Skipping Town

Friday, December 26 The day after Christmas is always such a relaxing, fun, family day. We all went out to do some post-Christmas shopping in the morning at Target and Gabe's. Target Christmas things were 50% off--not enough to wildly buy more Christmas decor we definitely don't need--but we of course picked up a couple of things. The girls both found some jeans at Gabe's.  We spent the rest of the day at home, playing games. We played No Thanks a few times--very fun--and more Centry Spice Road. Andrew, Mom, and the kids played Sorry (which they'd also played on Christmas Eve). The girls continued to focus on their sticker therapy and acrylic cubes. Andrew and I took Farrah for a walk. We relaxed and read. Dinner was leftovers from Christmas.  Molly and Jeremy stopped over on their way back to Bethesda, so we got a little visit with them. The girls continued to play the old, three-string guitar. It was a lovely day at home. Saturday, December 27 After the kids and Andre...

Christmas in Connellsville. What a great day. The kids slept in--no more middle-of-the-night sneak peeks at the gifts; I was downstairs drinking coffee with Mom and Dad when they finally came down. (Andrew slept the latest.) They opened their stockings first, loved everything of course, then opened their gifts. Some of their gifts this year: Funko Pops of Powerless characters Games: No Thanks and Century Spice Road running leggings puzzles sticker therapy packs hamster Warmies books OPI polishes & NYX lip glosses weighted bagels acrylic blocks purple hair dye (Lucia) maroon Uggs mini boots (Lucia) botanical Lego set (Greta) Theragun (Greta) jeans from Pacsun (Lucia) Taylor Swift Midnights cardigan (Greta) inchworms with Santa hats (plushies) and more! Andrew and I exchanged gifts as well, and the kids gave us the gifts they'd chosen for us. A wonderful selection. (We'll do our exchange with Mom, Dad, and Molly next week during Post-Christmas.) Mom made pancakes for breakfas...

Tuesday, December 23 A final day of Christmas preparations, and work (from home) until 2pm. Then--free. Lucia went to Kards Unlimited so she could pick out a gift for Greta (and I bought final stocking stuffers). We made and decorated gingerbread cookies. We went to the club for dinner--it takes some convincing for Andrew to get any of us to leave the house, but we did, and had a nice time. Then we watched Rudolph. We are ready for Christmas proper to begin. Wednesday, December 24 Christmas Eve! We loaded up all the gifts and bags and both pets and headed to Cville around 1pm. Molly and Jeremy, who are spending Christmas with Jeremy's family, are staying at our house and we crossed paths when them briefly. Lucia and Andrew went for a run before we left, so Greta and I loaded all the bags into the car.  We were halfway to Cville when Andrew realized he forgot his Christmas Eve outfit on the coat rack by the front door. "If you hadn't loaded the car, I wouldn't have forg...

The weekend continued with full-on Christmas. I got up early Sunday and continued to wrap gifts. We made a bunch of Christmas cookies: cut-outs, peanut butter blossoms, Czech apricot bar cookies, apricot envelopes. The kids made snaps a few days ago. L&G continued to work on their homemade gifts. Sunday evening we had a happy hour at the Clarks', then came home to watch Elf and Frozen 2, two of our annual viewings. Lucia came across an Instagram post or reel or something about making paper origami stars, and taught herself how to do them; Greta had been very into making these a couple of years ago and picked it back up. They are now obsessed and folded stars throughout the movies. Monday, I had to WORK, a travesty this close to Christmas, but at least I was working from home. I stepped away from my "work" in the afternoon to play Unstable Unicorns with the kids. After work the girls and I went to the Dollar Tree for some craft supplies. Andrew made chili for dinner, a...

Kicking Christmas into high gear. Friday was the girls' last day of school. Greta went out after school with two friends to get a manicure. And then--once home, we're home to stay. Lucia wanted to HANG OUT WITH A FRIEND this weekend and I said no. This is Christmas family time. Everyone stays home. The kids are mine until after Christmas.  Friday night I made broccoli cheddar soup and we watched Unaccompanied Minors, a Christmas movie the kids really like and that we watch every year. Saturday was my shopping day--I finished it all by heading out very very early in the morning so I could beat the crowds at Target, Ulta, Trader Joe's, TJ Maxx, and more. I finished putting our Christmas cards together--they won't arrive until after Christmas, but they'll arrive this week at some point. We all spent a lot of time working on our homemade gifts. In the evening, we had TikTok pasta (pasta with tomatoes and feta) and watched a Hallmark movie called The Snow Must Go On, whe...

Trying to shift to holiday status even though the kids still have school and I still have work. The girls and I watched a Hallmark movie Wednesday evening and Frozen on Thursday evening. We always watch both Frozen movies during the Christmas season--they just seem like part of the holiday for us. I was flooded with memories of watching Frozen with the kids when they were so so so little, in Maplewood, how magical the songs were, how obsessed they were with Anna and Elsa, their little Anna and Elsa nightgowns that they wore constantly. Take me back. But also, keep me right here. The kids are so funny and so much fun. I can't wait for Andrew to get home from CA and for our holiday break to begin so we can be together 24/7 without pesky school and work. Christmas family time!