Christmas Traditions

Christmas is definitely one of our favorite times of the year, and over the years, we've developed lots of family traditions and created new ones. I thought I'd share some of our family's traditions, and I'd love to know some of yours too. And, if you're looking for new ones in your family, feel free to borrow some of ours. 

Chex Mix

DJ loves making Chex Mix during the holiday season. He has a family recipe that was passed down so we make it a couple of times between Thanksgiving and Christmas. 

Seeing Santa

We usually visit Santa at The Bass Pro Shop when we go to Branson, but of course, we don't get to kick off the Christmas season every year in Branson, but we've always seemed to live near a Bass Pro, so that's the Santa we visit. We like them, because you can get a free picture :) And, we almost always wear Christmas pajamas to see Santa.

PJ Christmas Light Night

Each year we choose one night to throw on Christmas jammies, get cookies and hot cocoa and drive around and look at Christmas lights. 

Baking Cookies for Santa

Santa gets homemade chocolate chip cookies at our house every year, unless we're at a bowl game and in that case, Santa gets whatever sweet treats we can find. Christmas Eve day we usually spend some time baking cookies, and we always use the recipe from the kitchen aid cookbook. 

Happy Birthday Jesus

My mom loves throwing a birthday party for Jesus. We don't do this every year, but when my mom gets a chance, she has a birthday party for Jesus with the girls. They sing Happy Birthday and eat cake or cupcakes and blow out the candle for Him. 

School Christmas Parties

Of course we love celebrating with holiday parties at school. 

Chocolate Covered Potato Chips

I grew up making these and we love them during the holiday season. Again, this isn't something we make every year, but they're super easy. Just melt chocolate almond bark and dip Ruffles potato chips in, and let them dry. Easy peasy, and they'd be a cute gift for a postal worker, school helper, etc. 

Christmas Advent Countdown

A few years ago, I purchased these little advent bags, and each year, I fill them with a little activity for us to do every day before Christmas.  Some days will tell the girls about their Christmas PJ Light Night, wrap presents, or other days, there are some simple things like- be nice to your sisters, or do a random act of kindness, pray for a friend, etc. 

North Pole Breakfast

Christmas Eve morning, the girls wake up to a North Pole breakfast. It's the way our elves say good-bye to the girls each year. There's usually doughnuts, muffins, fruit, and hot cocoa with some activities for the girls to do on Christmas Eve day to help the time pass faster. 

Hugging Elves

Before the girls go to bed on Christmas Eve, they always get to hug our elves good bye. See, the elves don't need their magic to fly back to the North Pole. They just hop in Santa's bag and fly back with him. 

Catching Santa

You can download apps on your phone to "catch Santa" in the act. 

Christmas Decorating/Ugly Sweater Party

Last year we hosted our first ugly sweater party and decorated cookies with friends. We decided to not host this year, but we did have a fun Christmas party with friends instead. 

Reindeer Food

We sprinkle reindeer food in the yard for the reindeer to eat while Santa is leaving presents. We usually make this on Christmas Eve, and it's super easy. Oatmeal, sprinkles, glitter- mix it up and sprinkle all over the yard. 

Those are a few of our favorite traditions.... what are some of yours?

Friday Favorites: December Fun

Well, this post almost didn't happen. Right before I went to bed last night, I remembered that I needed to get this post up- gah! I'm back to blogging again, but I quickly fell in to the habit of not blogging this week, so I was determined to post and share my Friday Favorites today. 

As always, I'm linking up with Andrea, Erika, and Narci and sharing a list of favorites from the past week. And, because I'm also having technical difficulties, I have no Friday Favorite graphic today :( Sigh, the internet is sometimes against you.

Alas, moving on. 

Our elves brought the girls The Giving Manger this week. We read the book before school, and our manger is already being filled with hay. I think Adalyn is the most exciting and she has been really helping out and being kind to her friends at school. 

