Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! 

See you next year! 

Christmas 2025

Now, don't get me wrong. I know we are only at 5 Gold Rings right now and our family is going to keep on celebrating, but here's what we've done so far. The theme of this Christmas is "And I Took No Pictures."

We finished our Puzzle Advent calendar a day early. I really, really enjoyed this Advent calendar. Every day was a mini puzzle, and then all together it makes this Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade scene. 

M went to a half-day camp to make a cardboard gingerbread house. She made a beach house. Then we hit the road from there to my parents' house. 

Christmas Eve arrived and we spent the day with my family before heading off to Mass. C really wanted to go on Christmas Eve. M really wanted to go on Christmas Day. This year, C won, but next year we will go to the day Mass. 

We got there plenty early and got seats right where I wanted to be. It was a good Mass. 

There was a funny moment where, instead of the Nicene Creed, the priest started in on the penitential act, and we all, as a congregation, looked around and went "huh." 

After Mass we had a delicious dinner, of which I took no pictures. Then C performed his Christmas song for us all before we opened presents. 

And M got her very own Chomp Saw so we can make all the cardboard creations we want! 

Christmas Day was quiet and calm. There was a Cardinal at the Bird Buddy.

We opened more presents. And watched the Vikings Game. I will tell you that I thought the Snoop Dog Halftime Show was really really fantastic. 

It was classy with the orchestra and choir. Tasteful holiday wear. A good mix of artists from all genres singing some of their own music, but mostly Christmas. Snoop. Huntrix. Lainey Wilson. Andrea Bocelli. 

I hope the Super Bowl halftime show was taking notes because every single moment was delightful. I even really loved the Martha Stewart intro and goodbye. I really like Martha Stewart, though. 

After an Italian Pasta dinner, we took a group picture. 

Friday, we didn't do much of anything. Played games. Chatted. 

Saturday, we returned home through fog. It was not as lovely a drive as the way up. 

Yesterday we had our own little home Christmas after Mass. We opened our gifts. I took no pictures. And we watched Home Alone 2. 

So that's a little bit of what we have been up to this Christmas season! 

Merry Christmas!

 

Merry Christmas! 

I am very thankful for my little corner of the internet and I hope you and your loved ones have the Christmas that makes your heart happy! 

The Monday Before

We are really cramming in all the Christmas magic into these last few days. 

We went to the Polar Express PJ Party. I took no decent pictures. 

Yesterday C sang at the Christmas Coffeehouse with his voice studio. I put M in charge of the video and the pictures. They didn't turn out. Enjoy these backlit masterpieces. 

The good news was that his performance was, in fact, quite good. I am so proud of him!! 

Then we had our Home Alone night last night. Pizza and Ice Cream Sundaes! 

This morning, M went to a Christmas party brunch, so C and I went to our own brunch. 

And in further proof he is 13, he ate almost every bite. 

I have been baking all afternoon and just discovered I am out of eggs so I need to go get those. Wish me luck! 

Home Stretch

There really isn't a lot going on here. 

And that's okay. This week has been one that feels busy. Getting Christmas cards in the mail. Final shopping. 

C had his voice lesson last night, and I haven't been since she decorated for Christmas because of First Reconciliation and M's haircut/Christmas program. I loved her tree! So gorgeous! 

And she even decorated her piano, and I just think it's so lovely. 

I do love this sign. But I also think it kind of looks like "And Heaven and Snature Sing." 

Last night was our work Christmas party. I took no pictures, but was in the group picture/video shared to Facebook. So that's nice.

There's a lot I could say about this party. But here are the broad brush strokes: 

We got a new principal this year, and he didn't think we should have a party. So then, once he was outvoted on that, he didn't even attend said party. Real moral booster that guy. 

Anyway... today was also the school Nativity. Which has really become my kick-off to Christmas. It's that last school day before break, and now it's Christmas. 

 

Here's my audience member. 

And my singer. 

Here's the whole shabang. 

The 8th grade actual Nativity people.

And my singer actually singing. :) 

Now it's Christmas Break! 

Gingerbread 2025

Well, Gingerbread Weekend 2025 has come and gone. 

And it was one for the record books. 

This was the first year we'd ever really had a plan. We bought all the supplies. On Friday, I went to the Dollar Tree and did the candy run. Things were looking up. 

We had a mandatory family movie night (they're all madatory, but due to NCYC, Thanksgiving, and the play last week, we haven't had a real one in a while.) We watched the Jonas Brothers Christmas movie. I thought it was delightful! And it was exactly the low-key night we all needed. 

Then Saturday hit with more snow. I cannot, friends. I hate it so much. 

Our actual DOT posted this. Saturday was horrible. My very best friend was trying to return home to her children from Des Moines, and they got stuck on I-80 for hours while it was closed. They saw so many accidents and situations. 

Anyway, after we shoveled, we got to work on the gingerbread houses. The kids ROCKED it. 

M went with this blue theme. Which turned out super cute! She was SO proud of her shingles and I think she did such a nice job! 

C went to town and added allllllll the candy he enjoys. He is the only one who will systematically destroy his house by picking at the candies to eat them. I think my favorite part of his house is the Swedish Fish sidewalk. 

Then the grown-ups got started. And we were absolutely destroyed by isomalt. We had been planning on a greenhouse for months. So we bought isomalt and it wouldn't set!!! For giggles I set up 2 walls just to see what would happen... 

The answer is... the isomalt started to drip. Slowly. 

A few hours later it looked like this. 

It was so bad. So we had to rebake the walls. Which meant making more dough. At midnight. 

And then Husband and I each broke a piece. It was the most disastrous of all the gingerbread houses we've made in 13 years of this tradition. 

Luckily, we are pretty adept at this point of gluing things back together with icing and making it work like Tim Gunn used to say. 

And it turned out pretty well. 

But still... this will go down in history as the year isomalt got the best of us. Still the tradition stands and we made it! 

Little Tidbits

 This week was a good one. Busy, but good. 

Yesterday was M's final Christmas Program!! 

She will definitely have choir concerts in her future but those aren't exactly the same as a Christmas Program. 

I again utilized my favorite mom hack and made M a hair appointment after school. 

And it turned out adorable! 

Hard to believe this was the last one!! 2018-2025. (No program in 2020 because of that little virus. I am sure you recall.) 

Here are a few "then and now" pics. LOOK HOW THEY'VE GROWN!

And today was the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. C was the narrator for the little play before Mass and I am so so proud of him! He did SUCH a nice job. 

 

His class was dropping like flies... they were down to 14 kids by the end of the day so I made him go straight to the shower when we got home to make sure he washed off any germs that followed him.