Happy day after Christmas. I hope you had a wonderful holiday with your loved ones.
Our Christmas routine was a little different this year. We usually write a note to Santa for Red (the elf) to deliver asking Santa to come a few days early since we usually go to Louisville to see Trav’s family and then on to KC to see my family. This year, we decided to stay home rather than go to KC. I rarely miss a Christmas there, but having some down time at home was needed and we were just there for Thanksgiving.
Anyway, my brother and his family were going to KC, so we had a Cousin Christmas before they left. We had them over on Saturday night for apps, lasagna/salad/rolls, and then cookie decorating.
Hadley helped me set the table which I really appreciated.
We just buy gifts for the kids, and they are always excited to open up the gifts!
After dinner, we decorated cookies. There are so many talented cookie decorators in town, and I tried a new one…8 cookies with icing and sprinkles for $15 from One Smart Cookie.
They had fun decorating with minimal fighting over the icing and sprinkles!
Every year, we make a calendar for family members, and we always get a Christmas pic for December. Now that the family members have received their calendars, we can share these pics that we snapped all the way back on December 1st!
All the kids are getting so big!
On December 23rd (Christmas Eve Eve), we went to Louisville for Trav’s family Christmas. Here are all the cousins and Trav’s mom.
On Christmas Eve, we headed to church. After church, we drove and saw a house that goes all out on their lights, and then came home. Once home, the kids got in their pjs, exchanged gifts they picked out for each other, and put cookies and milk out for Santa. Then, they went out in the front yard to sprinkle reindeer food, so Santa could find his way!
Christmas morning, the kids were up at 7:00. Hayden was up first and then woke up Hadley. We opened presents, had breakfast, called family to wish them a Merry Christmas and hung out. Santa brought Hadley a bike that she was dying to try out, so we took Homer for a walk while the kids rode their bikes. The 60 degree day was perfect for bike riding and walking Homer.
For dinner, I made my first ever ham, and we had green bean casserole, twice baked potato casserole, and rolls. Then, for dessert, I made Shay’s Peppermint Mocha Bundt Cake. So delish!
While we missed seeing our KC family, we had a nice day and evening at home.
Elf on the Shelf Part 2
After I posted about what our elf, Red, has been up to, Red was #Homered. Hadley screamed so loud, I thought Homer either brought another dead bird in the house or he had Red. Well, he had gotten ahold of Red. Hadley cried and was afraid he wasn’t going to be able to fly. Hayden remained calm. haha. The next morning, they were pleasantly surprised that Red’s elf friends helped him feel better.
Red also played Hangman, got stuck in a lantern and decorated it with stickers, drew on our family photo,and left snowmen donuts for breakfast.
The last few evenings with Red, he left the reindeer food, the book The Night Before Christmas and then sat in the tree, so he could watch the kids open presents on Christmas morning.
It’s always nice for Red to pay a visit and keep tabs on behavior, but I’m sure he’s always happy to head back to the North Pole when Christmas is over….especially for the fear of being #Homered again. haha
I’m going to enjoy the Christmas decorations for a couple more days, and then it’s time to get the house back to normal.
I hope you had a great Christmas. As always, thanks for reading!
Have a great day,
Jen
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