Merry Christmas!

I just wanted to take this opportunity to wish everyone a 

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from our family to yours! 

Thank you so much for reading this blog and sharing in my little corner of the world. 

I hope everyone has a beautiful weekend! 

Beauty in the Everyday

Today was a lovely first day of winter break spent with doing what I wanted and not having to be at the beck and call of alarm clocks, tutoring students, or the baby that I babysit. It was glorious. I got to sleep in a little bit, and just be. 

After getting up, we headed out so that Bill could pick his van up at the shop where his windshield wipers had gotten fixed. I dropped him off there and then took the kids to the park to throw rocks in the lake and to enjoy the sunshine. 

The kids had fun, especially when we discovered that part of the lake was slightly frozen so they decided to try to throw rocks and tried to break the ice. They had a blast.

 

After, we headed back home to have lunch and do a little bit of cleanup. I also baked off some m&m cookies with dough that I had made yesterday. 

After Bill came home we headed back out to the Kokosing Trail to walk and enjoy the temperatures. It was another beautiful day.

Rebecca did say that she thought the walk was boring because the path was bare. I tried to tell her that there is still beauty to be found in nature in winter. It is a different beauty but it is still there. 

Tonight, I am currently watching another episode of "The Crown" and contemplating whether I should wrap presents or not. I am surprised that I am not tired as usually at this time of night I am exhausted. Maybe it was all the fresh air....Hope everyone has a wonderful night! 

The Crown, Sunshine, and Fudge

Can you believe it is almost Christmas? 5 more days to get ready. 

Today was my kiddos' last day of school before winter break. They are totally ready for break. Honestly I am ready to not have to wake up with an alarm the next couple of days. LOL

Today, I took the kids to school and then headed to the grocery store to pick up a few things to tide us over into next week. My goal is to not go to the store until at least the 26th or 27th at the earliest. 

Then I came home and put away groceries and watched 2 episodes of "The Crown." I started watching it last week on Netflix and I have fallen in love with the show. It is so good. 

Bill and I then had to take his van to the shop as his windshield wipers decided to stop working. He thought it was a bolt that had come undone but he wasn't able to get to it as the screws that screwed it in were all stripped. Thankfully the repair shop was able to access it and is only charging us $80 for labor.

 

Then we decided to take a walk at a local park. It was a gorgeous day out today. The sun was shining all day and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. It was also in the low 40s so not terribly cold. Perfect for being outside!

When we came home, Bill had to head into work for a bit and I decided to try my hand at making fudge for Bill to take to work tomorrow. I have NEVER made fudge in my life and grew up thinking it was so hard to make and so never attempted it. Well, I googled easy recipes and I found one that sounded perfect for me to try the "Easiest Ever Fudge." The only thing I did different was add in a little bit of peanut butter chips.

Tonight as I cut it into small squares I had Bill try it and his response was if I would have made this for him when we were dating he would have eloped with me right then and there. LOL So I guess that means it is good.

So overall, it has been a good day. I finished up tutoring sessions for the year today so have time off until after the new year. I might be babysitting next week for a day or 2, but don't have that schedule yet. Right now, I am just looking forward to being with the kids and enjoying Christmas as much as I can.  

We saw Santa!

Yesterday after mass, we headed out to a local real estate agency that was hosting Santa for a little while. 

The kids had fun and Santa told them all that they had gotten very tall from last year! LOL 

Benjamin ran right up to Santa and gave him a hug! He then told Santa that he wanted "Cranky" the crane from Thomas the Train world. 

Jacob told Santa he wanted sports stuff. He told Santa that his favorite team was the Seattle Seahawks and Santa told him that his was the Cincinnati Bengals. LOL

Rebecca told Santa that she wanted a wall clock for her room.

The kids thought it was a nice surprise for a Sunday afternoon.

 

Hope everyone has a wonderful beginning to your week! 

"Merry and Bright" (UPDATED WITH VIDEO)

Last night was a night to be "Merry and Bright" as we attended what may very well be Rebecca's final Christmas program. I say that as in our school district the middle school and high school does not put on a Christmas program unless you join choir or band and I don't know that Rebecca will want to join those. So last night was her final elementary Christmas program. In the past, the schools have done all the grades (K-5), however this year the district made a decision to have only the 3-5 grades do a Christmas program and then in the spring K-2 will have a Spring performance. 

So last night, we headed over to the Memorial Theater in town to see Rebecca and the rest of the 3rd-5th grades in a musical concert titled "Merry and Bright."

It was a good concert. Most of the music was great. They sang some traditional songs such as "Carol of the Bells." They even sang a couple of religious songs including "This Little Light of Mine" which I thought was wonderful. 

At one point, Rebecca participated in a drum session with other fifth graders.  She is in girl right under the tree trunk with the black short sleeve sweater and red dress. 

She also got to take part in a sword dance, where they did a sword dance and then formed the swords into a star shape towards the end. It was really nice to watch. I have a video which I hope shows up all right.  

Overall, it was a great evening and way to celebrate the Christmas season as a family. My parents, sister (who stayed home an extra day before heading back to college for finals so she could watch the show), and youngest brother and his girlfriend, came to show Rebecca support as well.

She is growing up way to fast. So very blessed that she enjoys these types of performances. It was a fun way to continue to enjoy the Christmas season with the family.  

Christmas movies watched so far this year

What do you do when the 5 month old that you babysit doesn't feel her best all week and needs/wants to be held ALL the time? You sit back, enjoy the baby cuddles, and watch bad Christmas movies on Netflix and Amazon Prime. 😊 Since I got to watch a phlethera of movies this week, I thought I would share a few so that if you find you've got some time you can enjoy them too! 

 

Not all of them were great, but I am glad that I watched them and they all had that feel good feeling that you want to get when you watch a Christmas movie. I will have to say that out of these I think my favorites so far are "Christmas in the Smokies" and "Falling for Christmas." I am sure that I will add more movies to my list in the weeks to come as Christmas approaches. And I may have also had Bill watching a lot of these with me 😁😁 We have also watched a couple of classics including: 

There are many other classics that I will watch over the next month, including other versions of "A Christmas Carol," "It's A Wonderful Life," and "The Polar Express" to name a few. This is probably the one time of year that I do watch a lot of TV (usually while I am doing other things as well!).
What about you, do you watch the "Hallmark" Christmas movies or do you prefer classics? Any movies I need to add to my watch list for this month? 

St. Nick came bearing new ornaments

December 6 is the feast day of Saint Nicholas in the Catholic faith. We celebrate the feast of St. Nick here in our household in a similar way that has been tweaked over the past few years. On the evening of December 5, we read the story of Saint Nicholas and then have each member of the household leave a shoe out for St. Nick to fill overnight. The tradition the last few years has been for St. Nick to bring an ornament for the tree for each member and a treat. This year was no different. 

Last night, we read our St. Nicholas story. 

Then overnight, "St. Nick" came and brought the ornaments and treats.

This year, Bill received a leg lamp ornament. He has never had one and he loves the movie "A Christmas Story." He also received his favorite candy: Reese's cups. 

I received a Cleveland Indians Santa ornament. I also received Lindt truffles! Yummy! 

Rebecca received an emoji ornament and Hershey Milk Chocolate bar. 

Jacob received a football themed ornament and M&Ms.

Benjamin received a "Moana" ornament and M&Ms. He loves the movie "Moana" and sings the songs from it ALL THE TIME! LOL

The kids were very excited to get their ornaments this morning and they will enjoy their snacks after they come home from school.

I love incorporating these little traditions into our family life and our Christmas season. Does anyone else celebrate St. Nick?