Christmas Festivities 2024

🎄 🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄
 

December was a fun and exhausting month. The elf showed up on the first, but no one noticed him until the evening on the second, so we just let that ride 😆. We attended playgroup and story time, and spent time with friends and family. 

At school, they had a week of festive wear and one day was ugly Christmas sweater. Quinn didn’t have one, so we went in search of one at the mall. I knew there was a very slim chance any store would have something that would suit Quinn’s specific tastes, but we went anyway. Indeed we weren’t able to find anything satisfactory to him, but he just couldn’t live without getting this Hawaiian shirt 😂. He now wears it just about every other day, and if he’s at home, he pairs it with Grogu swim trunks 🤦🏻‍♀️. 

Ash got these new monster pajamas, and he also wears them far too often 😅. 

Quinn had his pre-K program at school, but I didn’t get to go because it was the same day and time that Ash got his cast on 😭. I was sad I couldn’t go, but Philip went and sent me videos. When I watched how he literally stood like this ⬆️ the entire time, and didn’t participate, I was less so 😅. It was recommended they wear Christmas or dress clothes, but I decided long ago that I wouldn’t fight with Quinn over clothes. 

Elf shenanigans

Chillin on the tree (where he wasn’t discovered until he’d been there for like 36 hours).

Christmas countdown. 

The floor is lava!

“Gud Morning,” (mis)spelled out in cookies (because I didn’t have enough of the right letters). 

“I packed your lunch!”

“I tried to bring you a snowman from the North Pole, but it melted ☹️.”

Are you brave enough to see if it’s lemonade, apple juice, of elf pee?

Prank your mom and hide these 12 ducks all around the house. 

🎵 Pringle bells, Pringle bells 🎵 

Let’s take an elfie. 

Masquerading as a juice lid.

He made them puzzles. 

Do you want to build a snowman ⛄️ 🍩. 

He left candy canes the night Ash went to the hospital. 

Sometimes he pranked them, like this time when he traded the toilet paper for wrapping paper 

The note says: “I’m hiding in here so I can’t smell your dad’s stinky toots! Since I’m protected, you can take me around and show me your new house!”

Color search. 

Blowing bubbles 🙃. 

Spider-Man gummies for the last day of school. 

A warning for being a butthead 🙄. 

A mentos and pop experiment that failed 🫠. 

Candy cane hunt. 

On the lookout for the grinch. He gave the boys official Santa Patrol badges. 

Goodbye kisses 🍫 💋 

🟢Any morning that started with candy was a hit. 

🔴 They liked searching for things. 

🟢 They don’t have a grasp on the concept of time yet, so I’ve decided to move the elf’s arrival back to mid-December next year, and set this bar lower while I still can 😆. 

I was so worried that I was going to ruin the elf magic for Harper. She’s observant enough to notice the elf notes were written in my handwriting, which is how I think I figured out Santa wasn’t real. I don’t remember some big reveal, but I do remember noticing that the name tags on my gifts from Santa were written by my mom. Once I said something about it, she started having my stepdad write them 😂. Maybe I’ll have Philip write them next Christmas, or maybe I’ll start practicing my left handed script now, so that it might be legible by December. 

Playgroup

Mrs. Claus made an appearance at playgroup. Ash was not a fan, 

But Quinn knew her by name 🙃. 

Story time

Ash got to see the grinch at story time

And he loved the bowling game Miss Tella had. 

A visit from kiki

Luka jumped right in to play with one of the boxes the boys had been playing with for days. I was contemplating returning their Christmas gifts because that box seemed to be more fun than any toy could provide 😆
Kiki made the boys a super cool fall apart candy box, which they loved, naturally. After she visited us, we visited her 😅. Quinn wanted to see his friend Lilly, who didn’t get to come visit at our house and was at Kiki’s later. He couldn’t resist petting Kels and wanted me to take their picture together. 

