Jan 18, 2020

Life Lately {Thanksgiving + Christmas}

The big thing about our Thanksgiving this year was that it was the last one we were celebrating in my parent's house! My family moved there when I was in fourth grade, and my parents recently bought a smaller house in the same area but closer to our church. We ended the holiday festivities there with a bang (of dessert).


Thanksgiving morning we went to mass and then over to my sister's for donuts, hot cider, and flag football. 

(I need to write these posts sooner because it's hard to remember the little things that happen in a month!)

The day after Thanksgiving we had family over for cookie decorating. We're always trying to think of things to do over the long weekend, so I figured that Friday was a good day to do this with the girls! It was chaotic and messy but I think everyone had fun and the girls and their cousins loved picking out cookie cutters from my mom's years-old stash and pressing them into the dough.:)


And the next day we picked out our tree! A local Knights of Columbus council sells Christmas trees but they usually go quickly, so we snatched one up and decorated it a couple of weeks later.


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In December Evie had her first three basketball games for CYO! They were all about an hour away but the parish was my Grandpa & great-aunt's longtime parish, so that's kind of neat. One of the days I drove Evie and Audrey past his old house and the hill where my siblings and I used to sled. 
I think Evie's discovered shooting baskets in our driveway is more than a little different from actual basketball games, but Tim and I told her we'd like her to finish the season; you live and learn.;)
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After mass one Sunday I grabbed my sister and asked her to take a family photo of us for our Christmas cards. Of course(!) someone was already crying about something unrelated to the photo shoot but I thought we'd still manage one decent-ish shot to mail out. Well, we didn't. Not even one passable one! They were all so terrible (not the photographer's fault).



Next year we are so getting professional family photos taken and there will be repercussions for those who do not uphold my standards for family photo conduct! (Also, why is a basic smile such a foreign concept?!)
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This was the first year I went to Lessons and Carols! It's something I've wanted to attend for several years, and Evie and Audrey joined me for the beautiful service. We left just before the sixth carol because it was after bedtime, but hopefully next time we'll stay for the entirety!


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Cora sang her in school pageant.:)



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We celebrated Audrey's birthday a week early, as we were going to be out of town on her birthday. She opened her presents and we ate pizza and brownie sundaes.

A big seven-year-old!




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Breakfast with Santa



Evie sang with the Children's Choir this year at the 4pm mass on Christmas Eve, so we all attended that mass. We had to get there forty minutes early, as the church fills up to the gills FAST, and all the girls did so well; I was so proud of them! Cora slept on my shoulder for a chunk of the mass, too, which was a good thing for both of us.:) Afterwards we hosted my family for dinner- everyone contributed with lots of delicious finger foods/ appetizers and cookies for dessert!



















Late that afternoon we headed to my brother and SIL's new house for Christmas dinner with family.
All in all it was a wonderful Christmas!

*Caveat: To be honest, in mid-December I was just hit with this feeling of weariness. As a mom I *love* thinking up gifts for my family, decorating the house, and following our Advent and Christmas traditions. It's something I look for to each year and really enjoy doing. I feel I usually know when to hold back from an activity or tradition if it's going to be too much, and I am typically one tends to do less (calendar-wise), as I can get overwhelmed when I feel things starting to snowball. For whatever reason (and at the risk of sounding completely self-absorbed) I felt so strongly that I just wanted someone to pamper me for a bit! There's so many people to think about in December- teachers and kids and husband, and while I love to do it, it's all on me and that starts to feel kind of heavy! Luckily my birthday falls the week before Christmas and one night my mom babysat so Tim and I could go out to dinner and the next my mom and sister took me out. That helped a good bit to fill my energy tank. At any rate- moms at Christmas, I see you!

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