With only a couple of days left until Christmas, I just wanted to take a moment to wish you all a Merry Christmas.
The past few years, I’ve sent two cards out because there are so many cute options. Also, I love sending them, but I hate waiting for them to arrive. So, I’m able to start addressing the ones from Walgreens while waiting on my Shutterfly order.
This blog (and the readers) bring me a lot of joy! I appreciate all of the comments and readers I’ve gotten to know in this Show Me and Sweet Tea space.
My hope is that everyone has a Merry and Bright holiday season….
…with warm wishes for a wonderful 2023!
I know the holidays can be difficult for some. Even in the best of circumstances, this season can be overwhelming and filled with many other emotions. I know quite a few people who’ve lost a loved one recently, and I’ve certainly been thinking of them this holiday season.
December is filled with so many traditions, activities, parties, and more. I feel like the hectic pace makes the time pass by quicker than I’d like, but I try to enjoy this time the best I can with my family. I hope you are able to do the same as well.
I can’t let the Christmas season pass by without sharing my most favorite Christmas card that Travis and I have ever sent:
Christmas 2009 was pretty special!
I hope you have a wonderful and blessed holiday. Many bloggers take this time off, but I hope to have a few posts next week including some of my favorites: a blogging round up, the books I read this year, and a recap of 2022.
I love winter. (My dad will read this and shake his head). I’m not sure if it’s the holidays or the fact that I have a January birthday, but I have always loved winter. On top of that, January is one of my favorite months (Again, probably because of my birthday, but January also feels like a fresh start, and it is considerably less hectic than December.)
Here are five of my favorite things about winter:
Snow! Even better…a snow day! I love the beauty of freshly fallen snow. If it’s going to be cold, I want there to be snow on the ground. The kids (and Homer) love to play outside.
Sweater weather and flannel/fleece pjs!
Sweaters and pjs on repeat with the cold temps of winter.
Candles!
Don’t get it twisted, of course I love candles year round, but I love seasonal winter scents like peppermint, fireside marshmallow, and cranberry. They make the house feel extra cozy.
Comfort food! Bonus- I feel like meal planning is easier in the winter months because soups and chili are favorites in my house. Also, they provide leftovers which is another bonus. I use the slow cooker the most in the fall and winter which means getting dinner on the table quicker.
Celebrations!…followed by a fresh start. Of course, December is jam packed with Christmas festivities, and then I just love the quiet that January brings. It’s a time to start fresh, have a bit more down time, and ease into the new year.
What about you? What’s your favorite thing about winter? (if you have one) 😉
One of my favorite things about Christmas is putting ornaments on the tree. It’s always fun to open the ornament boxes and take a trip down memory lane. The kids always have a few faves, and I do too.
I will say that I wish that I’d done a better job through the years getting the kids ornaments every year. I’ve even been “bad” about picking up ornaments from places we have traveled. Maybe I can focus on that in the coming years. I just know when Travis and I got our first tree in December 2004, I was able to put a few ornaments from my childhood on the tree. I’d like the same for Hayden and Hadley. The kids definitely have ornaments because my mom is good about getting them for them, but I just wish I’d think of it throughout the year.
Also, I love the look of an assortment of ornaments. I don’t need the tree to be “matchy matchy.” That being said, both of the pencil trees are filled with neutral unbreakable ornaments because those are easy to put up in November when I pull those trees out. This year, I did add a few faves to the other pencil tree once we started decorating.
Here are some of my favorite ornaments on our living room tree:
My childhood ornaments.
I have quite a few from my childhood including the 1980 silver bell (that could use a good polishing), two angels (one of which I painted when I was a kid), and an ornaments from Mrs. Overby, my 3rd grade teacher.
While the one of Trav doesn’t hang on our tree, I love it (and look for it every year on his mom’s tree.)
From the kids…
The kids have made quite a few cute ornaments through the years at school. We always loved receiving those. The snow globes are faves and you can’t beat a salt dough ornament.
I love the snowman family hand print.
Also, we used to make an ornament every year to give to the grandparents, and I always had them make one extra for our tree. One year, we made the little present to give to family.
Other faves:
My grandpa used to carve, and he made the Santa ornament. We all have one. Last year, my friend gave me the Betty White ornament, and I love it. My dad’s cousin who hosts Christmas Eve, always gives us a nice glass ornament. I love the cardinal one, but we’ve received so many beautiful ones through the years.
Of course, I love the “first Christmas” for the kids, and this was the main gift I gave in 2009! The kids were one month old, and I couldn’t really do much shopping. We have a few other “first Christmas” ornaments for them, and I also love our wedding ornament someone gave us.