Cookie making & decorating

I learned my lesson at Thanksgiving and left the tape resist Christmas tree for Tytan to deal with Kate’s ridiculous perfectionism 😅. He’s a good boy. There were blank spaces still, the next day whenever Harper and Mandy came over, so we finished it up, and Harper removed the tape for the big reveal 🎄. 

graham cracker house building 

Harper’s

Mandy’s

Mine

Quinn’s (with my help)

Ash decorated his a little, but he mostly wanted to eat it. They were delicious 🤤 

Christmas 🎄🎅 🎁

Quinn is the funnest kid to watch open presents. He makes the best faces (he does not get that from his dad 😅). He was sooo excited to see Santa brought him a Joker costume, but then he decided it wasn’t the one he wanted 🫠. I hope the North Pole takes returns 🤪. Ashy loved his cat costume from Santa, and he’s been wearing it nonstop. I’ve had to wash it twice already. 

I let Quinn pick the one that he wanted and this is what he chose 😅. It was a lot more expensive than the one Santa brought 😑. I know it will get plenty of wear, at least. 

I actually found a bunch of costumes on Mac.bid for super cheap right after Christmas, so they got even more. 

Ash loves the red panda. 

His favorite gift wasn’t really intended as a Christmas gift, just more of a surprise from Lisa S. When we were at playgroup, Ash was telling her all about the haunted trail at the 4H grounds, an event that she helped organize. I told her how he had been on a kick talking about it ever since we went, always asking me to show him pictures from it, but I didn’t have many. So, Lisa made Ash a book with all of her photos from it. There aren’t any words, but he and Quinn have made up stories to go along with it 😂. It was so sweet of her to make it for them ❤️. 



We visited with my brother’s family Christmas evening. I (and everyone else) was so happy to have Coen home for Christmas ❤️. 

We visited Philip’s brother and his family the weekend after Christmas. We had some good food and enjoyed the company, but I didn’t get to take many photos. With six kids opening gifts at the same time, it’s hard to keep up with the action. However, I never pass up an opportunity to take a pic of a cute dog 🐶 🙂. 

A few of my favorite gifts

The school hosted Santa’s Workshop, which enabled kids to purchase gifts for up to 10 loved ones. The items are from Dollar Tree, so I wasn’t sure what Quinn would end up getting for his chosen recipients. He did a pretty good job choosing things he thought they would like, in my opinion. He got Ash a truck but said he wanted to get him a squishy, but the teachers wouldn’t let him after they asked how old Ash was. That’s why he gave him the squishy from his prize box reward a few days later 🥺 (mentioned in my previous post).

He got me a rug and it was a very useful selection. I needed one to go under the cabinet in the foyer, and his gift fit perfectly 🥰. It came just shortly after I changed out the rugs in the kitchen, so I figure that’s what sparked his idea. 

Harper got me this adorable pencil pouch and I love it! I was honored that she wanted to get me something 🥰. 

She also made this painting for me. Sunflowers and a Dalmatian, what could more could I want?! Her note on the back made it even better 💜 . 

Philip always does a good job at gifting me things that I wouldn’t buy for myself. I’ve only ever had expensive shoes because he’s bought them 😂. He knows this and I appreciate his thoughtfulness 🥰. 

I’m awaiting the notification that our pool pass is ready for pickup at City Hall. They were running a Christmas special, and that’s what Philip’s parents got for us. I’m so excited to have it for the summer!

Overall, our first Christmas in our new house went very well. I got a taller tree for next year during the after Christmas sale, and we added to our Christmas village, which I forgot to take a pic of before we put it away 🫠. I hadn’t put it out since Quinn’s been born, but with the built in cabinets in our living room, we had the perfect place to display it safely. Quinn really liked it, so I hope it becomes a fun Christmas memory for him when he’s grown. I still remember some of the decorations we put out every year when I was little, like the plastic Santa wall hangers, the small ceramic Christmas tree, and the light up bells that played instrumental Christmas songs. We actually have those because they were my favorite. Philip asked why I didn’t put them out this year and there’s just so much noise all of the time already 😅. Maybe next year 🙃.