Holiday Checklist time

Truman's school holiday concert:

I was able to rearrange my Wednesday schedule to include some time at Truman's school for their hour long concert. This was the day that the junior kindergarteners all the way up to the third graders performed (the fourth and fifth graders had a separate program). So this basically means that when Porter is in JK, Cecelia will be in first grade, and Truman in third grade and we will have all three kids singing for the holiday concert---2018 here we come!

But this year was adorable with our big senior kindergartener putting on a show. They sang two songs (and then apparently another two at the very end with the whole group but I had left by then). I cannot get the 'snow pants' song out of my head and if you watch this video, you might feel the same way, too. The other song included drum sticks for each child and they totally nailed it, a bunch of 5-6 year olds can be REALLY good at singing in tune it seems! I was amused by the song choices for this program, although I really shouldn't have been surprised that zero songs mentioned Jesus or anything remotely close to the Biblical story/classic Christmas songs. Duh, Truman goes to a public school, but even Hanukkah had it's own song. Many songs about snowflakes and winter and cookies and Rudolph where there, but nothing about a manger or Baby J. I guess we have the next topic for that, anyway.


Christmas program at church with two kids:

This year's theme was 'A Savior for all Nations' and it was really adorable. The three year olds through the first graders all sang together for the same two songs. One was a Christmas song set to 'Twinkle Twinkle' and one was 'Noche de Paz' which was basically Silent Night sung partway in Spanish. The whole program was very international, Truman was dressed as a shepard and Cecelia an angel. Porter was yelling out various words throughout the show like 'ball!' when a video of a spinning globe came up on the walls, and 'Dee Dee!' when he saw CC. Also 'Cookie!' because he had at least three cookies from the back table during the program, so whatever. I was super proud and kind of choked up a bit at the sweetness of it all.

Before the service, all amped up.


An angel that sort of resembles a marshmallow with a crown, and a handsome shepard.


Tried to steal the show.


Cecelia front and center, Truman back right.


Obsessed with her here, such a CC face.


My big boy. (also, completely unrelated: I am obsessed with that teacher's ankle boots. I only want to attempt the bootie look if they are FLAT as I don't believe in any heels ever, no way. Are these cute? I wasn't sure they made flat ankle boots and these seem trendy but adorable. Almost stopped her after the program to ask where she bought them but didn't, regretting it now. Any idea where from? Or other similar options? And are flat ankle boots cute or hideous?)

(Edited to add: I think I found those booties online!!!! HERE)

Now CC is front right and Truman towards the back and right. I love that he is looking right at me here.


Neighborhood House Crawl:

This included a night when all three children slept over at my in-laws' house. First ever, hallelujah! It was a ridiculously fun night for all involved, and I will not show you any pictures from the flip cup tournament that happened in a neighbor's kitchen. Too many red solo cups to exhibit here, I'm afraid, too incriminating of myself and my neighbors who would not enjoy having those images on the 'nets. (Also won't show you how I looked like death the next day, suffering from an immense hangover of epic proportions. Serves me right for playing flip cup with spiced microbrews). Vomit. No, just no. (But still, yes! So much fun! Mama still has the magic touch with flip cup, kids, no worries). Kids did amazing with their sleepover, too, so it was a win-win for sure. Also we went to bed at 2 am and slept in until 10 am and for that fact alone, I wanted to kiss my in-laws square on the lips. Because I might not have survived the day/hangover without a decent amount of sleep. Next time I will try to utilize the 'sleeping in' that comes with a sleepover for all three children without copious amounts of alcohol to ensure the proper amazingness of fantastic sleep.

So the actual house crawl pics have been outlawed, but a pre-party bathroom selfie? Yes. Nate was so confused by this, he didn't know where to look and feels like it's not a real 'selfie' without using the front camera. Or something.


Finally sewing our embroidered name patches from Etsy onto our stockings.




This got a little tricky as I cannot really sew. I gave up on searching for the 'P' pin that would have completed our set so perfectly, since I looked everywhere with no luck and again this year--nothing. I bought the name patches on Etsy and made sure they were not the iron-on kind, since that wouldn't work with our knitted stockings from World Market. When they arrived I thought they were way too bright white and decided to stain them with a coffee soak. Google told me to do it and Google did not fail me, they turned out the perfect shade of cream to match our stockings. Then I decided I didn't love the thick rectangle shape that I ordered, so I turned down the top and bottom edges when I stitched them onto the stockings to make them narrower. Also I stuck myself at least 12 times that night and consumed approximately 2.5 glasses of wine. Very proud of how they turned out although they are very obviously 'hand stitched.' 

Ta-Da!


Before the coffee stain and tucking of edges.


Next up on my check list?

-Sitting on Santa's lap (the kids, not me)
-Baking Christmas cookies.
-More ordering and starting to wrap gifts.

Truman's hand-made list, should be easy enough as he is consistent with his Skylanders and Angry Birds requests.




Really trying not to let these next few weeks become stressful with the check list stuff. It's seriously so ridiculous to worry about the 'right' gift to give our family members, but I really do enjoy giving awesome gifts that people didn't even know they wanted/needed in the first place. And yet, I realize that giving and receiving gifts are not the purpose of Christmas. Nor is getting that Santa photo, or baking.all.the.cookies. But these things are fun and I am promising myself to step back if I'm getting all over the top with the need to whip through The List. Focusing on enjoying the holiday magic with the kids and not hurrying through everything just to get something accomplished is not the easiest for me. But I'm trying to chill out and look at the big picture, which proves that life is pretty fantastic. Even if I can't find the most perfect gifts to give our family, and even if I never bake those freaking cookies. Yes, even then.

What is on your check list and how do you manage to keep the holiday crazies at bay? Wine helps, yes.