Oh how the days fly by. I started this in January and now it is March. Perhaps you are tired of hearing me tell you it takes me months to finish up these holiday round up posts? Or maybe you are relieved that I am just as behind as you are. ;) Either way, I hope you enjoy this trip down memory lane of a slow and happy holiday season.
We were in our hunker down and don't do anything extra season. So there were lots of simple days at home. We told our kids we don't do "everything" every Christmas season - meaning we went to a couple parade/Christmas events and not all of them. I also feel like they got way too many gifts from extended family this year. So next/this year I think we will approach gifts a little differently. It is a learning process as my kids get older and grow to expect lots of spoiling. But through it all, I do not regret slowing down and saying no to more for the sake of a slower paced holiday time together. Perhaps a practice I want to try every year - even years when I don't have a new baby to use as an excuse. wink.
I love watching the kids get so excited to decorate the tree. I usually play around and tweak it a couple of times. But it is always such a fun start to the season.
The dreary nights of winter are long here in the PNW. So having our cafe lights and Christmas lights come on at 4 pm has encouraged my kiddos to throw on their coats and play outside.
The joys of watching food cook!
Grilled cheese and tomato bisque soup! A cold weather staple around here.
We get lots of deer wandering through our yard and the kids always love to see them. I told Brent last year that it would be so fun if we had Christmas light deer that we could put in our backyard to see from the house. He took to Craigslist and after Christmas he found these working deer for free! We have waited a year to put them up and they are glorious! A definite top favorite of Christmas this year.
I had to take a picture of my holiday creamers on display! A whole row! The gingerbread cookie oatmilk creamer was a surprise favorite this year.
I started carrying the baby to walk to the bus stop. Feeling like a game changer. No more stroller to push up our giant hill for now.
Seasonal books are the best! I like to put them out on display for them to wake up to. I try to put them out on a day we have more time at home so my littles can get lost in the books all day long. It is always a fun way to kick off a new season.
Obsessed with the deer...(they are still up as of March! I blame the darkness and that it is 1000 times harder to find the motivation to take down lights then it is to put them up)
Our cozy winter home. I love it here.
Letters to Santa were very long and very serious this year.
I keep telling you that we stopped watching TV without explaining. I really want to go deeper on this topic. But for now, long story short - we watched at lunch and dinner prep every single day. Like hours of TV. My two oldest were cool with it and zoned out as they should. My toddler on the other hand was still bonkers and would not be content with a screen babysitter.
So I decided it wasn't working for us anymore. I love TV. I love kids shows. I have zero guilt pregnant or with a newborn to have the TV on all day. We always weaned ourselves off. But it got to the point that it wasn't working anymore.
So we stopped cold turkey. Lots of whining about it for weeks. And then one day they stopped asking and we have not looked back. It has been months.
We occasionally now watch if someone is sick and we do a weekly Saturday family movie night. But my toddler gets to watch on days that the bigs are at school, the baby is napping, and I need to do something (like put away groceries or go secretly purge toys upstairs). It has been a game changer. The short time my oldest has home with us (he doesn't get home until 4:30 pm - it's so late and I hate it) is now spent playing with his siblings. We are in a new phase and letting go of TV has been so good for us.
I changed it up with these small wreaths I had by putting them on the windows. I purchased some gold bells this year that gave them new life and a rustic look I wanted.
And after years of using the same wreath we use on the outside of the house on our front door, I finally went for a fake more natural looking front door wreath and it brought me SO MUCH JOY. I just took it down after Valentine's Day. It is the perfect winter wreath. I found it at HomeGoods and added the ribbon and bells.
I printed out snowflake directions by Martha Stewart and woah. We had some epic snowflakes made by my kids. They were so stunning and impressive. I now have tiny workers helping me decorate the house.
My little Christmas bundle of joy!
Cozy days at home are my favorite!!!
And here they are watching TV! Maybe it was a snow day or someone was sick? I can't remember.
What do I do during naptime? Stand on the porch with my empty mug taking tile mat selfies. It is actually a real joy in my life. lol.
But look at that wreath!!!
I am getting down just the right bouquet after years of practice. I start with some flowing greens from the yard then add my store bought flowers. I have it down to a recipe and it feels good.
I really love the chocolate advent calendars from Trader Joe's and they come out with three designs each year. I am not sure what I will do when I need to buy four. We will see.
I wanted to change out our outdoor wreaths this year with white ribbon. So I got a spool of ribbon from Costco and my mom made all these bows for me on her recent visit! Glorious!!!
