Also, before signing for the last time in 2021, I want to say thank you for the millionth time for allowing me to share my life with you in this space. This blog and your comments, readership and support bring me so much joy and I never noticed that the reason I am able to do what I love so much is because of each person. of you. Thank you! And Happy New Year!
My favorite things on Friday
The Tuesday before Christmas we held a cookie decorating party for some of the boys’ friends! I took some shortcuts to make sure everything was as comfortable as possible (pre-baked cookies and store-bought icing!) and put in a bunch of eye-catching, sprinkles Edible, shredded coconut, white chocolate chips and garnish provide the kids to use on their sugar cookies. One of my last minute additions that has really helped is the inclusion of a small silicone cup for each child. They pour different types of water into their individual cups so they always have water sprinkled right in front of them and don’t have to wait for other kids to sprinkle them. (Can you say crack is king!?) It was cute to see the kids join in on the decorating fun but we had to laugh when the cookie decorating lasted 15 minutes for almost three hours every day. people in our house. Unstructured gameplay will always reign supreme!
Then, on Christmas Eve, we started decorating cookies up a notch with my purpose cut out sugar cookie recipe and spent some time decorating cookies for our family and Santa!
Without the boys’ friends around to distract them, this time they really got to the decoration and we ended up having two dozen Christmas crackers… and a few Christmas squirrels because According to Chase and Ryder, the squirrel cookies are essential to include.
-
Lighting for the Daniel Stowe . Botanical Garden
(Jacket / Plaid / Boots / Tight pants / Bag (gift) / Beanie is a Christmas market in Light the Knights)
After attending a holiday lighting event at the Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden last year, we knew we needed to do it again this year and drove down to Belmont, North Carolina a few days before Christmas. . The gardens are completely decorated with holiday lights and it’s a great event for the kids as it’s all outdoors and they can run around and just be the kids. Our older boys love it and since Rhett likes nothing more than the freedom to roam and do his independent Grandpa ways, it’s been a great activity for him too. This event is fast becoming a mainstay of our family!
I counted my blessings a million times on Christmas morning. Even though Christmas is crazy and really a bit tiring at this stage of my life, it really feels magical and I know I’m living the part of my life that I’ll be looking forward to. someday repeat again.
Our plan for Christmas Eve was just as low as possible with three kids. We spent the day before Christmas driving around watching the Christmas lights, looking for Rudolph (Ryan hid a red light deep in our backyard and the boys went crazy for it), sprinkling food Put the reindeer on the ground (oatmeal + glitter) and assemble the Christmas presents once the boys are in bed.
On Christmas morning, the big kids were up at dawn and so excited! We enjoyed homemade cinnamon rolls and had a relatively relaxed morning with our father-in-law as the boys opened their presents.
We finally made a last minute decision to plan a trip to Florida and actually drive to Florida for Christmas! The boys died to get to Florida, so we relied on their enthusiasm and drove in record time thanks to absolutely NO traffic. Chase asked if we could drive to Florida every Christmas so any guilt I might have about spending a decent amount of Christmas in the car goes away pretty quickly. What a wonderful way to enjoy Christmas dinner with her parents, sister and family!
Since coming to Florida, we have been spending as much time with our family as possible. The weather was phenomenal so we also enjoyed our time outside reasonably. We filled our days with visits to the Tree Hill Nature Center and Celestial Farm (a local animal rescue farm that we absolutely LOVE!) as well as trips to the Ranch. crocodile in St. Augustine, the Jacksonville Zoo and lots of beach time! It’s a great mix of busy and relaxed with lots of sunshine sprinkled in the mix. We’re heading back to North Carolina tomorrow and are so grateful for the family time we were able to enjoy over the boys’ winter break.
Question of the day
What’s one thing you’re grateful for as you head into 2022?