My mom cross stitched this ornament…
Newest ornament
Shutterfly helped me out with a few new ornaments this year, and I decided to get one of Homer because we don’t have one for him!
What about you? What’s your favorite ornament on your tree? I plan on having blog posts the next couple of days, so come on back!
Hello and Happy Monday! I can’t believe it’s the Monday before Christmas. We’re definitely in full on break mode which makes for the best kind of Monday.
The month wouldn’t be complete without a few laughs thanks to some memes.
To keep it festive and fun, all of these memes are holiday related.
My aunt sent this in a group text, and I literally LOL’d.
Haha…truth!
Actually, this meme has probably been true for at least the past couple of weeks…
Classic Christmas with Nutcrackers.
Well, this is actually close to true…but I know how it goes with chocolate Advent calendars.
Me…yesterday. (I’m very behind on my Christmas movie viewing…so my goal is to watch at least one Christmas movie a day this week. Yesterday, I watched The Noel Diary on Netflix.)
Of course, the kids sleep in a bit later now that they are older, but even when they were little, I’d set an alarm to get up early and have that quiet time before they woke up.
I sent this one to a few of my friends. I try to be the gift that keeps on giving 😉
Food for thought. haha
I think I see this one every year, and it’s funny.
So, these are a few of my faves! I hope you have a great week full of holiday fun.
Hello and Happy Friday! We made it! After today, we’re on a two week break.
This week has been filled with many tests at school for my kids, activities, science fair projects and more! I feel like we had to plan out every second of our evenings for studying, schoolwork, and activities. Anyway, we made it to the weekend (and break for some).
As always, I’m linking up with Andrea and Erika for this week’s Friday Favorites.
Here are some favorites from the week.
While it’s not a favorite that the volleyball season is over, it’s been a favorite to watch Hadley play these last couple of months. I told her that I’ve never been happier that she took a leap of faith and tried something (newish) to her. This team was so fun to watch, they supported each other, and they all improved so much!
Trav’s work had their Christmas party on Saturday. The kids let me snap a pic before we left…
…and then we got a pic with Santa at the party. It was a nice evening, and Travis has been at this farm for 15 years. They always speak a bit about the employees at the five, ten, fifteen, etc. year milestone. Of course, we’re proud of all of his hard work!
Both kids needed others to help them get their science project data. Hayden chose to focus on resting heart rate/heart rate of kids who play various sports. Hadley baked cookies for three different times to see which time makes the “best” cookie. So, the runners were able to eat cookies after that part of the science experiment. No cookies before running!😆
They finished their projects last night. We are happy to check this off our list.
I had told Travis not to worry about outside Christmas lights because I’d been striking out finding my Trader Joe’s garland and just really hadn’t had the time to tackle the outdoors. Well, I found some on Friday after school, so I told him I changed my mind about wanting lights outside. Thankfully, he obliged and took creative license with the extra strand of garland. He put in on the railings and added lights there too. I’m glad we made this happen. Now we are festive both inside and outside.
Look who was comfy and cozy inside…looking oh so merry 😂
I don’t have a pic, but on Tuesday the hospitality and culinary arts classes hosted teachers for lunch. We had a choice of two dishes that were served with salad and dessert. Well, I didn’t know that it was going to be such a formal occasion. I arrived to a dimly lit classroom, a hostess who seated me, black table cloths, tea lights, and fancy dinnerware. My vegetable lasagna was so good, and it was the best experience. I told them that the ambience was “giving proposal vibes” and that they’d outdone themselves.
Narci shared that she was making Santa pics again this year. Even though my kids are older, I still love putting these in frames during the holiday season.
The package included three images, and this one is my fave!
Y’all. The fact that I have wrapped presents this “early” in the season is some kind of Christmas miracle and certainly a favorite. I love having a little something under the tree now.
When Amy shared her Christmas traditions post, I remembered how much I like the idea of displaying our Christmas cards from previous years. Anyway, I need to find some of those, but in the meantime, I went to put a few cards in our card basket, and decided to pin a few on the arches that I have on the entryway table. It’s a festive touch and nice way to see some of the cards. Maybe next year this is where I will put our cards from years past.
Favorite Mom Meme:
This was basically my Monday. (kidding, kind of)
Bonus Fave: Flashback Friday:
How cute is Hadley elf in 2015? Never trust a toothless elf! 😉
What are your weekend plans? We have a few festive things going on including a couple of get togethers, possibly some cookie baking, and I would definitely like to watch a holiday movie or two.
Happy Thursday! How is your week going? Our evenings have been a bit less hectic which has given the kids some time to work on their science fair projects and study for tests. For them, unfortunately, it’s a glimpse into the next few years with end of unit assessments as the semester wraps up.
