Despite the somewhat soggy floors, the holes in the ceilings, no carpet and chilly drafts from the attic we decided to stay put for Christmas and start restoring our home after the new year. We knew it would be difficult, but not as challenging as taking our tree, presents, lights and all our family traditions to a different home for the season. So we made the house look as festive as we could and I think we pulled it off!
The kids were troopers throughout the whole experience. It's as if nothing ever happened. Christmas would come anyway and that's all they cared about!
We put all the softer ornaments on the bottom of the tree so Liza wouldn't break anything. It was the biggest and brightest toy she'd ever seen!
We were planing on having a white elephant/ugly sweater party at our home this year but had to cancel. Although I thought it would have been kind of funny to invite everyone over anyway telling them to wear their ugliest sweaters to keep warm from the ceiling drafts. It doesn't get any "uglier" than our house right now, but Chase and I decided we didn't need the added stress. Maybe next year!
We did pull out our cheesy Santa mugs Grandpa sent for the party and used them for hot chocolate. Feeling very festive over here!
Chase was invited to play in the stake Christmas orchestra again this year. Him being a cellist is such a HUGE perk to his already "amazingness." I love him!!
And look at these perfect little cherubs. Not sure how we bottled up all their cuteness for this one little photo, but the stars aligned and everyone was happy! No tears this year. Although I did miss George's hysterics. Hopefully we'll have some next year from Eliza.
One big happy family including the man who they think brings them all their gifts.
Still love going to our Circle C party for photos with Santa, breakfast tacos, rides, petting zoos and games. It's such a fun event for us to look forward to every year. Love our neighborhood!
Sadie's choir performed again this year!
Everyone loved the train ride!
Oh how I love all these little animals. Chicks, ducks, goats, pigs, bunnies.
It's a fluffy lovers dream come true!
I love it when my kids wear what I make them wear. It only happens at church and when I know they're getting their pictures taken. Sadie with her beautiful Swiss braids and Jack NOT in sports clothes is so stinking handsome. I can hardly stand it! I still have a pretty good hold of Eliza and George's wardrobe for now, so they're always cute!!
Liza still wasn't sure about the animals.
I told myself that because we were so stressed this Christmas, we wouldn't add any extra stuff that would complicate our over-flowing load. We decided not to send out Christmas cards and for the 6th year in a row, I said I wouldn't make the cookies we give to our neighbors every year. But then I went to a craft night and made these cute little pine cone people. One for each member of our family. Then Chase mentioned it would be nice to have cards for at least the people who live outside of Texas. I guess the cards were back on the agenda.
Our printer and computer got damaged in the flood so I wasn't able to print the address labels myself. I probably asked Chase every day for 2 weeks if he remembered to print the labels so I could send out the cards and every night he told me he forgot. I finally decided to hand write them. HOLY MOLY!! This took forever. So much for eliminating stress. I was still determined to give Santa some Jo Jo's on a plate and NOT make the cookies I tediously bake every year.
We tried to make this holiday as fun as it has ever been for the kids. It was unusually warm so it gave us the excuse to venture out and see all the Christmas lights and festivities. I did have an advent calendar with last year's activity typed up in each individual box that I forgot to take out. The kids kept going to the box and pulling out the activity and would ask "Mom, are we going to take cookies to the firemen today?", or "Are we making ornaments tonight?" The day they asked me if we were going to go ice skating on top of Whole Foods I finally put my foot down. This year we were going to do activities if we were able. We didn't need the advent to stress us out either. I took out all the papers and replaced them with candy. It made everyone much happier! I used to love Pinterest but I've come to realize that all it did was just make my life one big disappointment if I didn't measure up to all the bazillion activities, crafts, recipes, and DIYs. No more Pinterest for now. Maybe if I need to figure out how to clean something, but that's it!
We loved exploring the Trail of Lights this year. It never disappoints. We went on a school night around 8 and it wasn't crowded at all!
I still can't get over this holiday garland next to George in his short sleeve shirt and scooter. Winters in Texas are my favorite!!
After such a grueling summer of heat and mosquitoes, I basically kicked my kids out of the house to enjoy every second of the amazing weather. You have to soak it up before it gets hot again. We were still killing mosquitoes in December!! I always tell Chase that the ONLY things that could drive me out of Texas would be the bugs and to be nearer to family. Otherwise I'm staying put forever!
The NFP work party was pretty good this year. We always love their photo booth and the food was incredible! Love getting all fancy with my Chase and acting like a grown up......kind of.
The yard across the church did their train display again. George was in heaven!!
Sadie and Jack had their Christmas concert at the Beckett Meadows rest home this year. They both played beautifully and were so kind to all the people living there.
I was very proud of myself for getting the two littles ready and making it to Kiker for both Jack and Sadie's holiday party. Got to watch Jack do some dance revolution with his class which basically made it all worth it. Watching his whole class dance with the screen was hilarious! Sadie loved toting Eliza around and showing her off to all her friends. Those Santa hats were worn every day and sometimes while they slept for basically the whole season!!
Chase had to go to New York right before Christmas which was a total bummer. He tried to get me to go with him but with Liza still nursing, it was impossible. It would be pretty fun to go though. Maybe next year!
And you guessed it. We made our cookies that we say we aren't going to make EVERY DANG YEAR! I got better cookie cutters and make them thicker this year so they wouldn't break in their bags. As soon as I find something better than these adorable little cookies, we'll probably just keep on making them. We had fun baking this year. Jack helped me cut the gingerbread boys and put them on the sheets. Sadie found the perfect cinnamon buttons. Team work y'all!!
The best part of making cookies was delivering them. I felt like the Jolly Postman all over again. We rollerbladed all over the neighborhood, spreading cheer, sugar and sprinkles to all!
We made sure to save some for Santa too!
Wouldn't be Christmas without the Bench Family carolers! They sounded amazing this year!!
I tried to convince Chase not to hang lights this year. It seemed like too much of a hassle. But just like I had to make those blasted cookies, he had to have his lights. Kids talked him into colored lights this year. I loved them! Made our house look very jolly!
Because I had to cancel my ugly sweater party, my awesome friend Angie hosted one instead. Hooray for an event to get my ugly on!!
I went for the "Fancy Nancy 80's sophistication" look this year.
Chase was my "middle aged man."
It was a great night with a lot of creative sweaters to look at!!
We're officially partied out and ready for Santa to come!
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