Happy Monday! We just got back from a glorious three night vacation at the cottage. That’s right, it was a VACATION, not a trip! The girlies stayed home with Rita while Matty and I and three other couples lived it up at the cottage without a kiddo in sight!
In true “Christmas in July” fashion, it’s time to share our holiday season from last year. It’s a long one, so grab a snack and settle in!
We kicked off November by celebrating Oma’s 70th birthday!
And then the second weekend in November we decorated for Christmas! Yep, we’re those people.
I was at school so much that I wanted to enjoy this cozy setting for as long as possible during the few hours I was home each night.
The Kindergarteners had a sock hop to celebrate the 50th day of school, and I can’t even handle Emmy’s cuteness with those missing front teeth!
I love being able to pop in on my prep periods to see what the girls are up to!
Penelope cuddled up on the pillows that says “Cuddle Up.” Smartest dog ever!
Sarah, Brian, and the kiddos came in for a visit the day before Thanksgiving . . . even though it looks like Christmas. 🙂
We spent Thanksgiving at my mom and dad’s.
Matty made a delicious pumpkin cheesecake!
In case you couldn’t tell in the previous pictures, the girls were overdo for haircuts. The day after Thanksgiving was the day!
Penelope found another cozy place to nap!
We made a trip to Lowes, which is always fun at Christmas time!
Raspberry, our elf, came back on Thanksgiving weekend!
I stayed late one evening to add some Christmas cheer to my classroom. I made these festive lights, and they made me so happy every time I walked into my room!
I bought all of the decorations for my door, and two amazing parent helpers put it all together for me! I saw an idea to use students’ handprints to make a tree, and it turned out so cute! Everyone loved it so much, that I ended up doing it for several more holidays. It was so fun to see the handprints of all three second grade classrooms come together!
Look who I ran into out on the playground!
We had a super cold but super great night out at the zoo lights with the Olsons!
The girls saw Santa at our town’s annual Candy Cane Hunt . . .
. . . and then again at our clubhouse!
My parents came over for their annual gingerbread house project with the girls, which is actually one of my favorite Christmas traditions we have!
We bought an air popper on Black Friday and made some delicious popcorn before finally introducing the girls to Home Alone. Their reactions were PRICELESS. I mean, I knew they’d like it, but they were giggling . . .cheering . . .jumping up and down when the burglars went through Kevin’s traps . . .it was a great holiday memory for sure!
We went to school THROUGH DECEMBER 23RD, which made for a whirlwind of a week leading up to Christmas. Lucy had a festive acrobatics class . . .
. . . I dusted off my mixer and actually baked some cookies . . .
. . .and Christmas came early when Matty surprised me with this portrait of Penelope that a local lady painted! hahaha
I put together these cute gifts for the girls’ teachers, my teacher team, and one for myself . . . obviously!
Matty volunteered at Lucy’s Christmas party and snapped this pic of Lucy doing a candy cane game . . .
. . . and she couldn’t wait to come show me that she won this jar of Hershey Kisses for making the closest estimate of how many were in there!
I received some super thoughtful gifts from my class at our Christmas party. I’m a sucker for anything personalized and some of those parents knew it!
And that, my friends, brings us to December 23rd. Are you exhausted after reading all of that? Because I’m exhausted after reliving all of it! School was out for TWO FULL WEEKS, and we were ready for some Christmas magic . . . but the universe had other plans. Check back later in the week to find out what happened! #cliffhanger
XOXO
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