Anyway, today I’m writing about a couple more topics for the…
The first personality trait that popped into my mind is that I’m loyal. I’ve kind of always been a “quality over quantity” girl as far as friends go, and that’s certainly even more true as I’ve gotten older. I’m not over the top with my emotions, but if you need me, I will be there.
I try to bring humor to most situations. So, I guess I think I’m funny. I’ve always said that I think my humor is a mix of both of my parents. I can be sarcastic but quick witted. I try to lighten the mood when I have the chance to do so.
I think I’m a thoughtful person. I try hard to remember birthdays, check in on friends, say thank you and more. I know I’d want people to do that for me as well. So, you know how it goes…”treat others how you wan to be treated.”
**Honestly I struggled with this a bit…It’s difficult to write about myself!
7. 10 favorite foods:
Now this topic isn’t difficult for me to write about. I like to eat!
Where we shop for our moms in November (I overlooked the date and missed this post)
This month’s topic is: how you host holiday parties.
Well, my answer is short and sweet. I don’t. {😂}
I decided to take a twist on this topic and share how we holiday.
Holiday Parties:
There are always a few parties that we attend. Trav’s work always has a Christmas party that is lots of fun. It’s family friendly and Santa is there.
Our friends always host a party in mid-December with neighborhood and school friends’ parents. There’s usually a beer tasting, live music, a specialty cocktail, great food, wonderful friends, and more! It’s always a fun get together.
Through the years, we’ve also attended my work Christmas party when we can, cookie decorating with moms and kids when the kids were younger, ornament exchanges, various “cookies with Santa” and more. One party that I miss is our neighborhood Christmas party. We used to have a progressive one with one house for apps, one for dinner, and one for dessert. Covid killed that one, but I hope we can bring it back in the future. It was always so fun.
Merry Christmas x 6:
Here’s our Christmas break down…
For many many years, I didn’t miss a Kansas City Christmas. Even once the kids were born, we were able to go most years. The first KC Christmas I missed was 2009 when the kids were one month old. Obviously, it was the best choice to stay home rather than drive nine hours (longer with babies) in the car.
A few years ago, we started going every other year.
Anyway, on the years we went to KC, the kids would write a note to Santa asking him to come a bit early, and our elf would take it to the North Pole. We’d celebrate the morning of December 22nd or 23 depending on our schedule. Then, we’d head to see family.
On the years we stay home, Santa comes on Christmas Eve, of course.
Thankfully, this has worked for our family quite well.
That being said, when we do go to Kansas City, we end up having a total of six Christmases! Six.
We have ours at home.
We celebrate on December 23rd with Trav’s family (We do this every year regardless of staying home or traveling for Christmas)
In Missouri, we go to my dad’s cousin’s house for Christmas Eve.
We spend Christmas morning with my dad.
Christmas afternoon with my mom.
Christmas evening with my Gma.
See…six Christmases! It’s a blessing, but it’s busy.
Let’s Look:
There’s always a variety of food and activities at each of our Christmases…
Christmas at home:
For our Christmas at home, I usually make a nice dinner for Christmas Eve or Christmas depending if we are staying home or not. Hadley always request salmon, and I make the green beans everyone loves along with Bob Evan’s mashed potatoes. We always make Shay’sPeppermint Mocha Bundt Cake for dessert.
Again, whichever day is our Christmas morning, I still always try to keep it pretty simple with cinnamon rolls, scrambled eggs, and fresh fruit. There have been times I’ve made monkey bread or a breakfast casserole too.
Christmas Eve Eve:
My mother-in-law always has lots of apps, and we usually have lasagna for dinner. Then we open gifts, followed by stockings. She’s the queen of baking, so there are lots of dessert options!
Christmas Eve:
At my dad’s cousin’s house, we always look forward to the salmon appetizer as well as other apps. Another cousin always make bacon wrapped jalapenos which are a hit. We always have a nice dinner, a gift exchange, and then usually play a board or card game as a family. It’s usually intense. haha
A favorite is Left, Right, Center!
Christmas morning:
At my dad’s, we open gifts, have breakfast (usually eggs, bacon, and mimosas (for the adults)), and then watch A Christmas Story.
Christmas afternoon:
Once we get to my mom’s we open presents and stockings. Then, by this point, we’ve already eaten quite a bit over the last couple of days, so she usually just has some snacks for us. Typically, we watch another movie and I end up getting a nap!
Christmas evening:
At my grandma’s, she has a couple of appetizers, then we open gifts. After that, she always has a nice meal (sometimes prime rib!), and her table is always so festive.
