Christmas Favorites

Happy Friday!  We are ready (minus some unpredictable snow arriving soon) for Christmas.  I still have presents to wrap and food to make, but I think I'm done running errands and gathering things.  It's been a fun week off for the kids.  We packed in lots of Christmas fun and lots of Christmas around the house.  They have enjoyed the break from school and we are all excited for Christmas.

1 // Holly, Jolly & Chris Elf Business

Our elves have been busy.  The kids still love them and I mostly do, too.  This elf sized charcuterie board was probably my favorite day of the week.

I made a really yummy Christmas charcuterie board for dinner.  My family loved it!  It's not over the top Christmasy - just some cranberry cheeses, berries and red and green foods.  The soft pretzels are always the highlight. 

2 // Santa Visit

We headed to the mall to see Santa.  The big kids were looking forward to it and Leo talked about Ho Ho all day.  He was perfectly fine with him until we got close.  Then he said, "No like Ho Ho."  So we snapped a picture or two with him and let the big kids enjoy a chat with Santa.  The best part of the whole thing for Leo was the reindeer antlers he got to bring home.

3 // Christmas Tree Tour

I finally got around to snapping pictures of all of our trees.  We do a real one in the family room.  A travel tree in our bedroom.  Then a playroom, big kid and Leo tree upstairs.  They all turned out really cute and it felt great to decorate fully this year.  We did the bare minimum last year since we moved in 12 days before Christmas.

Our real tree is covered with kid and sentimental ornaments.

I've been collecting green trees for years so it's fun to have a spot to display them.  I'm still on the hunt for an entryway mirror that I love.

Our silver playroom tree.  This tree has kid ornaments and ornaments from my childhood. 

Big kid bedroom tree.  I love these quirky and cute ornaments so much.

Leo's tree.  It's full of vehicles, animals and lion ornaments.

Our travel tree!  This tree is new and I love having a spot to display all of the ornaments that we've been collecting when we travel for the last 18 years.

Mississippi shaped Santa, Cake Bake swan, Mt Rushmore, Wisconsin Deer Park, Florida, Ole Miss,  Wyoming,  Naples, Disney, Mexico and more.  It brought me so much joy to get out these ornaments.

4 // Christmas movies!

I watched The Noel Diary (and loved it!) and A Castle for Christmas (enjoyed it).  The kids love all the Netflix and Disney Plus Christmas movie options.

4 // Helpful Sidekick

Olive has been so helpful this Christmas.  She's wrapping gifts for me, helped me with our Christmas cards and helped me decorate.  It was so nice!  And she really loves when I ask her to do important jobs.

5 // Christmas Breakfast with Friends

We ate a yummy breakfast and exchanged gifts with our buddies this week.  The kids had the best time and nothing got broken.  That feels like a win when you've got a gathering with kids :)

6 // Christmas jammies

I love holiday jammies so much.  Almost as much as Leo loves those reindeer antlers from Santa.

7 // Jordan Bakery Box

I've had a busy month of baking cookies!  Hooray!  I nearly ran out of chocolate chips and had to send my parents on an emergency grocery run.

8 // 2 Year Olds

Leo cracked me up all week with these glasses.  He loved wearing them.

9 // Date Night

I planned a fun date night to celebrate Kevin hitting some big milestones at work.  We ate at Longhorn, stopped in the mall to try on sports jackets and finished up a tiny bit of Christmas shopping.  It was so much fun!  We had to change plans last minute because of snow.  I'm really glad we didn't have to cancel.

10 // Zoo Day

We bundled up and headed to the zoo this week.  The kids love the playground and I knew it would not be crowded.  We had the best time - free candy canes & free carousel rides - and we basically had the place to ourselves.  Some animals seem to love the cold temps so it was fun to see them shine.

Here's my encouragement to you if you're home with littles over break: Get outside!  Bundle up and go for a walk, visit a playground or go for a little hike.  The fresh air and sunshine will be good for you.

Merry Christmas to you!!  I hope you have a wonderful holiday weekend with the people you love.