Almost Christmas

I blinked and we’re 4 days away from Christmas. Thankfully, I’m done with shopping now — and I wrapped everything yesterday. I should probably also finish mailing my holiday cards today because I have been S-L-A-C-K-I-N-G on that. I shared this picture that I didn’t use on our cards but I love it so very much. In keeping it real, we had to have a 2nd day of pictures because someone refused to smile or cooperate at all on the first day. Thank goodness, Danielle is an actual angel and redid them for us.

We have done a few fun (outdoor) activities relating to the holidays…. like Christmas at the Farm where we saw Santa and ice skating at the whitewater center in Charlotte. And we love Christmas walks through the neighborhood in the evenings.

This weekend, we put together our gingerbread village and made reindeer noses. I’m also planning to do rice krispie trees at some point — maybe Thursday.

I thought I would share some gifts that we bought for the family in case anyone is still looking for last minute ideas — most of these can be picked up from Target or received quickly from Amazon. We actually didn’t attend my large family gathering this year because L still isn’t vaccinated and we wanted to be extra cautious but we got gifts for some of the kids (because I started shopping in October) so we shipped those:

18 year old cousin: Apple giftcard

9 year old nephew: Air Rockets + Captain Underpants book

7 year old cousin: football tee

7 year old niece: Dentist barbie + Unicorn book

6 year old cousin: Spin & Splatter set

5 year old nephew: Clay set + extra clay + Minecraft toboggan

4 year old nephew: Take-apart SUV + Pete the Cat book

1 year old cousin: Bath toys

For our parents, we booked a beach house for 4 days to take them all to at a later time. We love the gift of experiences rather than things and it’ll be nice to have all of L’s grandparents in the same place for a few days.

Some of the top things on L’s list were:

• Amphibious Shark Monster Truck
• Legos
• Art supplies
• A grader truck
• A new kitchen + fridge (because we got rid of his last year and now he wants one again #parentingfail)
• Monster trucks
• Earthquake machine

Mo is getting another new bed because shockingly he destroyed yet another one. He also got a DNA test, a santa toy and a new bone. I think he’ll be happy but I doubt his joy will compare to that of Bud and Tucker on Christmas morning — no dog can top that.

If you’re thinking about Christmas morning breakfast, this is ALWAYS our go-to — just be sure to start it the night before. Challah is my fave bread to use in this recipe.

Hoping your Christmas week is low-stress and 100% enjoyable. We’re crossing all of our fingers and toes for a little bit of snow (not looking likely) and also for a healthy holiday. Cheers!