Shew! So, that’s a little bit about how we holiday. Honestly, there are times I wish I took the initiative to host a party, but between the end of the semester at school, kids’ activities, and just the general busyness of December, it’s nice to celebrate with friends, but I just don’t seem to have the energy to host!
I can’t wait for the 2023 Let’s Look topics. Until then, I hope you are having a wonderful holiday season.
…so today I’m sharing this one (and my answers) that I found on Pinterest.
T or T Holiday Edition:
Real tree or fake tree: When we first got married, we bought a tree that lasted for years. Then, we purchased another artificial one and didn’t have great luck. So, for about six years now, we’ve picked out a tree at our favorite place.
That being said, you know I love my two pencil trees from Michael’s. They stay up November-January.
White lights or colored lights: I think one year we had colored lights on our tree (probably a request from the kids), but otherwise I do prefer white lights.
Matching pjs or matching Santa hats: Well, I don’t know about matching, but I’m all about Christmas/winter pjs for myself. The kids have kind of “out grown” that phase, but I still always buy them Christmas (plaid) pjs for their November birthday. I miss the days of little ones in cute Christmas pjs though.
2010
Angel topper or star topper:Neither…and for no real reason other than we never had either, and one year I purchased a big bow that we’ve continued to use through the years.
Santa leaves wrapped or unwrapped gifts: I grew up with Santa leaving unwrapped gifts, and that’s what we do. I remember when Travis and I first had this conversation once we had kids. I didn’t realize Santa wouldever think to wrap presents. haha
Gingerbread houses or Christmas cookies:both. One evening, we usually decorate gingerbread houses. Honestly, I wouldn’t be upset if we didn’t do this, but Hadley, especially, loves this tradition. Now, the kids are old enough to do this themselves. Also, we bake cookies the week before Christmas. I find that we really don’t have time before break, so I just wait, and we usually bake the first day we are out of school.
Home Alone or Elf:Home Alone all the way. It’s one of my favorite holiday movies!
I’ll share this on Instagram. I’d love to know your answers!
For this post, I’m sharing the first 5 things that popped in my mind that I’m loving.
You can’t beat Antique Candle Co candles, and during this season, I’m loving the ones I bought on Black Friday.
Spiced Cranberry
Winter Woods
Christmas Day
I also have Tree Farm that I bought during a previous sale.
I think Christmas Day is my fave.
I often have the Food Network channel on but especially during the Christmas season. I love Christmas Cookie Challenge. A Lexington cookie decorator was on last night, and I can’t wait to watch that episode.
You know I love the Royal family, so of course I’m watching the Harry and Meghan special on Netflix. I’ve always loved Will and Kate, but I like Harry too! Travis even wanted to watch this with me, and we watched two episodes this weekend. We just need to watch the third one soon.
I have two new social media influencers that I follow on Instagram, and they both make me laugh out loud.
@educator_Andrea and @hayderz have some of my favorite stories to watch. Andrea is a high school English teacher in California, and she is so funny. She makes a lot of reels talking about the differences between teachers/students in elementary, middle, and high. So much of what she shares and creates is spot on with education in America.
Hayden has some hilarious reels too, and many of them are satirical and sarcastic. He always says, “Good night” or “Good morning to…” and it’s always something/someone funny.
Anyway, they are both bright spots on the ‘gram.
I’ve been loving the glow of the Christmas tree in the morning, evening, and dreary days we’ve been having lately. The sun finally came out yesterday afternoon, and I think that was the first time in a week I’ve seen the sun. I love the coziness of the Christmas lights…especially in the morning when the house is quiet, and I’m enjoying my coffee.
My dress arrived from Shop Style Your Senses, and I love it. I wore it to Trav’s work Christmas party on Saturday night with my favorite dressy wedges. (I got them years ago from Nordstrom Rack.) I believe that it’s sold out in black, but I’m kicking myself that I didn’t order it in the wine color. I got it in size large, and it fits just right.
I wore it to church yesterday with my leopard flats.
So those are a few things that I’m currently loving. What about you? What’s on your currently loving list?
One more things to love! I love that I’ll be back each month in 2023 with these ladies again.
If you have blog, we’d love for you to join us on the second Monday of each month starting with January’s topic: an introduction of yourself and your blog. I usually start the year off saying “hi” and getting reacquainted with reader, and I love (and appreciate) that I have new readers throughout the year.
Please save our graphics and join us!
Well, we have five days this week, and then it will officially be break! Can’t wait.
Wow! I feel like this week flew by. Did you feel that way too?