The book basically talks about a family who only received one homemade gift every year. Then one year, the father announced there would be multiple gifts and the kids were very excited! They received a manger, and were disappointed, but then the parents explained that as they did acts of service to others, they could place a piece of hay in the manger and there gifts were the acts of service. 

I'm really working on the girls being more generous and helpful and I think this is a great way to kick it off during the Christmas season.

Last Friday, Megan had a show team performance at a local school. She is loving show team and gymnastics, and we're really hoping she can push herself to team, but more importantly, we're hoping she continues to love the sport. There was a time after we moved to Texas that she was hating gymnastics, and after changing gyms, she fell in love with it again. And if she never competes, that's 100% okay with us.

Her team has the cutest performance!

Saturday afternoon, Gretchen and I headed over to DJ's cousins house to pick something up and got to cuddle baby E for a while. Gretchen LOVES babies which I find hilarious because she also asked if we could suck Megan up with a vacuum cleaner when Megan was just a few months old. I never thought that I would see Gretchen swoon over a baby.

Saturday night, we decorated our gingerbread house, and I wish I could say it was a pleasant experience, but it was not my favorite. The only plus side, is that I didn't have to actually supervise much this year, which may also be why they fought a bit.

Sigh. After a quick time out, they all worked together and did a great job with the house! I also think it's the first time it wasn't an absolute mess of globs of candy and icing. Sometimes, this growing up thing is nice!

Sunday morning, the girls appeased me by wearing Christmas dresses to church. And I realized that we're on our last few years of smocked dresses and Christmas dresses.

We spent Sunday afternoon decorating our tree. 

And once again, the girls proved how big they are by being very independent. There were only a few ornaments I had to move and rearrange. 

Oh, this middle child. 

Sweet sisters with their decorated Christmas tree.

After the tree was done, DJ and the little girls headed off to a birthday party and Gretchen and I headed to her Nutcracker performance. She was even interviewed by the local news station, but I'm not sure if a story actually aired, there was a ton in the local newspapers though. 

My work put on a performance of the Nutcracker with special needs kiddos. If you don't know- I'm a speech pathologist and have the very best job in the world! The company I work for offers ballet, sports, and cooking classes for kids, and the ballet classes put on a performance of The Nutcracker. They needed a narrator for the ballet, and Gretchen was able to step in. 

I curled her hair and let her wear a touch of make up and be still my heart, but this girl is growing fast!

I took off Wednesday because I had to get a tire replaced in my car, but it gave me a chance to dig in to this book a little more. I found myself underling SO much of it and nodding my head in agreement. Lindsay Moreno sprinkles in major truth bombs and makes me feel like I'm not such a shitty mom after all. But also, if you're running a business- such as a blog, a network marketing biz, or you're an influencer on social media, you need this bookhttps://shopstyle.it/l/bbIfK!  

Since football season is over, I finally updated our letter board, and basically, yes- I'm just going to do this instead of presents this year.

And we finished our week off with some snuggles and reading time. I think we have finally found some tricks that help Adalyn with her homework and make it less of a struggle. 

Whew! What a week- lots of little favorites around here. 

As of right now, we have little plans on Saturday or Sunday of this week and I'm 100% looking forward to some down time! 

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$25 and Under Gift Guide

Christmas time shouldn't break the bank, but there are so many people that we want to spoil during the holiday season, from classroom teachers, to co-workers, hair dressers, mail men, best friends, and everyone in between, I've got your $25.00 and under gift guide for you! 

I never seem to have a nice cake server when I'm entertaining. This gold one would make a great hostess gift  or even a gift for your friend that loves to entertain. Gold is the IT color, and this one will go with anyone's decor style.

Have a tech-savvy friend? This charging station is right at $25.00 and will charge a phone, watch, and air pods- hello stocking stuffer! 

These measuring cups are gorgeous and would make another great gift for anyone who enjoys being in the kitchen. They're just $19.00 and another perfect gift! 

Pair this bottle opener with his favorite craft beer for any man on your gift guide. 

