I have to say . . . I don't want it to be over. I don't want it to end. There are only two more days until we light the big candle. There are only two more days of gifts and food and twinkling lights and Christmas trees and carols and all things red and green. I really wish it could be Christmas time the whole year through!
I mean, it is. For God so LOVED that He GAVE, and that's the gift of grace and mercy and love and promise that we unwrap EVERY DAY of every year no matter the date on the calendar. But I really wish all of the other little extra stuff would last a little bit longer! In the meantime, we are making the very most of it and laughing and having fun all the way!
Sunday morning we took a picture (or two or three) in front of the Advent tree before we went to church.
Sunday afternoon I joined some friends for an afternoon of painting and birthday celebrating. I have to say . . . those circles stressed me out a bit, but I sure did have fun! Honestly, it was so nice to have some "girl time" and do something that I enjoy doing.
On Monday the kids and I went to the grocery store so we could buy all of the groceries we needed for baking and brunching and lunching and snacking and every time in between.
Tuesday afternoon I did the baking. I would love to tell you that the kids joined me in the kitchen and that we spent four hours mixing and stirring and dropping and decorating together. But that is about the farthest from the truth there is!
Seth took Mason and Ellie for a couple of errands so Hannah Kate and I started the baking.
So here's the thing about my children. They don't like to be away from each other for more than a couple of hours at a time! They start getting nervous. And then they start asking me when so-in-so is going to be back and what's taking so long. That's exactly what happened on Tuesday. By the time Seth got back with Mason and Ellie, Hannah Kate could hardly stand it. Mason wasn't interested in what was going on in the kitchen, and Hannah Kate promptly followed him upstairs to play! They left me by myself, and I didn't hear from them for the next two hours! I did make them come down to take a picture so we could at least pretend like we were all up baking in the kitchen. But you know the truth!
And then Abbie came over and spent the night. Last night before bed, we all played Apple to Apples. Y'all. I'm not a board game (or card game) kind of girl. But. I played. And I haven't laughed that hard in a long time! If you aren't familiar with Apples to Apples . . . there are green cards, and there are red cards. The green cards have adjectives/adverbs on them. The red cards have nouns or action words on them. Each player gets five red cards. Each player takes a turn reading the word from a green card. The other players have to give that player the red card that they think best matches the word on the green card. For example, if the green card says sticky, syrup would be a great match. But you probably aren't going to have syrup. As a matter of fact, you might have artist, rainbow, brothers, power rangers and red roses on the red cards in your hands. In that case, you might choose to use brothers, I guess. You get the point.
So it was my turn to read the green card. The word was slimy. I honestly can't remember all of the words on the red cards I was given, but it was a no brainer. I immediately chose the red card that said vanilla pudding. I thought that was pretty genius. But then SOMEONE (I'm not saying any names) flipped out.
Someone: WHAT?!? VANILLA PUDDING?!? How in the world can you choose that over dessert?!? I gave you DESSERT!!!
Me (really confused and going back through the red cards to see how I missed that one): I don't have dessert.
Someone: Yes you do! That was MY CARD.
Me (nearly falling off the couch in uncontrollable laughter): HOW DO YOU SPELL DESSERT?!? Because the card you gave me is DESERT!!!
So, look. Easy mistake. I guess. Maybe. Or maybe not. But you know what else? If you aren't sure of the word on your card, they even list synonyms or a brief little explanation for you. Apparently, SOMEONE missed "a hot, dry, very sandy place" on the bottom of their card!
Fun times, for sure! We all agreed we want to play it on Christmas day with PawPaw . . . Good times right there!!!
Anyway. This morning after breakfast the kids decorated gingerbread cookies. Oh, don't worry. Those gingerbread men were totally bought at the store in a pre-packaged kit with the icing and sprinkles, too!
This afternoon I took Abbie and Hannah Kate to paint. It was such fun, and now we have another beautiful Christmas painting to add to our little collection.
I mean, it is. For God so LOVED that He GAVE, and that's the gift of grace and mercy and love and promise that we unwrap EVERY DAY of every year no matter the date on the calendar. But I really wish all of the other little extra stuff would last a little bit longer! In the meantime, we are making the very most of it and laughing and having fun all the way!