And I finally had an extra wreath since I got a new front door wreath and put it on our playhouse! So much joy!
Our favorite nursery closed after the holidays so this was our last year of holiday photos here. It is so sad! But I am so glad our littlest got in on these sweet family photos.
Whenever we have big storms in our area, our little flood water creek fills up and flows fast. It is so magical. Our UPS driver even comments on it. I think he secretly likes it and reminds me I have my hands full when lots of tiny helpers flee to his truck to receive our packages.
I found the best little Advent devotional that we used this year that is basic enough for my young ones. This new practice of lighting our advent wreath is so special.
Shared some of my flowers with a friend.
Playing in our creek is so much fun!
The baby cried the whole time but I tried to give my littles a fun after school treat of hot chocolate and driving around to look at lights.
Our baby girl is so loved.
The kids loved making little milk carton holiday houses this year.
We reglued some of our old snow globes and made new ones for the two littlest.
Our sweet girl ready for her Pre-K Christmas performance!
So sweet to see this boy loving and playing with our play nativity set. Until of course I overhear him say, "camel eat baby Jesus!"
Baby girl joined our little elf gang!
Brent had some time off work near Christmas. It is always so fun to do the simple everyday things together like walk to the bus.
Lots of easy to bake cookies for us this year.
And cute playdoh activity from preschool. Went ahead and purchased some jewels so we could do this sort of thing at home.
Epic snowflakes made by my kids! And my favorite battery operated candles serving us well all winter long. They come on automatically and last for months before I have to change the batteries.
Working on perfecting my food truck inspired street taco recipe.
Pizza night by candlelight. The best.
My updated white bow wreaths in action. They turned out so pretty. Thanks mom!
I also decided to put all the bows on the bottom of the wreaths instead of the top. All my Pinterest inspiration photos were like this and I loved the new updated feel.
And Brent keeps getting better at getting our lights to look magical. We call it our little gingerbread house.
Found the best paint your own ornaments at Hobby Lobby on Black Friday.
I love wrapping up our Chrsitmas gifts each year when I make the time so I don't feel rushed. Most of our extended family gifts come from Amazon so I try to at least do the paper wrapping as soon as they arrive. This coming year will be our last year of using the Stendig calendar for our baby's monthly photos. I am going to miss this graphic black and white paper I have been using for years now. A new wrapping era to come!
I stocked up on some of these big bows from the Dollar Tree this year. They add so much fun to each gift. I use a cookie tin from Trader Joe's to store them in my ribbon box so they don't get smashed.
During Brent's time off we finally finished the wall we started upstairs during the pandemic! Our home now officially is a finished three bedroom home (one of the bedrooms did not have a wall when we moved in). Brent is so patient with the kids and lets them get involved in some of his projects. I love seeing them work together!
And they love playing with his tools!
Getting our gingerbread houses made and prepped. I use white melting chips to "glue" our graham crackers together so they don't fall apart when we are decorating.
I started making our grilled cheese sandwiches in the oven and it has made making a bunch so much easier!
Christmas eve selfie with my gang.
Getting cookies ready for Santa.
Christmas Eve was a new level of work now that our kids are bigger. Brent put together this picnic table the kids got from my parents and I finished up some wrapping.
All while watching Home Alone...
My sister in law got the kids an airfort space shuttle! It took up the whole living room! The kids obviously are obsessed.
Another fun gift was this football throwing net. It hides nicely in the woods and provides a place for the kids to throw their balls.
Warm drinks in my holiday mugs are always a naptime treat.
And then we rung in the New Year. This giant Happy New Year banner was all that I dreamed of and more.
We were in need of some new noise makers and crowns so I found some new NYE items from Hobby Lobby and Target. We don't do much on New Year's Eve with our little ones so these small traditions keep things fun while staying low key at home.
They do enjoy making their own crowns from our old Magic Playbook printables.
Grapes on our glasses for our apple grape sparkling cider!
I truly believe if you need a time filler, a craft or hands on activity is always so helpful. The kids didn't really get any craft items for Christmas and I realized that having something to make after a crazy morning of opening gifts is a much needed quiet activity. So I will make sure they have a craft type activity to work on next time.
The holidays were a whirlwind as they always are but I am grateful for days together, memories made, and learning from the good and the challenging. This year was a big learning curve as a parent of balancing the amount of stimulation I allow with my kids. And truly just giving myself grace as we had a baby in our midst. Regardless, it was a wonderful holiday season. I am so grateful for these special moments I can look back on.
