Merry Christmas!

We had a wonderful Christmas!  

Fletcher said it best - It was weirdly warm, but I think this was my best Christmas ever!

It was in the 60s and humid for Christmas which was very odd.  Check out the steamy windows on Christmas morning.  That was weird, but the rest was great.

Kevin's parents hosted Christmas Eve.

Candlelight Christmas service at church is our favorite.  We got to sit near several friends.

Christmas morning!  No one woke up crazy early.  And no one was up crazy late buildling Christmas gifts.  We wrapped after the kids went to bed.  We even had time to watch a Christmas movie.

Leo was so excited for Christmas!

Pumpkin's first Christmas.

Nana (in red) hosted Christmas lunch.  These two are my favorite.  They are both in their upper 80s and two of my very favorite people.

A table full of desserts at Nanas.

Christmas dinner at my parent's house.  Everything was decorated so pretty.

My brother made the yummiest Mexican meal.

We all got really fun gifts!  Olive was thrilled with the beauty product snackle box she got from her cousin.

And my parents surprised us with a crafty Christmas gift.  They had all of our Christmas cards shrunk down and framed as ornaments.  It was so fun to see our yearly Christmas cards framed!  The kids had never seen some of our early cards without kids.  It was such a fun surprise.  I can't wait to decorate a tree with these photo ornaments next year.

Merry Christmas from my family to yours!

I hope your Christmas was wonderful, too.

Christmas Break Fun

We squeezed in as much Christmas fun as possible before Christmas!

I have always wanted to make neighbor treat boxes at Christmas with menus I made on Canva, my favorite Christmas goodies and deliver them to friends.  I finally made that happen this year.  Finishing school on December 19th is such a nice thing.  I made six different treats.  It was so fun to make them and my friends loved everything.  One neighbor texted Kevin and said - I don't know how you don't weigh 500lbs!?  Your wife's treats are all delicious! haha

Matching Christmas pjs with Olive any chance we get.  And look at sweet Pumpkin.

A quick 45 minute road trip up to visit my parent's in Santa Claus, IN.  Their house at Christmas Lake is decorated for Christmas year round and the town is extra fun this time of year.

Hardy was excited to see us.

Leo brought his elves to hide.

So many photo ops.

Leo said he didn't really want to talk to Santa this year.  Then he changed his mind as Christmas was quickly approaching.  Good thing the Santa in Santa Claus was still working.

I met up with my besties for a Christmas dinner.  I drive an hour north, they drive an hour south and we meet up for dinner.  This year we had to reschedule, change locations and adjust some things, but we made it happen!  We did a favorite things exchange that was so much fun.

We all came home with a really fun assortment of gifts.  Look at that cute personalized ornament for the four of us.  I'm lucky to have these sweet ladies in my life.

We squeezed in a dentist appointment.  Fun fact: Leo's favorite place to hang out is the dentist's office.  He loves the ladies, loves our dentist, chats and laughs through his whole appointment and loves the treasure box.

Parlor donuts!  Yum!

We drew A LOT of Christmas robots.

Olive helped me make Christmas sugar cookies.  She did the icing and I did the cookie cutting.

We were all ready for a fun Christmas break and I'm so thankful that it's gotten off to a really fun start!

Elf Business

That's a wrap on our elf business this year!  The kids loved it.  I loved it.  And I'm happy to report that there was only one close call of nearly forgetting to do elf activities before I went to bed.

Here's what our elves were up to for the second half of December.

Do some Christmas baking with us!

It's so cold outside - even the toilet paper is freezing!

Surprised the kids with their favorite drinks!  Chilled and ready to enjoy.

Let's go out for Mexican tonight!

The only coal you're getting this year is candy coal & exploding coal!

Elf rock band.  I gathered some elf friends for this band.

Leo had so much fun playing with the extra elves for days.  Don't ask us how many times we all played "Find the elves".  Even the cats joined in on the elf fun.

We caught some Christmas critters!

What game do elves play after they eat Taco Bell?  FART NITE.  The boys loved this one.

Road trip to Santa Claus, IN!

Play Candy Crush with us!

That's a wrap!  See you next year!

Our elves kept busy this month!  Leo told me it was the best part of his day to wake up and see what the elves were up to.  So the tradition will continue and our elves - Holly, Jolly & Chris will be up to some fun stuff in 2026.

Teacher Gift Ideas

My class showered me with the sweetest Christmas gifts this year.  The kids were so proud to bring in their gifts and get a big hug.  I got some really thoughtful, unique gifts so I wanted to share them with you.  They'd work great for Valentine's Day or even end of the year gifts.

Personalized cookies, gifts, favorite candies, gift cards to my favorite stores, holiday scents, new cups... an amazing combo of all of my favorite things!  So, so sweet!

I loved this Christmas snackle box.

December was bonkers.  Extra bonkers in kindergarten.  So this felt like an amazingly generous way to end the month.  I really do have the best families.

Another version of the snackle box.  Two gift cards to two of my favorite spots and fancy chocolates. I can't wait to use this container for snacks or my lunch going forward.

I love a good simmer pot mix.  This smells so good on my stove over the weekend.  And it's one of the prettiest ones I've ever received.

Then I got fun splurge items like these Geometry towels.  I've always wanted to try them.  They are so soft and really beautiful.  They feel so much nicer than my regular kitchen towels.

My favorite thing of all was the parents who took the time to write me a thoughtful note with my gift.  To tell me all the reasons why their child was loving kindergarten.  I absolutely made my day to hear that their kids love coming to school every day, that they appreciate our joyful classroom and that their kindergarten experience is exactly what they hoped it would be.  I'm lucky to teach at such a fun place.

I hope you got a few new ideas for teacher birthdays, holidays or end of the year gifts!