Almost the whole gang—Filipeks couldn’t make it.
The fam, Christmas 2021
Category Archives: Christmas
Harry Potter marathon continues…
And Tom got some Owen cuddle time.
Merry Christmas 2021
The kids got us up at 7am on the dot—it would be earlier but we let them have their devices precisely so they let us sleep in until 7! I didn’t take any pics because I wanted to stay in the moment. The kids were both happy.
Then Tom and I enjoyed a morning dip in the hot tub!
Maggie enjoyed her spot on the couch.
Then we went to Anna and David’s for dinner and a movie.
The best part about Christmas Eve?
Friends, an amazing pizza (from leftover fish tacos that that boys gave me grief about but IT was freaking delicious!), and our first dip in the hot tub! Merry Christmas!
This pic makes the hot tub look soooo much bigger than it really is. It would be a stretch to have three adults in it at the same time—four would have everyone’s knees touching for sure!
And then we did the Saran wrap ball for the kids! We had about $60 worth of stuff in it!
And it was great fun…
Until two kids weren’t getting anything.
Don’t worry, they all ended up with stuff—and some trading was done. But it definitely wasn’t perfect.
And then I tried to get a Santa hat picture but Katie wasn’t really being cooperative. Oh well—it just makes memories!
My kind of Christmas shirt.
Christmas nails!
Maybe a new Christmas tradition?
Do y’all know what this is?! I made it for Katie for Christmas!!
I honestly don’t know what the official name for it is, but I’ve been calling it a Saran ball. It’s just a bunch of tiny gifts all rolled up inside a crap ton of cling wrap. I figured she’d have more fun unwrapping this monstrosity than a few little packages of hair clips, mini nail polishes, fidget popits, and hair ties.
I was just going to make one for her…but I had so much fun doing it that I am now going to make one for Owen, too—though his might be heavier on the candy and lighter on the hair accessories!
And I think we’re going to do one for all four kids…make it into a game. Apparently people are supposed to unwrap with oven mitts while someone tries to roll doubles—and they get to keep everything they unwrap during that time! We shall see!
This feels more daunting this year.
For the most part I have always replaced regular decorations with holiday—like normal everyday things on shelves/walls got replaced with wrapped boxes/kids artwork. Candles and candlesticks got put away and replaced with reindeer and small trees.
But this year I’m rethinking.
Maybe it’s because we JUST finished redecorating the living room (and there’s lots more stuff now).
Or maybe it’s because we’ve only had one Christmas here and I just don’t have a set place for everything.
Or maybe it’s just because I’m exhausted.
Or maybe it’s because I forgot I bought a lot of clearance stuff last year.
Or maybe it’s because I usually end up doing 85% of it by myself…
Lights and Buddy!
Tis the season!
Shopping small this year!
Y’all know I love me some Amazon…but big box stores will not care about you the way small business owners will because, unfortunately, you don’t mean that much to them.
Spending $100 at a large retail or department store during the holidays won’t make much difference to anyone—but spending $100 through a home business or small local business owner for the holidays means OUR business CAN continue! It gives us our pay, provides for our families, and helps us continue to do what we love without using harsh sales techniques.
You mean the world to us and in return we’ll treat you like gold! Just ask my clients who got $700+ worth of bonuses so far this month!!
Shop a home/direct sales/small local business for the holidays this year!! Tom and I just spent a few hundred at local Grayling businesses (h/t to Tip’n the Mitten). And silly me, I didn’t take a pic of our haul…but there was a bit of locally brewed beer, cider, and wine!
This is how we get some decorations down!
Don’t worry! These were just wrapped empty boxes! Katie was a little worried about standing on the ledge but she did okay!
Katie’s card for Tom
So long story short, the kids didn’t get anything for Tom for Christmas because I told them it was up to them to give me some ideas and tell me when they wanted to go shopping. It never happened because, well, kids. And it’s always all about them.
Of course we don’t care if we get anything from them, but we’re trying to teach them to think about others. ON THEIR OWN.