This Yeti would be perfect for any momma (or teacher) on your gift list! You know, when you start the day wit warm coffee, but kids interrupt and the next thing you know, your coffee is cold. Your friend will so appreciate this gift because it will keep her coffee warm for hours! 

These earrings are half off right now and the perfect sparkle for any friend on your list. Gift them for Christmas and your friend will shine on New Year's Eve! 

For all of your wine loving friends, grab them a Yeti Wine Tumbler, and if you want to be "extra" throw in a bottle of wine for them.  These come in tons of fun colors too! 

I am always a fan of blanket scarves and I love receiving them. I throw them on with yoga pants and a long sleeve tee, wear them around the house to stay cozy, or throw on with jeans and booties. I especially love blanket scarves for when I travel. This one is perfect for any friend and is just $20.00.

I am a huge fan of Nickel and Suede earrings. I've been wearing them for years, and I always think they're a wonderful gift for anyone! I have looked at tons of leather earrings, and hands down, these are the highest quality I've ever had. There are many styles and color options, but these are just $25.00 

I discovered The Wildbloomery earlier this year and I've bought a few bracelets for myself and I've given several as gifts. I absolutely love the quality and style of these bracelets. There are several options and many of them are less than $25.00. If you have a friend that loves essential oils, she'd love these bracelets! 

I am obsessed with straws. I have used paper straws forever and they make a great gift too, but I recently switched to stainless steel straws, and I think they'd make a great gift for anyone! Since, we're sticking with a gold theme, these are $20.00 or you can buy silver ones on Amazon for way cheaper! 

Alright, I want to hear your ideas because I know there are SO many more gift options for those hard to buy for people- what are some of your go-to's for gift giving?

Come On In: Christmas Home Tour

It's my favorite post of the year!!!! I absolutely love decorating our home for Christmas, and if you were here, I'd invite you right on in. 

I made my wreath a few years ago, and this may be our last season with it since it's starting to fade or I need to adjust some picks in it. I picked up the plaid pillow at Costco this year, and my mom made the JOY sign for us. Our little Christmas tree is one we purchased at Lowe's when we were in Louisiana at a bowl game for Christmas. 

Our front entry has all of the girls hand and foot print art from over the years. It's a touch of fun when you walk in the front door. 

On our secretary, I added greenery, lights, a fun arrangement, and lots and lots of Christmas picks including fun red feathers. 

My mother in law started a village collection for us and we've never had a place to really display it. I decided that it would be perfect in the playroom and the girls are obsessed! They turn on the lights and music every day and watch it. We've already added one more additional piece to it after I took this photo. I also put all of their Christmas books in the green basket for them. 

My mom made some fun pink pillows for the play room sofa. 

And I added a little nativity they can play with on the TV stand along with our bottle brush trees. 

I love these little trees. 

We added a few pink signs to the shelf in their playroom. 

We don't have a fireplace in this home, which I miss so much, but we also don't really need one here in Texas. We toured so many homes without a fireplace when we were house shopping. Anyway, I tend to treat this little TV stand as our "mantle' since our TV hangs on the wall. 

I placed greenery, and then added individual holly bushes, red burlap ornaments, and feathers. 

A few Christmas touches to our tiered tray. 

Each of the book cases have photos of the kids with Santa from over the years and a few little Santa decorations. I keep all of our Christmas cards, and they're in the baskets in front of the bookcase.

Our stockings are hung.....

My mom gave me this little trio of wooden Santas, so they're on our coffee table. 

I hung a wreath and a Santa in our tobacco baskets and a nativity on the table. 

Our little sideboard has our placemat waiting for Santa's milk and cookies and some little Spode bakeware. 

Our wooden reindeer came from Hobby Lobby and I added greenery, ribbon, sequin ornaments, and more feathers to our dining table. 

I have some of my Spode serving dishes on display in the kitchen. 

And a cute little gingerbread girl hanging on the pantry door. 

We also have lots of Santas in the kitchen.

And finally, our advent countdown. Each bag has an activity or random act of kindness for every day of December, counting down until Christmas Eve. 

I love how cozy our home feels over the holidays.