The Saturday 7 - Christmas Edition!!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! Get ready for another long entry with a ridiculous amount of pictures!!

1. We only did two noteworthy advent activities this week. On Tuesday we revived the tradition of throwing a birthday party for Jesus. Last year's was cancelled because of Covid, but this year nothing could stop us! So we hung streamers, made bought cupcakes, dug out some birthday candles, and invited the cousin crew over to celebrate with us. I used my newly acquired librarian skills to give a little spiel . . .

Then we sang happy birthday to Jesus, blew out candles, and ate cupcakes! 

My kids are getting a little old for this tradition, so it's fun to have a new generation just becoming old enough to understand and enjoy it!

2. On Wednesday, we went ice skating - well Lena, Levi, and I did. Lucy was not interested. Once again, it was apparent which kid got Justin's athletic genes. Lol. Levi could not figure out how to move his feet and was terrified of falling. Lena took a few minutes to get acclimated to the skates, but then zipped around like a pro. And I didn't fall once! (My shins and ankles were sore for days afterward though!) 

3. I met my Goodreads goal of reading 75 books this year by finishing out with another dystopian series. I don't know why I enjoy dystopian so much. It's not something I'd ever have expected to enjoy. There's just something about thinking, What would I do if we lost all power, Internet, vehicles, etc.? Once again, reading these books gives me the itch to start doomsday prepping. I realized when reading these books that we'd be screwed from the get-go, because even if we could make it to a store before they were all looted, we never have cash. Without power or Internet, stores couldn't take credit cards, and we wouldn't be able to get anything from the ATM. So that's our first strike. (I still maintain that we could survive comfortably off of my mother-in-law's pantry for a while though. 😂) The crazy thing about this particular series is that it was set very near my hometown! I can't remember how I even found the first book - probably just browsing through Kindle Unlimited. I knew it was set in Michigan, but was astounded when the bad guy/serial killer started driving down a road that I've been on thousands of times, and drove through a small town that I've visited hundreds of times! It really upped the creepy factor! Haha. If you're interested, the books are not explicitly Christian, but they're pretty clean - some mild swearing and a lot of gore. No sex.

4. We did something a little different for Christmas this year. We've always spent the day with my family and opened all of our gifts with them. So everything I bought my kids they opened on Christmas morning with my parents and siblings and nieces and nephews. Everything Niki bought her kids, they opened on Christmas morning, etc. Plus, we all used to buy for all of the little kids.  But as our family gets bigger and bigger, that becomes less and less manageable. Last year, we let our kids open some gifts at home on Christmas Eve and then do the rest at Niki's the next day. But this year for the first time ever, we opened all of our gifts at home on Christmas Eve. It worked out well that Justin had the day off (he didn't last year), so we were able to have our "Christmas morning" experience, even if it was a day early. Honestly, it was hard for the kids and me to break from tradition. But it was nice. I feel like it did take away some of the excitement for actual Christmas day, but they were pretty darn excited about Christmas Eve, so I'm trying not to cling to my traditions unreasonably. 

Lena wanted a hoverboard so bad. She's been asking for one for months. It was the first thing she put on her Christmas list. And she's been dropping hints constantly for the last month that what she wanted more than anything was a hoverboard. Haha. I got a deal on one at the beginning of November, but played it off all month saying, "I don't know, Lena. They're so expensive." So she was thrilled to open it!

New Lego sets!

Again, Little Miss Athletic has mastered the hoverboard. (She's used one before at a friend's house, so she's not a total novice.) I refuse to step foot on it because I would be the one who ends up in the hospital with broken limbs or a slipped disc. Levi likes to ride it on his belly, Lucy has the same caution I do, and Justin could ride it with ease. 

All Levi wanted for Christmas was remote controlled cars. And that's what he got. 

5. Later that day we brought our neighbors some homemade goodies. I also had the foresight to grab some dog biscuits for our neighbor's dog that Levi adores. He was so excited to deliver them. 

After a nice day at home playing with new toys and doing some Christmas-day prep, we headed to the Christmas Eve service at church. This is another tradition we missed out on last year, so it was nice to be back.

After church, it was off to Niki's for part one of the family Christmas festivities: appetizers and games.

Most people went home to sleep in their beds, but my mom, my kids, and I spent the night at Niki's. I shared a bed with Lena and Levi - who didn't fall asleep 'til midnight. But they slept all night and didn't get up 'til 7:40! I was worried Levi would be up at 6 demanding to open presents. 

6. And then it was CHRISTMAS! Niki borrowed Amy's cricut and made the kids some awesome Cousin Crew t-shirts. They found their stockings and enjoyed shenanigans with each other for a while.

Then Grandpa did a little lesson, complete with a homemade "flannel graph." 

Lots of little helpers.

Next it was time for everyone's favorite: cousin picture time! First up was the second gen set of cousins:

Then we included the original three + their significant others:

Saylor was not a fan. 😆

Then, finally, it was time for presents! We drew names this year, so there were less gifts, but the kids were still plenty spoiled!

We spent all day together, playing games, eating food, doing makeup, and enjoying each other.

An exciting game of Spot It!

Make up lessons with Esther

When Nova and Ruby are given free rein. Lol

7. Even with the changes in tradition it was a great Christmas spent with the ones we love. Sometimes I look at those pictures of the Cousin Crew or my entire family gathered together and I think it's too good to be true - almost like waiting for the other shoe to drop. 2021 was a hard year for Justin and me in some respects. Relationships that we expected to endure throughout our lifetime frayed and unraveled in ways that shocked and dismayed us. I spent a long time mourning that and trying to find a way to resuscitate it, but I'm learning to just be thankful for the years we did have. And that's what I tell myself every time I start to feel anxious about the inevitable changes ahead. I'm just soaking in these days that are everything I dreamed of and "treasuring them in my heart" while they last. And who knows what the future holds? Maybe greater things are yet to come. 😊

Stay tuned for a 2021 Year in Review Post sometime next week. I hope you all had an amazing Christmas! I'm thankful for all of you!