So when I asked on Christmas Eve what they had gotten for him, they both looked so sad. I suggested they make him cards with coupons in them—which they both liked but didn’t get around to actually doing until today after I’d reminded them TWICE. And when they eventually did sit down to do it, they still didn’t really grasp the concept of coupons. And of course they didn’t really want to listen to me because they know everything. And I kind of hoped that a lightbulb would go off for Owen (because he hadn’t gotten me anything and was sad about it when he realized it) but nope. No lightbulb whatsoever.
So anyway—look at all the options Katie gave him of things he can choose. Yep, they’re pretty much all stuff she wants to do. Merry Christmas?!
Sidenote: Owen went shopping with Tom to get Katie something but didn’t think to get me anything. Gramma Jean asked him what he got me and he just hung his head and looked ashamed.
Katie, Buddy, and Owen
I had to take a quick photo before Buddy came down for the season. I always said I wasn’t a fan of blow up decorations but I finally gave in when I saw this one!
Showing off her fave new minifigs.
Did someone say more rum punch?
We went over to Anna and David’s for Christmas Day dinner. And another batch of Dave’s amazing Trinidadian rum punch.
Daaaaamn. I guess I do like rum. Merry Christmas!
The Santa hats aren’t working this year.
I take these pics every year. This year they just aren’t working. The hat didn’t fit. Someone can’t find their hat. They have the wrong hat. They aren’t in the mood. They don’t look cute. The lighting is off. The pics don’t turn out. They have to have the tiny hands in them…
Sigh.
So this is what we have thus far.
I guess 7:15 wasn’t too bad.
Tom and I had both taken Tylenol PM so we were both zonked in the morning when the kids came in together at 7:15 with a loud MERRY CHRISTMAS and hopped in bed with us! We always leave their phones outside their doors so they can let us sleep longer but apparently 30 minutes was all they could handle!
I must be slacking on my old age because I didn’t take any pictures! But they started with their stockings and were thrilled to find a ton of Lego Minifigure packs so they started building those right away! Before we knew it, this is what the room looked like (and I think this is after one mid-opening cleaning).
Santa brought the kids a few things they asked for so they were thrilled—Owen got a game for his computer (he was super sneaky and actually installed it on the computer!) and some video game cash and Katie got some dolls she asked for.
Katie was proud of her wrapping job. And she knows me…it was a stemless wineglass that said BEST MOM EVER.
Then we video chatted with both sets of grandparents AND had a zoom call with the Schwalmlettes. (We might have been a little unprepared since we were thinking it was noon our time. But it was noon Eastern. I am never going to get used to being CST.)
I’ve got a little secret.
I posted this on Facebook and it was hilarious. Someone guessed it was a pillow. Someone said I didn’t have nail polish on. Someone said I had a ton of unread notifications.
But look at my tiny hands! The kids got these creepy rubber things in their stockings. They love them. They’re really weird. Stay tuned for more fun with them that I’m sure will come soon…
Santa was here!
I woke up about 12:45 because I thought I heard something. I went out to look and yep—Santa had been here! The kids’ bags were moved (and filled!) and the cookies were missing!
Christmas Eve with our bubble!
If I haven’t mentioned it, we have created a bubble with our good friends Anna and David. Each family quarantined for two weeks and we always wear masks when we are with anyone outside our bubble—and even try to avoid prolonged visits with anyone outside the bubble. So we do hang out with each other a lot.
We usually share Hello Fresh dinners but decided to splurge tonight on not one, not two, but three orders of our favorite octopus appetizer from our favorite restaurant (Primo) and a homemade charcuterie board. That was seriously all Tom, Anna, David, and I wanted. Easy peasy.
We didn’t take one single picture of our amazing dinner, but it was delicious. We might also have drank an entire batch of Dave’s amazing rum punch and watched Christmas Chronicles with the kids. I’m not naming names but someone fell asleep.
Then we got ready for Santa!
We left out Girl Scout cookies because Katie texted Santa and asked if he liked them and gave him a choice and he picked the chocolate and peanut butter ones. The candy cane is for the reindeer.
