cocktails, and lots and lots of laughter. This is why Christmastime is the best.
In case you were worried, Santa did find us this year. The boys were inundated with Pokemon and a couple of surprises (as requested). They were very excited.
For this Christmas, I wish you peace amongst the chaos, laughter with family + friends, and a greater appreciation for all we do for one another.
Merry Christmas from our family to yours.
Santa,
Please stop here.
Sincerely,
Two adorable boys
One more holiday light display before the season is over. And this one was a good one. Thanks, Aunt Pam for suggesting the outing! And thanks to cousin Kevin for spoiling the boys with the 3D glasses.
We hit the road for our family Christmases this morning so we swapped presents with our immediate family last night. The boys were about the cutest they’ve ever been when they swapped the gifts they picked out for each other (a Pokémon blanket and a Pokémon belt). They were just so sweet and considerate and gracious. It made my heart melt.
After 20 days of building, the Lego advent calendar wrapped up today. Aside from the big guy taking control over most of the construction (the little guy didn’t seem to mind much), it was a huge success. Way better than the pre-packaged advent calendar. The question is: what’s in store for us next year now?
All snuggled in for an afternoon snooze. This kid loves his Pokémon blanket.
My mom and I spent a good chunk of today checking holiday baking off our list. We made three different types of cookies and a chocolate/pretzel favorite of mine. The boys *helped* a bit but mostly kept themselves entertained...which, let’s be honest, is an even better arrangement.
Now we just have to have enough self-control not to eat them all before the weekend. Fingers crossed!
We left the house at 8:15 this morning and returned to our house at 7:15 tonight. It was a day. A good day.
We met my parents in Strum for some krumkake baking and catching up. Then we jumped in the car for a quick lunch on our way to a nursing home for a piano recital where Chase played Jingle Bells. After the concert, we spent the rest of the afternoon and evening with some of our favorite people. We even played a new dice game!
We are all exhausted but happy. What a nice day.
We got motivated to go for a little winter walk this morning. It was a beautiful day for a sunshiney, fresh-air trek through the woods. And the boys didn’t even complain. It’s a Christmas miracle!
Sweet Robbe went to bed with a fever last night so he got stuck staying home with me today. We had a very low key day with the bulk of our activity coming from our mid-morning crafting. Robbe did some abstract gluing while I worked on a string ornament. Even though he wasn’t feeling 100%, the little guy and I had a pretty great day together.
We’re about half way through the original advent calendar Chris and I have been working on (ok, mostly Chris). Instead of buying two of these crazy expensive ones (like this or this) with 25 little tiny “prizes” every day, I thought it would be a great idea to make our own advent calendar out of a regular lego kit. We got a smokin’ hot deal on a big set (like, “we thought we were going to get our identity stolen” type of hot deal) with 1400+ pieces and almost 250 steps in the instruction manual. Chris worked his magic and figured out the best way to divide up the 1400 pieces into 40 bags (20 days for each kid…we leave for Christmas on the 22 so we wanted it to wrap up before that). I did help *a bit* with this process, for the record.
Now, every morning, the boys wake up, collect their bags, and work together to build the giant set bit by bit. Some days they get Lego Minifigures that they spend the rest of the day playing with. But most days, it’s just normal pieces used to add another layer to the set.
I know this is crazy. I’m grateful to Chris for agreeing to this time-intensive and insane idea. It’s working out even better than I expected, though. The boys are really enjoying playing with the set in the under-construction phase. They find fun + interesting ways to play with the set after every addition—this type of interaction would have never happened if they were just building the set outright. They would have just kept building their way through it.
Plus, at the end, they have this super sweet Ninjago set that they’ll play with for hours (which is what they do). I stand by my crazy idea. And I’d do it again next year…assuming Chris is still on board and assuming we can find another good deal.
This is Robbe’s “I’m not tired” face. Convincing, right?
Look who came to visit! Woohoo! We’ve been having a great weekend with Chris’s brother and his fam. There’s been a lot of foosballing, some outdoor fort time, a couple of skillet cookies, an evening stroll, and lot of laughing. Love this team.
St. Nick stopped by last night and filled our shoes with some coins (and a few extra goodies). And now we’ve got new Christmas books to read. Woohoo!
The painting project took a big step forward today: the stairwell and front entry are done! It’s quite a transformation. And I’m happy with the paint choice...so don’t say anything otherwise! :)
Yep. The paint project continues around here. We started just before Halloween and it’s looking like we’ll wrap up after Christmas (because of a bit of a break—not constant painting). So far, we’ve had someone here nearly every day, though. For a stay-at-home/work-from-home mom, this provides its share of challenges. Luckily, the painters that have been here have been the best possible folks to have in our home for two months. And the house is looking amazing (so far) even after WAY too much paint deliberation.
The photo above shows my paint selections as options versus Robbe’s suggested paint choices. I bet you can tell which side is which without me telling you.
We had a decent snow storm over the weekend and the boys played outside for about and hour both days. The first real snow is always the best.
We made it down to my hometown for our annual Breakfast with Santa. This year’s Santa lists mostly just include Pokémon requests (super fun, I know). I guess that’s probably better than some giant expensive toy, though, right?!?
We busted out of the house after dinner (crazy, I know) for the downtown Eau Claire winter parade. It was a bit chilly and a bit long (45 minutes for a winter parade would be plenty), but super fun. And it was nice to take the walk over to the parade route and—in the boys’ opinion—collect more candy (obviously).
Side note: I promise Chase wasn’t as terrified as he looks in the photo. :)
small city | BIG DAYS
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