1.05.2023

Christmas Reflections

Nearly two weeks later, I'm finally loading and sorting through photos from Christmas and New Year's on my computer.
Some of it is that school and the routine is back in swing, so I have a bit more time to do some non-essential tasks like that.  Changing diapers and feeding kiddos mostly takes precedence, right? :).  Though at the moment, I'm also tending to two sick kids; this season has been full of nasty coughs and sinus trouble.  Sigh.

However, we had a surprisingly good holiday, despite worries that it was going to be a looooooong 13 days with Chris home with me and the boys.
But we kept busy, visiting with relatives and shuffling Soren off with his uncles for visits to the Please Touch Museum and other fun spots.

I was gifted with many delicious mornings of sleeping in until 8am--not late for most people, though considering S wakes up at 5:30am, it's a luxury.  Thanks Chris!

We had a lot of time to connect as a family, building blocks with S, going to the park, creating things at the kitchen table, playing with cars.
Two of my picture-perfect plaid boys on Christmas Eve
Chris and I have mastered the "divide and conquer" approach to parenting two kids, which made for a smooth holiday week.

On Christmas, I made a fabulous breakfast with a spinach and artichoke frittata, home fries, fruit salad, and coffee.  It was sooo good!
Not my finest photo, but Chris was chiding me about being like my mom and never letting him snap a candid shot, rumpled nightgown, greasy hair and all.  Keepin' it real, y'all.
Oh, I guess I missed the part about the gifts, which occurred pre-breakfast.  It was a really magical year for Soren; he was so excited about everything! 
He received some open-ended gifts from us, like Citi Blocs, art supplies, and finger puppets.  And some favorite Skippyjon Jones books.
Later that week, we visited friends, for whom I made some homemade gifts like knitted hats, play dough, jar baked goods mix, and a breakfast gift basket.
For my friend's daughter, I painted a really cute puppet theater, a miniature version of Jennae's puppet theater.  I love how it turned out!
I also made some "jar gifts", like these Toffee Blondies in a Jar.  I've yet to bake some myself, but they look yummy from the post.  They were really easy to whip up into the jars too, in about 10 minutes.
And of course, I added some homemade applesauce and peppermint play dough.
I think I was most excited to give these gifts, since they were handmade and thus more meaningful.  That by far is the best part of the season!

Sorry to cut this short, but I'm off to administer more hugs and Tylenol.  Have a lovely weekend, friends!


5 comments:

Naomi said...

I love the plaid shirts- so cute! I made jarred butterscotch brownie mixes for teacher gifts this year, not that I managed to photograph them. Whoops! They weren't as cute as yours, anyway.

Terra H. said...

Looks like you had a wonderful Christmas. The puppet theater you painted is quite neat.

Ammie said...

This post is loaded with good ideas. I love the darling finger puppet theater, your pretty pine cone decor, and all of the cozy handmade gifts for friends. Your red Christmas theme jammies and shirts make me smile. :) We didn't do that this Christmas, but I think we will next time.
Hope your boys get better soon, and that S. enjoys all those silly and fun Skippyjon Jones stories!

sheena@sophistishe.com said...

Gorgeous family photo! Breakfast had to have been fantastic *drool* You make me want to buy some night gowns so that I can start capturing morning mama moments. I am envious of your creativity. Goodness, girl!

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