Christmas Eve +More

Seriously, how amazing was this Christmas?  Something about being isolated and having a what feels like eternal cleared calendar made this year's celebration all the more sweeter.  Now that doesn't mean I won't be celebrating next year when we can return to our traditions of Christmas productions, cookie parties, gift exchanges and all the other busy goodness that comes with the season.  But just this one year, it was nice.

Even with an empty December calendar, Christmas weekend was a whirlwind of friends, family, food, presents, love, lots of smiles, and who am I kidding...a few stressful moments too.  Tis' the Season.

On Christmas Eve Eve, we welcomed some of our Florida family on my side.  Always so happy to see them.  And even though we just saw them on Thanksgiving, it's never enough.

Maggie prepped by baking Christmas cookies.  And by baking, I mean ingredients all over every surface of the kitchen.  Therefore I spent the day cleaning...even after Clarence.

By Christmas Eve, we were back in the kitchen.  But this time we were making our traditional Gingerbread Houses.  This year we thought it would be fun to try a village with mini cottages.

And we love a Little GG in the action to make the tradition all that much sweeter.

The final product was pretty cute.  They completed it with a powdered sugar road.  Adorable!  Wish I had grabbed a photo, but I was probably cleaning...again.

Another Christmas Eve tradition is exchanging family gifts.  The siblings each picked out a gift to give one another and Clay and I gave each of the kids a gift.  The latter of this tradition started way back when one of the kids questioned, "why don't you get us anything for Christmas, you get one for everyone else in the family?".  Geez, we couldn't let Santa get all the credit.  So there the tradition was born.

This year we "gifted" Jack with some Mario race car game he wanted and the girls with roller skates.  Happiness all around.  The girls spent the better half of Christmas Eve skating around the garage and using whatever props they could find to stabilize themselves {i.e. suitcases, canes, brooms} and Jack headed straight to his gaming computer to set up his Mario race course.

And please don't be jealous of my stunning garage.  I swear I've had that garage floor painted umpteen times.

After all of that Christmas Eve excitement, it was time for Mass and dinner at Grandma's.  We dressed up and streamed the live Christmas Eve Mass right in the middle of our living room.  I definitely missed the magic of being in the Cathedral but the surprise snow fall right in the midst of the homily was pretty dear. As my Grandma always says during a moment of awe, "God is Good.".  And he certainly was this Christmas Eve 2020.

Now we are off to Grandma's house for way too many Christmas presents, a delicious dinner, and family time.

Can't wait for Santa...

Deck The Halls

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas around here.  I have never been more ready to pull out the Christmas decor, start wrapping gifts, and celebrating the season than I am this year.

We aren't off to a bad start.

We have the fresh greenery {inside and out} and stockings hung.  Next up Christmas trees and table decor.

Clarence is back from the North Pole!  And he is bringing lots of giggles and smiles with him.

And we've even knocked out teacher gifts and classmate presents.  I found these monogrammed cheese boards on sale on PotteryBarn and snatched them up.  We tied up an Amazon gift card {because who doesn't love Amazon} and they are ready to go.  Now if we can just stay in school until break.  Fingers crossed.

For classmates, we packaged these adorable Christmas face masks.  My girls are super into face masks these days.  Prime Amazon find.  Im so glad I grabbed them when I did because shipping is s....l...o...w.

Maggie wasn't too worried about the boys in her class.  {I mean 5th grade boys are kind of gross and it would be "embarrassing" to give them a gift.}  But innocent Lucy still appreciates the boys.  So she decided to give them wind up Christmas characters as a way to spread Holiday Cheer.  Another Amazon find and they are pretty cute.  And work to boot.

Next up finish gift wrapping, yes, my shopping is complete {one of the perks to Covid and having way too much time on my hands} and also finalize decorating.  

Christmas can't come soon enough this year!

Six Feet Apart Santa

Never in my wildest dreams did I think we would be sitting six feet apart from Santa.  But Lord knows, 2020 has been full of all kinds of things I could have never dreamt of.

So our Santa visit looked a little different this year.  And although I am down to one believer and a dog, I will never give up this tradition.

Nothing says welcome to the Christmas Season like a visit to see this jolly ol' soul.

The two bigs appeased me and went through the motions of sharing their wishes and littlest Lu enjoyed every minute like a true believer.

Shelton was so enamored with Santa that even he couldn't resist a little Christmas love.

And then he immediately took his rightful position back by his beloved children.  I have never seen a dog love his family as much as this big guy does.  The feeling is 100% mutual.

Maggie gently reminded me to snag a photo of their Christmas lists, as Santa always keeps them.  For some reason she thinks I need a copy too. 😉.  Not to mention these are keepers if only for nostalgia's sake.

Lucy's 2020 list...

Maggie's 2020 list...

And Jack's is a verbal list of gift cards and of course, a few Lego sets that he already knows his Grandma will take care of.

Happy December!  Tis' The Season!

Sand, Sunshine, and Turkey

We traveled back home for Thanksgiving.  Home isn't such a bad place to visit is it?...

 

Add that beauty to negative Covid Tests, gorgeous weather, and having the Cibulas and Dumbachers all together, it was certainly a week to be THANKFUL for.

After perusing the photos from our week away, I mentally started a list of all that I am so blessed with.  Thanksgiving and family seem to do that to me.  

So, here are a few of my favorite memories and a tangible list of what was consuming my thoughts...

My children...enough said, the good, the bad the ugly and all the sweetness squeezed in between

                                                                 

                         

                         

I love watching my kids be themselves...my boy and his dog, Maggie making dance videos, and Lucy always tumbling

                                                                    

Cousins and uncles...the best!

Boat rides and beachin' in November...my Grandma in her happy place, cousins playing, and so much sunshine.

Thanksgiving dinner...not even the delicious food always prepared to perfection by Aunt Scrub, or the fun turkey cake baked by Grandma and kids, or Brecken's awesome Spiderman moves, but combining two amazing families.  My heart is full.

     

Happy Thanksgiving!  What a great reminder of all we have to be thankful for. 💛