Sunday morning we took a picture (or two or three) in front of the Advent tree before we went to church.
On Monday the kids and I went to the grocery store so we could buy all of the groceries we needed for baking and brunching and lunching and snacking and every time in between.
Tuesday afternoon I did the baking. I would love to tell you that the kids joined me in the kitchen and that we spent four hours mixing and stirring and dropping and decorating together. But that is about the farthest from the truth there is!
Seth took Mason and Ellie for a couple of errands so Hannah Kate and I started the baking.
One of the (many) things I remember most about Christmas is the baking my mama did. Every year she'd bake pralines and divinity and fudge and all kinds of yummy goodies and then she'd pack each one of them away in her tins. Those tins would be filled and then emptied and then stowed away until the next Christmas. She still uses those same tins more than 30 years later! I've never had any nice tins, and that was never something I'd buy for myself. I always kept my meager goodies in disposable rubbermaid plastic containers. But a couple of years ago, my mama took care of that for me. She got me several brand new lovely tins. I didn't bake last year because we went to Georgia for Christmas. But this year I'm filling my tins! There's something about those pretty tins that even MAKES me want to bake! I love everything about this picture (especially the New Orleans streetcar I painted five years ago!), but I also especially love seeing those tins!
So here's the thing about my children. They don't like to be away from each other for more than a couple of hours at a time! They start getting nervous. And then they start asking me when so-in-so is going to be back and what's taking so long. That's exactly what happened on Tuesday. By the time Seth got back with Mason and Ellie, Hannah Kate could hardly stand it. Mason wasn't interested in what was going on in the kitchen, and Hannah Kate promptly followed him upstairs to play! They left me by myself, and I didn't hear from them for the next two hours! I did make them come down to take a picture so we could at least pretend like we were all up baking in the kitchen. But you know the truth!
And then Abbie came over and spent the night. Last night before bed, we all played Apple to Apples. Y'all. I'm not a board game (or card game) kind of girl. But. I played. And I haven't laughed that hard in a long time! If you aren't familiar with Apples to Apples . . . there are green cards, and there are red cards. The green cards have adjectives/adverbs on them. The red cards have nouns or action words on them. Each player gets five red cards. Each player takes a turn reading the word from a green card. The other players have to give that player the red card that they think best matches the word on the green card. For example, if the green card says sticky, syrup would be a great match. But you probably aren't going to have syrup. As a matter of fact, you might have artist, rainbow, brothers, power rangers and red roses on the red cards in your hands. In that case, you might choose to use brothers, I guess. You get the point.
So it was my turn to read the green card. The word was slimy. I honestly can't remember all of the words on the red cards I was given, but it was a no brainer. I immediately chose the red card that said vanilla pudding. I thought that was pretty genius. But then SOMEONE (I'm not saying any names) flipped out.
Someone: WHAT?!? VANILLA PUDDING?!? How in the world can you choose that over dessert?!? I gave you DESSERT!!!
Me (really confused and going back through the red cards to see how I missed that one): I don't have dessert.
Someone: Yes you do! That was MY CARD.
Me (nearly falling off the couch in uncontrollable laughter): HOW DO YOU SPELL DESSERT?!? Because the card you gave me is DESERT!!!
So, look. Easy mistake. I guess. Maybe. Or maybe not. But you know what else? If you aren't sure of the word on your card, they even list synonyms or a brief little explanation for you. Apparently, SOMEONE missed "a hot, dry, very sandy place" on the bottom of their card!
Fun times, for sure! We all agreed we want to play it on Christmas day with PawPaw . . . Good times right there!!!
Anyway. This morning after breakfast the kids decorated gingerbread cookies. Oh, don't worry. Those gingerbread men were totally bought at the store in a pre-packaged kit with the icing and sprinkles, too!
This afternoon I took Abbie and Hannah Kate to paint. It was such fun, and now we have another beautiful Christmas painting to add to our little collection.
Simply having a WONDERFUL Christmas time! And just don't want it to end!