Sunday, December 16, 2018

The Simple Holiday Weekend



We've had an exciting holiday season so far. We kicked it into high gear Thanksgiving weekend with Elizabeth's holiday performances and kept the vibe going through the first weekend in December. We have a list of things to get done before Christmas and quickly running out of time. Hubs helped us out last week by surprising us with a freshly cut down Christmas tree while we were at Aladdin (read about that here). That meant we had more time to do more with our weekend.

Friday night we went to Blaze Pizza for the mini's school fundraiser. We ate a delicious dinner and then dropped items off at the Children's Museum. Saturday we had 8 hours for our Mom and  Minis Day and did something we haven't done before this time of year, followed by a birthday party for my Uncle. On Sunday the boys got haircuts, followed by shopping, hanging up Christmas lights, and ending the weekend with a favorite holiday tradition: Jolly Holiday Lights.

Never a dull time with us!


Everyone got their own unique pizzas, so there was no complaining!


They HAD to do a quick run around the Museum since we wouldn't be there Saturday morning.


Since we had a special Saturday planned, I knew we wouldn't have time for our usual Saturday morning coffee date (this is something I do every Saturday morning with the minis), so we squeezed it in Friday night after pizza.



One of their "special finds" during all of our Christmas shopping this season were large decorative candy canes. They used them to dance instead. There's constantly music playing at our house, which means more than likely, someone in the house is dancing at any given time. They crack me up with their dance moves (and singing)!







Saturday during the day we put a dent in our Christmas movies that we don't always get a chance to watch every year. Money wasted no more! Read about our day here.

This drink was wonderfully light and refreshing!


Saturday night we celebrated my Uncle's birthday. My minis got to exercise their musical "talent" (Harrison and the harmonica that he played....even though he doesn't actually play) and sang Christmas carols with the family. Also, Elizabeth spent some time taking selfies. I had A LOT of pictures to go through on my phone!



A bow at the end is always required.


Seeing Christmas lights on our way home is a requirement this time of year.


More fun stuff discovered on my phone after the six year old had it for a few minutes. Endless selfies and a picture from Lake Itasca State Park that has been written on. I'm not sure if she's telling me she loves me or the vacation....and when I inquired about it she simply shrugged her shoulders and said she wasn't sure. So basically, I can compare her love for me to her love for vacations. Sounds about right.


After the minis went to bed, I enjoyed holiday goodies from my cousin while watching Christmas movies on Netflix (Christmas Switch and A Christmas Prince Royal Wedding were on our watchlist for the weekend).


Sunday morning started with breakfast at Perkins, hair cuts, shopping, and then setting up our own decorations outdoors. We (actually, I) decided to forgo lights on the house this year and kept it simple with red and green house lights, a lighted sign, and light up presents on the deck. While our Christmas lights don't exist this year, we saw an impressive light display at Jolly Holiday Lights Sunday evening. It was the perfect end to the holiday weekend.




One way to pass the time is to play 'who blinked first' while waiting on the boys to get their hair cuts. Lil Miss E cheated and held her eyes open with her hands.





It might have been chilly outdoors, but that didn't stop anyone from playing in the yard and getting fresh air.

We got gifts ready for teachers.





My favorite light display was a reindeer spoof of Edward Hopper's Nighthawks.

The minis favorite part of Jolly Holiday Lights is how they get to unbuckle and move around the car to see the lights.