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. 

Faith, Arts and Culture Weekend+

What a weekend of culture and fun. 

The fun actually began on Wednesday with the middle school choir and band concert. 

It was delightful, and I have to tell you that the highlight for me was that we got to leave before the bands started! And we weren't being rude... that was encouraged so we could make room for others! 

Thursday was First Reconciliation, and I was so proud of all my little second-grade chickadees. I took no pictures of that. But it went well!

Friday, M's teacher sent a pic of the class at Adoration. 

Then, directly after schoo,l we had middle school Bingo! Here were some of the 5th grade helpers. (Siblings.)

Here was C's table. I was trying to not impose. 

Overall, it was good but it was SO LOUD. So so so so loud. Middle schoolers are just a whole vibe. Add a bunch of sugar and... it was so so loud and crazy. 

After bingo, we went to pick up Husband from home and headed off to the high school to see their children's show. (There was an unfortunate pit stop at Long John Silvers/A&W... it took 25 minutes from walking in the door until getting our food. And we were going to be late. The idea was meant to be fast. It wasn't. But the employees were genuinely kind and trying their best.) 

Because we were running late, I didn't get a pic of the show before it got running, so I stole this one from Instagram. 

It was Finding Nemo Jr. and I gotta say, it was the most fun children's show I've seen at that school. Makes me excited since we aren't so far off from having a student there ourselves. 

Saturday I went to breakfast with my friend/former co-worker. She is a gem and super crafty so she made me this wreath. (Worst picture ever.) 

That afternoon was C's choir concert. 

They did a very good job! The music sounded great. 

C learned a very important lesson about rehearsing. He was one of the narrators, and they had to be memorized. I asked him many, many times if he wanted to run lines, and he most often refused. 

His second line he totally got flustered and screwed it up. Weirdly, it was the one he knew well, so I was surprised. (But not actually surprised that there was a flub because I had even said to Husband that I didn't think it would go well overall.) 

It wasn't awful awful. And it was the kind of lesson he had to learn himself. 

M took a selfie during the show. And... okay. 

Saturday evening we went to see a bunch of kids in their show Elf Jr. (The theater my kids have participated at.) 

And then it snowed some more. 4 inches. Because we needed that. 

Is it warm again yet?! 

Then, to round up the weekend, Sunday night was the women's Advent by Candlelight. I went as a guest, not a host, which was nice. I took exactly one picture, and it's not great. 

A nice night with the women of the parish. Though I admit the "prayer and reflection" portion of the evening was forgettable. 

It was a very full weekend + of faith, arts, and culture. We are so blessed! 

December

Happy December. 

I am trying really hard to look on the bright side of things, and I know this will be short-lived, but it snowed 10 inches on Saturday, and it's going to snow again today. 

I hate snow. 

Why do I live where it snows?! Katie McGrady said in her NCYC breakout, "And you can't shovel humidity, so we picked Louisiana." 

I am ready for humidity, hurricanes, and alligators friends. 

One last picture of no snow. 

To be fair... I also have a cold, which is definitely affecting my attitude. But I still hate snow. 

The last time we had this much snow... we were on a cruise and missed it. I wish I were on a cruise now. Alas. 

We didn't set up the tree yet. It was on the agenda, but none of us were really feeling it. We did get all the Thanksgiving decor put away, and we are basking in the "normal no decor" home for a few days. 

Advent has started. Even with the snow that I hate, life is good. So Happy December it is.