Happy Holidays! Or mostly happy, at least. I've tried to stay on the jolly side without remembering this time last year when Emily was building gingerbread houses with us. It's a hard holiday without her. I've been sad, really sad, not so sad, and occasionally happy with a hint of sad. Basically, I'll always be sad and I'm just going to have to deal with that.
Aaaaaaannnnnywaaaaay.
Christmas was pretty great. Jena spent the weekend with us and Alex came over Christmas afternoon. We had our Octoberfeast (minus the deviled eggs because they froze overnight), but with a mince meat fruit cake I made from the World of Warcraft cookbook I received this past Mother's Day. My first run of it was actually really good. The candied ginger takes some getting used to, but other than that, the cake itself was great. My second run was just not good. I couldn't even eat an entire slice. I probably put too much brandy and the texture of the orange zest was not good. I felt like Rachel when she made the trifle. However, I've made some notes and plan to make a third run for New Year's. I'll update the results when the time comes. Also, we bought dinner rolls and completely forgot to make them.
We grabbed a pic with Santa earlier in the month, as well as drove around to look at lights. I've been working so much, we've had to squeeze in time to do things together as a family. It's been rough.
This entire year, I've been spring-cleaning. My kids have toys they never play with, clothes they never wear, etc. so I've been going through things and making trips to the consignment shop and the thrift store for the past few months. I did a lot of thinking on what to get the kids so they each had roughly the same amount of gifts to open, but the gifts would actually be used. I normally don't mention the things they get for the holidays (aside from what's shown in pictures) because I find it silly, but seriously, I'm proud of myself this year. EVERYTHING was considered in each purchase. Will they play with it? How long? Is it durable? Will it last a year? Will it get boring? Can it be passed to a younger sibling? Can it be shared?
Jac is eleven this year, so I took his age into account of what types of things he may like. We don't have cable, so aside from Minecraft, he doesn't have much he's interested in. So, here's the rundown for Jac:
Aaaaaaannnnnywaaaaay.
Christmas was pretty great. Jena spent the weekend with us and Alex came over Christmas afternoon. We had our Octoberfeast (minus the deviled eggs because they froze overnight), but with a mince meat fruit cake I made from the World of Warcraft cookbook I received this past Mother's Day. My first run of it was actually really good. The candied ginger takes some getting used to, but other than that, the cake itself was great. My second run was just not good. I couldn't even eat an entire slice. I probably put too much brandy and the texture of the orange zest was not good. I felt like Rachel when she made the trifle. However, I've made some notes and plan to make a third run for New Year's. I'll update the results when the time comes. Also, we bought dinner rolls and completely forgot to make them.
We grabbed a pic with Santa earlier in the month, as well as drove around to look at lights. I've been working so much, we've had to squeeze in time to do things together as a family. It's been rough.
This entire year, I've been spring-cleaning. My kids have toys they never play with, clothes they never wear, etc. so I've been going through things and making trips to the consignment shop and the thrift store for the past few months. I did a lot of thinking on what to get the kids so they each had roughly the same amount of gifts to open, but the gifts would actually be used. I normally don't mention the things they get for the holidays (aside from what's shown in pictures) because I find it silly, but seriously, I'm proud of myself this year. EVERYTHING was considered in each purchase. Will they play with it? How long? Is it durable? Will it last a year? Will it get boring? Can it be passed to a younger sibling? Can it be shared?
Jac is eleven this year, so I took his age into account of what types of things he may like. We don't have cable, so aside from Minecraft, he doesn't have much he's interested in. So, here's the rundown for Jac:
- Star Wars socks.
- Pokemon wallet. His Cars wallet just wasn't screaming Big Kid.
- R2D2 mug with a pack of hot chocolate.
- Gingerbread Latte shower gel and body cream. He's got dry skin like Mama and the scent isn't girly.
- Hand sanitizer.
- Dog Pile puzzle. It requires logical thinking, so it's a fun workout for the brain.
- Hooded bath robe.
- Minecraft Steve playset, which is one of his favorite gifts he's "ever" received.
- Four-piece snack food erasers. One can never have too many erasers.
- Pokepark for the Wii from Santa. He's been asking for the game all year.
Leah is eight, so this is her list:
- Star Wars socks.
- BB-8 wallet because Frozen just isn't cool anymore.
- Wide hairbrush. Covers more ground, less time to remove tangles. Also has a fun pattern of rainbows and cupcakes all over it.
- Sugar Plum Swirl shower gel and body cream. It's fruity and purple, but not too grown-up.
- Hand sanitizer.
- Cat Stax puzzle. Also requires logical thinking, but with cats.
- Hooded bath robe.
- Minecraft Alex play set. A favorite as well.
- Cupcake bath bomb because Girlfriend is all about the bath bombs lately.
- Four-piece dessert food erasers that claim to be scented but smell like erasers.
- Zoomer Cat, which came from Santa. Said gift was asked for last year, but she got a disappointing Meowzie instead. Zoomer is interactive and pretty awesome. It even rolls on carpet.
Elias is two:
- Large Magnadoodle with shape magnets.
- Let's Go Fishing board game, which he loves and can be played with by up to 4 players.
- Five-pack of Hot Wheels cars because Bun is absolutely bananas for cars or anything with wheels.
- Mickey Mouse socks.
- Hooded bath robe.
- Small wooden puzzle with matching pictures for easy assembly.
- The Nightmare Before Christmas storybook. Zac was jealous.
- Bath crayons. A hit. Seriously.
- Frosted Coconut Snowball shower gel and body cream. He loves "loshie" after baths, so the coconut is a nice scent for him. He says, "Mm, nummy good!"
- Hand sanitizer. Helpful when potty-training.
- Two-in-one tricycle from Santa. He LOVES his bike.
