I'm back with a quick December Daily update.
Day 16
The 16th was when the snow began. Luke and I felt like it was an early Christmas present by 3pm that afternoon EVERYTHING was cancelled, and not just for the night, but for the WHOLE weekend.
Day 17
Of course our weekend wasn't actually full of lazing on the couch with a book, watching Hallmark movies as I'd dreamed it would be. But we did get a lot accomplished with our free time.
Journaling reads:
The boys were up early (like before 7am) shoveling snow. We didn't get the 9" they thought, but there was still plenty to shovel. We used our free day as a catch up day. I finished Christmas shopping while Luke an the kids got groceries. Tonight, it's up late to finish wrapping the kids' gifts.
Day 18
Sunday was FREEZING. The kids had practice for our church program at 8:30, at which time I was reminded of a birthday party Cora had been invited to later that day. "Oh yes, of course Cora is planning to come! Didn't I RSVP?! She's so excited" For the record she was so excited, and in my defense we had only gotten the invitation 2 days before. Regardless, once play practice was over it was "guess what family! We get to go to Target to get a present for the birthday party that starts in 2 hours! Yay!!" I had to warn Luke beforehand to stick close to me no matter how inefficient my path to the toy aisles may seem. Basically I had to make sure we didn't cross paths with any of the stocking stuffer aisles. Generally I try not to bring my kids to Target with me during the month of December, or they might think it strange that Santa seems to be able to find everything at Target just like Mom. I ended up looking like a crazy person all but running through the aisles forcing the rest of my family to speed walk behind me. The kids were like "why are we running?!" Even they could pick up on this is not the typical way Mom shops Target. I mean, I didn't even get a cart!
The party was only 2 hours, so once Cora got home we finally got around to some holiday baking. I disciplined myself in my planning this year and decided that we were only making a single batch of star cookies. That's it. This is huge for me. Every year I think I have to make all the classics...fudge, peanut butter bon bons, Andes mint cookies, sugar cookies, some new something I found on Pinterest, and of course star cookies. Not only that, I always feel compelled to make huge batches of everything. We have to have enough to share with the neighbors and bring to every holiday gathering. However, I have a secret about cooking and baking. I don't like it. Ok that's not completely true, I recently blocked off a couple of weekend afternoons just for cooking and meal prep and it was great. Why? Because I wasn't rushed and I planned to spend the entire afternoon that way, therefore not feeling guilty about the 500 other things I should be doing (the wine helped too). I don't like working in the kitchen when I'm rushed, which is pretty much 98% of the time. I work until 5:30 and most of the kids' evening activities start somewhere around 6. So you know all those cookbooks and websites that claim quick and easy weeknight meals in just 30 minutes. 30 minutes?! Who has 30 minutes? I mean I have 30 minutes, but that means meal prep, eating, cleanup and getting back out the door. I know, I know the crock pot is my friend...freezer meals are great. Tell that to my kids. If Beau even thinks I might be pulling the crock pot out of the cupboard he gets a look of sheer terror on his face and is asking "ahhh....what's for supper?".
Anyway, back to the cookies. I knew that a whole afternoon of baking was not in the cards, and with my recent realization of my lack of love for the kitchen I decided a single batch of star cookies would be enough. And the best thing about these is that we've been making them every year without fail so the kids can basically do it themselves. I just have to oversee, AKA prevent whining, fighting and pouting by telling them when to switch jobs. And these particular cookies just happen to be great for 3 kids, one scoops, one rolls, and one sugars...perfect!
I journaled right on top of the photo for this day. It reads:
Star cookies were on the agenda this afternoon. The kids have always loved being big helpers with these, and I love them because there's enough "jobs" to go around. Scooping, rolling, sugaring...They need less help from me every year, by next year they'll be doing it all on their own!
Day 19
I cut a piece of the bag from the chocolate stars and included it just because I love the nostalgia of seeing pieces of packaging from the past, it kind of overlapped with my day 19, but I was ok with it. For the 19th I just added a couple of pictures of the Christmas crafts going on around here. We've been working on parent gifts and the older kids have been putting together some foam craft kits from Michael's.
Journaling reads:
'Tis the season of holiday crafts. I've been working with the daycare kids on this years parent gifts and luckily remembered the foam craft kits for the big kids in time (barely).
Day 20
The highlight of the 20th is that the weather came out of the deep freeze enough that the kids could finally get outside and enjoy the snow. I took the daycare kids out sledding in the morning. When the older kids got home from school I met them outside and told them they could stay out for awhile before coming in for snack. They were playing right outside my office window and I found myself distracted and struck by the way Cora was so joyfully throwing her head back in laughter. This isn't unusual for her, and anyone who knows her can probably hear her contagious belly laugh as they read this. She just has a joyful laugh that you can't help but join in with, even when it's well past bedtime and I just want her to lay down and go to sleep. Not even she can control it, just try to make her laugh the next time she's pouty or mad. She'll scrunch her lips up and furrow her brow, but within minutes that big gigantic laugh is bursting out. Although a common occurrence, it was such a different perspective to be watching as an outsider looking through the window. I couldn't help but think she's got it figured out.... this is the way life was meant to be lived.
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