As always, I’m linking up with Andrea and Erika for this week’s Friday Favorites.
Favorite Moment:
Last Friday, we headed to Knoxville because Hayden had a race on Saturday. This was the final race of club season, and he was running in the AAU National Championship.
Last year, the race was in Paris, KY, closer to home….but we’d had tons of rain which provided for a very muddy course.
2021:
While Knoxville wasn’t that muddy, it was muddy enough that Travis taped his runners’ spikes on their feet with duct tape. #protip.
2022:
When we were figuring out what time we needed to be there, I confirmed with Travis who said, “No, that’s when the 11-12 year olds run.” I looked at him confused, and he said, “Hayden is 13!” Well, I guess I’d forgotten that…and also didn’t realize he’d already bump up in age.
Hayden ran a great race and was one second off of a PR. That being said, the conditions and course was harder than where he ran the PR. Travis said he was probably 20-30 seconds faster than the PR race. Needless to say, we were proud of his effort and he placed 34th.
Thomson Training has running groups in Louisville, northern KY and Travis coaches one of the Lexington groups. He was proud of all of his runners. (only a few pictured below)
…and the 13-14 boys were the National Champions!
…and Thomson Training won overall National Champs!
So proud of all the runners, and Hayden capped off his season with a great performance.
Favorite Pic:
I love these pics of Hayden and Travis. It’s been so fun to watch Hayden improve while Travis has been by his side.
Fave pit stop:
On the way home from Knoxville, we stopped at Buc-ees because Travis and Hayden had never been. We picked up lots of snacks!
Favorite Food(s):
Hadley had told me about these cookies (I joked that they are when Pinterest and Tik Tok collide), and she made them on Sunday. You just buy the “break and bake” chocolate chip cookies, press them down, and add the Christmas sugar cookie on top. She wanted to find the Christmas tree ones, but all we found were elf hats.
Anyway, they were cute and tasty!
I made a bit stop in Trader Joe’s this week to pick up fruit…and realized I hadn’t shopped for some of my favorites yet this holiday season.
Last year, I missed out on Jingle Jangle, so I was happy to see they still had it in stock. The “Step Up to the Bar” mix and the mini iced gingerbread people are my two faves. I usually pick up Peppermint Joes, but decided to try these chocolate covered ones…they are so good too!
Favorite Kid Quote:
The other day, I picked Hayden up from school. As I turned into the median to merge, there was a car in the right lane. Hayden looked out the window, smiled, and said, “What’s up dog?” I didn’t think anything of it until I passed the car, and there was a miniature pinscher in the lady’s lap. I literally laughed out loud. I didn’t realize when he said that that there was an actual dog in the car. haha
Favorite Clothes:
Did you see my post on Wednesday? I can’t wait to wear my new sweater and cropped faux leather pants ASAP.
Favorite Mom Meme(s):
I do think this is what causes some of my anxiety/stress. Having kid with a November birthday followed by Christmas is always just a lot!
Hadley always wins for most amount of laundry…and I swear even if she wears something for a half hour, it goes in the laundry. Hayden probably does have a few things that just fall off the hangers into the dirty clothes!
Bonus Fave: Flashback Friday:
Have I ever shared this pic before? I don’t think I have? It always pops up this week in my Facebook memories. While Hayden came home from the hospital with us, Hadley stayed in the NICU for 13 days. Travis had gone with Hadley to the NICU right after she was delivered. I remember Travis and the dr. at my bedside while I was in recovery. The dr. said she’d probably be in the NICU for 12-14 days. Well, on day 13 she came home, and we were officially a family of four…at home.
Hayden weighed 4 lbs, 7 oz, and Hadley weighed 4 lbs. I had them at 36 weeks, and did think they’d weigh a bit more based on my appointments and ultrasounds in weeks leading up to their arrival.
Anyway, Sis has always been the sassy and self-sufficient one, and I think it’s because she started off being a fighter.
On Monday, we have our final Not Just a Mom post of 2023!
This month’s topic is Loving Lately. If you have a blog, we’d love to have you join us on Monday.
What are your weekend plans? We have volleyball and a holiday party this weekend. We’re also hoping to tackle the science fair projects. *sigh* They get a bad rap…I know we need science (obviously), but for me it’s the timing. They are always due right after break. If they could do them in January, I swear I wouldn’t complain like I do. It’s just one more *big* task to tackle in an already busy season. (They do the work themselves, but they still need to get organized, buy supplies, type, print, organize the board, and more!)
One week from today starts our break…and I can’t wait. I keep telling myself, “I think I can. I think I can. I think I can.”
See you back here on Monday for Not Just a Mom. Thanks so much for reading.
