It's been two weeks since I wrote a post, and it's going to be hard to sum it up! We had a wonderful Christmas, a relaxing (and unfortunately rainy) break week, a low-key New Year's, and today it's time to get back to routine. How did that happen so fast?! The week leading up to Christmas was busy, as it always is. Evie had a Christmas concert for band, we had last-minute errands, wrapping, baking, and so much to get done. Somehow it all happened, and we made it to Christmas with everyone healthy. With all the illnesses around, we didn't take that last fact for granted.
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| A quick pre-Christmas visit with Nana Mil! |
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| Lighting the 4th Advent candle |
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| We visit this house in Essex every year for their awesome music/lights display |
Our Christmas celebration began with mass at St. Mike's on Christmas Eve. This is one of my favorite masses of the year at the chapel, and I was glad to be able to play flute as part of it. From there, we went to Aunt Pea's for a yummy Christmas Eve dinner and festivities. We returned home late that evening to leave our cookies and carrots out for Santa and the reindeer and then got to bed. Christmas morning was joyful, cozy, and magical! We treasure these moments with the kids.
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| Poor Carly wasn't feeling well, but she rallied to celebrate |
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| The lovely host and hostess! |
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| New Christmas PJ's! |
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| Pure magic! |
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| Even Frankie got a visit from Santa! |
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| Santa and the reindeer left a mess! |
After opening our stockings, we went back to Aunt Pea's for all the gifts, family time, and the most amazing meal of the year - Grandma's Christmas Brunch! YUM. After a relaxing afternoon, we headed home and ended the day by watching Home Alone.
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| Go Cats, Go! |
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The unofficial beverage container of teenagers...she is very excited!
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| Evie painted this picture of Shadow Lake for Grandma and Grandpa |
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Evie also made or bought a gift for each person in the family. So sweet!
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| The girls with their Snowflake Chocolates from Grandpa |
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| A special Christmas visitor |
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| S'mores and Home Alone on Christmas night |
The rest of the break week was pretty laid-back, but the weather was crummy (rain, fog, and very gray!). Both kids spent some time with friends, we ventured down to Church Street, we went to see Wonka, and Evie and I volunteered to do some baking at the Ronald McDonald House one day. We celebrated Christmas with Grandpa Tom and Sharon, and then we rolled right into New Year's!
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| Ben & Jerry's fits perfectly in the Stanley! |
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| Baking at Ronald McDonald House. Hope to do this more often! |
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| Lunch date with dance friends |
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| Open gym time for the boys! |
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| A soggy, foggy night on Church Street |
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| Noah built A LOT of Legos during break! |
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| Dinner at Ken's Pizza downtown |
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| Great movie! |
We had an impromptu little gathering for New Year's with some appetizers and games. The kids were determined to stay up until midnight, and they made it! We did a quick cheers after the ball dropped, and then got to bed. I made our traditional New Year's ebelskivers for breakfast, and we indulged in one final lazy day before getting back to routine. We were glad for this time to recharge and celebrate with family and friends!
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| Trying out my new mini Solo Stove |
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| Screw Your Neighbor, always a fun game! |
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| We made it to midnight! |
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| Evelskivers to start 2024 |
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| Games on our last lazy day |
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| Evie made fried rice - delicious! |
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| Having fun with the new Nintendo Switch |
If you somehow made it this far, one final plug for Evie. Girl Scout Cookie season has begun! I'm sure, like us, you are just getting over all the holiday treats, but the cookies won't arrive until mid-February, so you can place your order and forget about cookies for a while! Let us know if you'd like a visit from Evie, or you can place an order directly from her online cookie site:
https://digitalcookie.girlscouts.org/scout/evelyn81971
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