Christmas Break Recap

We had a great Christmas Break!  It ended up being 3 weeks instead of 2 which was a fun surprise that no one saw coming.  We stuck close to home and did all of our favorite things.

Mr. Mittens seemed to enjoy having us around more.  He was a menace to our Christmas decorations so I'm hopeful he'll outgrow that by the time next Christmas rolls around.

We picked up fun lunches and had van picnics.  Culvers and Chick-Fil-A were favorites.

I made some big meals and shared them with Kevin's Grandma.

We watched several movies and ate candy corn (popcorn topped with candy!).

My 2025 treat to myself was buying a Walmart delivery subscription.  I love grocery pick up, but I don't love spending my weekends doing that.  I'm hoping grocery delivery will mean more time to do what I want with my family.

Leo has been really into writing words lately.  He's always asking us to spell out words for him.  He wanted more Doritos last week so he grabbed my grocery list and asked me to spell out Doritos for him.  Haha.  Then he's been practicing writing his full name.

We made a couple of bundt cakes.  Delicious boxed cake with extras and homemade frosting.

We got to go to some friend Christmas gatherings.

Olive and I went thrifting and found some treasures.

Kevin had a fun trip with his Dad and brother to Las Vegas.  We were sad to see him go, but made sure to fill our days with extra fun things.

We stocked up on favorite foods at our favorite grocery store.  I will be sad when Leo outgrows riding in the cart while we shop.

We love Schnucks donuts!  I let the kids pick out a favorite donut + a new one to try.  They loved it and it only cost a couple of dollars to make their morning.

I don't decorate a ton for Valentine's Day, however, I had to have this garland from Target!  I loved the details and mixed fabric.  Now I can't wait to do a Valentine's Day mantle.

The house was looking a little bare after the kids helped me take down all the Christmas decor.  I trimmed some things from the yard to make a free bouquet.  That was a good idea, but these two rascals kept attacking my stems making a big mess.  I found the pefect spot to keep the cats away and am enjoying a free bouquet.

Cute chaos.

You know I LOVE bundt cakes, but the pans are a little hard to store.  I saw an idea to hang them and got the supplies at Lowes.  I love having them hanging up in my pantry.  They're pretty and so easy to use.  Two are vintage - from my grandma and Kevin's and two are just ones that I've collected.  I can't wait to watch my collection grow.

We tried these Sister Schuert's cinnamon rolls.  They were delicious!  The closest to homemade cinnamon rolls I've found.  I used homemade butter cream frosting instead of the cream cheese frosting.  They would be so fun to deliver to a new mom, a grandma or anyone who would enjoy a sweet treat.

I aslo had time to try some new recipes over the break!  These cheesey bread was so good.  It felt good to have a little extra time to try out recipes.

And lots of kitty cuddles + late night shows for this night owl.  I watched some documentaries and got caught up on a few new series.  Penny was thrilled.  I was thrilled.  It felt good to do so many of our favorite things over break.

Now onto good things in 2025 with a fresh start to the year!  We're all going to head to bed early tonight after our first day back to school this year.