Good morning, everyone! NO MORE GET-UPS BEFORE CHRISTMAS VACATION! Ahem. Okay. No one’s excited or anything.
So much has been happening around here, but I’ve been behind on my blogging (because sisters and sleep don’t mix)(or, um, holiday craziness, either), and when I have, it’s been for #AMonthOfFaves, so you haven’t heard what all we’ve been doing! And we’ve been doing a lot of fun things! Let I’m going to use my Five for Friday to catch everyone up.
1. There has been a lot of crafting during our downtime. [HAAAAA! Because downtime is purposed for making of gifts, and baking of cookies for our village, and shopping, shopping, shopping, and wrapping! NO DOWNTIME!] I have to show off the shadowboxes I made, after being inspired by the ones Kim made last year.
Aren’t they adorable? Festive and inexpensive for the win! Plus I had a good time browsing through my long-abandoned scrapbooking supplies to find just the right paper to match the ornaments, and the stickers to match the mood of the box. I used one as a gift for my Secret Santa exchange, and one went to a friend who needed a bit of cheer right now. Win-win!
2. When Auntie Kim is here, shenanigans always follow. We’ve spent a few nights playing games. One night it was full-contact Spoons (a family favorite). Another night, we played Pokeno, with Hershey Kisses and gummy-bears and had a blast…and then had more fun when Kim’s popcorn snack turned into a lesson in catching popcorn with your mouth. As one does.
We’ll just say Gracie has some work to do.
3. And then there was Bee’s holiday concert at school! It was holiday concert #39408539084. Approximately. Because who’s counting. Certainly not this Professional Holiday Concert Attender. Putting that aside for the moment, I have to say we really made the most of it. Kim came out of her room showing off her fancy earrings – because Bee would want her to wear them, fashion diva that she is – and I thought it was a fantastic way to show our support for our Bee-girl! So I put on fancy-pants earrings, and then I made Gracie put on fancy earrings. She tried to weasel out of it by saying she didn’t have any, but I immediately countered with allllll of my earrings. Six try-ons later, she had a pair she could live with. The excitement was dripping. off. her:
Bee’s concert was blessedly short, and our little Step Team Captain did a great job leading the step she and her co-captains composed (all on their own!). After a quick catch-up with a friend I didn’t know was there (I keep forgetting her “little” one is old enough for choir!), we all went for IHOP and had the most satisfying pancakes I’ve ever stuffed into my face. I mean, breakfast-for-dinner is a requirement after holiday concerts, right? Right. Fancy earrings and all.
4. Speaking of tasty things… My sister found me the most fabulous cupcake liners! I had to wrap them and put them under the tree, but I will definitely be filling them with something delicious in the very near future.
You know why I adore them? Because they’re a throwback to our childhood when we’d wait all summer for our family trip to Whalom Park, our excitement growing every time we heard the jingle on the radio: “Whaaaaalom Park! For a whale of a time!” Everyone who lived in New England in the 80s is going to enjoy that earworm all. day. long. You’re welcome!!
5. Wednesday the girls, Auntie Kim, and I all journeyed to points unknown (not really – just didn’t have a solid idea of where it was, so we headed that way-ish, totally against my journeying instincts) to visit Christkindl Christmas Market. We hadn’t ever been – I hadn’t even ever heard of it, to be honest – but I was delighted to learn there was an open-air market so close to us. It was Auntie Kim’s find – and she also discovered that there was a tubing slide for the girls. We knew Bee, in particular, would just about sell her soul to whip down whatever run they had designed, no matter how small and snow-less! So we grabbed Bee from school and headed that way to see what we could find.
It was much smaller than Kim and I expected, but we still found quite a few things to love. There were about 20 booths for indie sellers, and the prices were a bit high because the items were homemade. Gracie bought a mug that reads “It’s a beautiful day to save lives,” straight from her true love, Grey’s Anatomy. Bee bought a bracelet, and the girls each found an elephant charm. I found an owl for my bookshelves that opens up to show a book carved into its insides. Kim found some socks made from alpaca wool. I desperately wanted to be rich enough to buy something from Kathe Wohlfahrt – a cuckoo clock or one of the gorgeously carved village pieces. I could have stayed for hours pouring over every detail, especially if they let me play with the pieces. And yes, Bee had the time of her life sledding down the “snow” run. There wasn’t snow, it wasn’t New England, but we made the best of it all the same!
So that’s a small glimpse into what we’ve been up to around here! I’m finished shopping (except for Fenway, and that’s getting done today), and I have a few more crafts I want to attack, but the good thing is that we’re kid-free until Christmas Day, so all the trouble we get into will be our own doings. Wish us luck!
Can't Get There From Here 