It's not even Christmas Day yet and I already feel like I got what I wanted for Christmas. This year I was seeking a simple Christmas packed with tons of memories (as opposed to things) and thanks to my SIL and my my wish is being fulfilled.
Favorite Gifts:
*From my SIL, Carrie, the 12 Days of Christmas ready to give to another family. How fun! Carrie did all the work (cute poems, pretty bows on each gift--it was seeping with creativity) and all I have to do each night is pass it off to Jon and the girls and off they go. LOVED IT!
*From my brother, Justin, a gift that has brought about great discussions and questions with our girls. In our name, honey bees, tree seedlings and training are being provided to families in another country through Heifer International. What a great gift! I loved it for its originality, thoughtfulness and practicality. We gave another family a source of income!!! That's cool.
Favorite Activities:
*ice skating...in the rain (Who would've guessed that 40% chance of rain meant a downpour?)
*finding any excuse for having hot chocolate, like skating in the rain (We discovered flavored coffee creamers that make hot chocolate even more fun!)
*seeing the Nutcracker with the girls--love this tradition
*watching Christmas movies
*making gingerbread houses (sorry, the houses were made with graham crackers, but I did make the royal icing that worked like magic keeping everything together) The girls invited friends over too, so in all about 12 houses were made. We will definitely make this a tradition. And I will definitely do this outside next year. :)
*looking at lights...on other people's houses (because as my girls have learned, we just don't do lights on the outside because that's the part that Jon's in charge of.)
What I'm Looking Forward to:
*making donuts (Yet another excuse for more hot chocolate--you gotta have something to dip the donuts in!)
*finding some snow somewhere (Emily wants to make a snowman and go sledding. So far, the closest snow we can find is 5 hours away, so maybe we'll do an overnighter and have some snow adventures.)
*game nights
*Christmas morning
*watching more Christmas movies (did you see this one?)
