Christmas Break Highlights

Happy Friday!  I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and have fun plans to ring in the new year this weekend.  We had birthdays, Christmas gatherings and lots of cozy time at home.  I'm excited to tell you about the highlights of our Christmas!

1 // Snow!  We had temperatures in the negatives for days before Christmas so this first round of snow was so cold.  The kids lasted for about 7 seconds.

2 // Charcuterie board dinner - I love making big dinner boards.

3 // Candle light Christmas Eve Service - We got to go to our first candle light Christmas Eve service at our church.  Honestly, it was kind of stressful - we got separated trying to park and find seats, it was really crowded and then kids + real candles.  Plus our service was an hour and 15 minutes long.  Wowza.  I'm glad we went, but we'll probably plan to do things a little different next year :)

4 // Christmas Eve with Kevin's family - We had a yummy dinner and got lots of fun Christmas gifts.

5 // Christmas Morning - The kids woke up around 7am ready for presents.  They loved their gifts.  And I'll never get over being able to wake up at home on Christmas morning.  We traveled on Christmas for 17ish years so this is a big treat.  Slow morning at home in our pjs playing with all of our new toys.

6 // Happy Birthday Jesus - The big kids helped me make a Happy Birthday Jesus breakfast Christmas morning.  Olive did the cinnamon roll Christmas trees and Fletch helped set the table.  We did a meal of our favorites - bacon, eggs, cinnamon rolls and coffee.

7 // Naps - We squeezed in an early nap for Leo and then headed to see family on Christmas Day.

8 // Christmas lunch at Nana's house. - She is in her 80s and still hosts the nicest gatherings.  Look at all these treats she made with a tiny bit of help from me.  We always love her big decorations (dancing Santa) and tinsel covered tree.

9 // Cousins!  We did a big cousin gift exchange with our cousin crew at dinner time0.  It was fun to see them enjoy gifts they'd all picked out for each other.  My mom fixed tacos for us and we had fun.

10 // Favorite gifts - this balance board has been in high demand with everyone, Olive loves her Lego Friends and Fletcher loves his new games, robots and remote control things.

11 // More Snow - We got a second, bigger round of snow on the 26th.  It was so pretty!

Then we headed to a birthday dinner to celebrate Austin.  The kids loved the games.

And Leo loved the cake!!

12 // Jordan Bakery Box - I had a huge order this week for 12 treat boxes!  I prepped and planned and then spent one late night baking while watching Emily in Paris.  I love that show so much and was thrilled to be baking for a big order.

13 // Plant Kids - These 2 requested I take them plant shopping with their Christmas money.  Our Target is newly remodeled with a really fun plant section.  Olive and Fletcher each picked out the perfect plant, named them (Jordan & Gordon) and then we customized their pots with pom poms.  I'm hoping we can work together to help their plants thrive in their rooms!

14 // The kids loved having all this extra time at home to build and play!  We transformed our office into a Lego room, too.

15 // Animals on the Loose!  The kids LOVE riding these animals at the mall.  We visited one day and let them ride.  It's hilarious and adorable.  They take turns driving around Leo and Fletcher only ran into a trashcan or two.  No shoppers were run over.

16 // Fletcher surprised me by making my coffee for me one morning.  He said, "Good morning, Mom! Your coffee is ready and waiting for you in the fridge!" When I walked out to say good morning to him.  Big kids are so fun!

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I hope you have a wonderful weekend and a Happy New Year!