As much as I love the ritual of the holiday, I just may love the days after more. They are filled with traditions and time with friends and family. It’s different than a weekend. There are more consecutive days of fun, and just as one comes to end you realize another is right in front of you.
We do brave the black Friday shopping. We are not die hards. I’ve never trampled anyone for a deal(although that could be a bucket list idea-JK people). We really just like getting our Starbucks and picking up a few non-essential items that are marked at least .05 lower than any other day.
Lexi joined Adrienne, Em, and I this year. That makes her an official big kid!
After we did a little shopping and lunching, we picked up Grandma Jackie, Mom, and the other girls for our yearly ornament shopping. We headed up to Hallmark for the kids to make their choices.
One by one the kids made the choice that was just right for them. A dog for Natalie, penguins for Sofie, Ghostbusters for Kaitlyn, Barbie for Livy, and a naughty or nice candy cane for Lexi.
Poor Adrienne, Cinderella or dancing Barbie? Such a tough choice!
She finally decided on Cinderella since she got a dancing Barbie last year! Once they make their choice they go right to Grandma Jackie to show her!
Each ornament is a little piece of each child’s story of who they were that year, and little connection to Grandma Jackie that will live on forever.
The next morning it was time to say good bye to the family, and hello to friends. We spent the afternoon at Ellen and Andy’s beautiful new house eating, chatting, and watching football. The kids settled in so well and played. They really felt at home! Sof was engrossed in the playroom!
Right from there it was off to bowling!
Sunday morning we woke to a light layer of snow everywhere. Perfect for the agenda of the day-transforming the house from Thanksgiving to Christmas. I put on my Christmas shirt and Adrienne followed suit. The Christmas music played for 12 hours. Sof begged me to put on her gingerbread house shirt and pig tails because the decorations signaled gingerbread house party to her. She remembers it well, and keeps asking when our friends are coming. She will be so happy when it finally happens! For now, we just decked the halls…
It was so nice to wake up this morning to a clean and decorated house. It just sets the stage for the happy holiday memories waiting to be made.
We spent the day having fun with cousins! We went to Jeepers, which has rides and games. The girls took turns riding with each other, helping Sof, and watching Natalie. I love seeing cousins helping cousins!
It was a great way to spend our last day of the holiday break. Makes me anxious for the next one, but we have a lot of stuff to do before then!
The girls made a list today of things they want to do this Christmas. Some things for us, some things for others. From the looks of the list we better get started right away! Happy start to the Christmas season!
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