I absolutely love the letters both kids left for Santa. Owen thanked him for being awesome (and gave him a spot for a Robux code) and Katie wanted Santa to write his name.
And this was where Maggie was. Maybe sneakily waiting for Santa, too?
These might be the coolest lights we’ve ever had!
I tend to leave them on a solid color but the kids like the craziness.
Cookie decorating!
We haven’t done cookie decorating because I just don’t have the patience. Buuuuut Anna wanted to do it so we tried. And even though there was a bit of a shaky start…Katie was actually pretty good at the whole thing. I was impressed. Owen doesn’t like sugar cookies so he did like one cookie and that was it. Tom and I even got into it.
Mom Squad Zoom Christmas
Kim Ho Ho Ho’ed everyone today with treats and a #momsquad wine glass for our Secret Santa exchange…
We had a great time but can’t wait to see each other in person again…
I’m gonna need a bigger skirt.
So the problem with my dream 12′ tree is that you need oversize accessories. More ornaments. BIGGER ornaments. A bigger star. A bigger tree skirt. (And this stuff is kinda stupid expensive.) Amazon didn’t have much in the way of 72″ tree skirts (typical ones are 48″) so I called on my friends to help me. And they came through. After we parsed out the $200 skirts, this is what I ended up ordering for $59! Yay!
More Christmas up in here!
This isn’t the best pic, but you can see my new Hobby Lobby clearance trees and reindeer above the TV. And the stockings hanging below the TV on hooks Anna gave us since they can’t use them.
I still need to figure out what to do on the topmost shelf…it looks odd to have the regular glass jars, candles, and rooster up there with Christmas all around…so stay tuned.
The tree that friends built.
I wasn’t sure what color scheme I wanted to do with my tree. My friend Britt has a gorgeous red/gold/silver tree that I thought about trying to duplicate…
…but when I went to Hobby Lobby with Anna (to get some clearance Christmas decorations and (hopefully) ornaments) they had nothing with color that I liked. I did get a few generic items like silver deer heads and neutral burlap balls—as a start.
And then.
Anna said she had a whole bucket of unbreakable purple ornaments I could have. I had thought about purple but didn’t really want a PURRRPLE tree. But as soon as she showed them to me I knew they were perfect. They are in the dusty lilac plum family.
So now I need to find some bigger ornaments in those colors. And get some ribbon (right now we’re just testing it out with a few lengths Anna had on hand). And maybe add some snowflakes or icicles…
Christmas decorating injury!
Bent over to pick up a snowman head off the floor and smacked my own head right into the corner of the mantle.
We got my bucket list tree!
I have always wanted a huge Christmas tree! My dad used to get a 2-story tree and I loved it. My cousin gets a 2-story tree and I love it. But we’ve just never had the room for one—and even if we did at one point…the next house we moved to might not fit it. So when we found our forever house and it has super tall ceilings, I knew what was going to happen. But of course I didn’t want to spend the $900 Costco was asking for their 14′ tree, so I figured I would wait until the clearance sales after the holidays and see what deals I could get.
Well…Costco was out of trees by mid-November so there would be no discount Costco tree. Sam’s Club was even out of them! So I resigned myself to probably paying full price next year.
And then Tom and I ran into Sam’s this morning and while we were browsing…I saw my 12′ slim tree on clearance for $259! WHAAAAAT?!?! Yes, please!
And the best part? Dad and Linda had wanted to get us a housewarming present and we hadn’t really been able to think of anything perfect…so the tree was our gift! It’s soooo perfect!!!
I don’t have any decorations for it but those will come with further clearance sales!!
ADDENDUM: Two days later Anna was at Sam’s Club and told me it was reduced even more so I went back and got $100 credited!
Katie’s Christmas Wishlist
This showed up on my pillow tonight. I’ve only been asking for their lists for a month now…so the chances of her actually getting any of this is pretty low since I’m done shopping and I refuse to pay last-minute prices or go out shopping in throngs of people.
But just look at that list. It starts off all normal and then WHAM! Bunk bed and pool? And her own YouTube channel? And a hamster and kitten? I just can’t even.
