We've had a pretty exciting December around here, and while I didn't get to post about each thing, I am about to overload you with photos from the whole month of events. 

I kept thinking about how I needed to write a post about this and that, but it just never happened.  We were too busy living life I guess. 

This month, we went to the town Christmas parade, visited family in SE Missouri and Arkansas, made a gingerbread house, baked a lot of cookies, and Katherine sang in church.

On Christmas Eve, we did our tradition dinner trip to Denny's for Rudolph pancakes, followed by new jammies and a Christmas book.  We left cookies out for Santa and noodles for Rudolph.  (Katherine insists Rudolph eats noodles, so each year we leave noodles out for him.) 

Christmas Day brought lots of excitement in the form of toys, toys, and more toys.  We had lunch at my parents' house, where Katherine got more toys and a mini piano. 

Month in review photos:











It was a very Merry Christmas filled with love and laughter.  The best part is we're not moving out of our house in three days like last year. 

Bring on the New Year!

We're busy marking things off of our Christmas check-list over here, including making lots of Christmas crafts.  Here's a look at our list:

It's hard to believe Christmas is nearly 10 days away.  Where has December gone? 

In the spirit of Christmas, here's a list of my favorite Christmas posts (a list I composed last year).

Lastly, I have a couple of Etsy announcements:

I only have one Christmas scarf still available at the shop, and it's now on sale for $12!

Also, order by December 20 to insure delivery by Christmas!

December seems to be flying by.  Time please slow down. 

What is your favorite part about Christmas?
Opening presents, play outside in the snow, and playing with toys in the morning.

What did you ask Santa to bring you for Christmas?
Adoptimals and Doc Clinic, and stuffed animals and toys.

What are you leaving for Santa on Christmas Eve?
Cookies and lemonade.  Rudolph gets noodles and milk.

Why does Rudolph get noodles?
Because he loves noodles.

Where did you learn that?
I learned it no where.

What is your favorite Christmas song?
Jingle Bells and We Wish You A Merry Christmas.

What is your favorite Christmas movie?
Polar Express.

Who else do we celebrate on Christmas?
Happy birthday Jesus.

Where was Jesus born?
Bethlehem

Who were Jesus' parents?
I don't know.

Was it Mary and Joseph?
Yeah, it was Mary and Joseph.

Happy December 1st! 

December always seemed to go by so slow as a kid, but as an adult it flies by.  We've got lots of fun Christmas things planned this month and lots of traditions to continue with.

This time last year, our house had just sold and the buyers wanted in before the New Year.  In addition to getting ready for Christmas, we were packing up our house.  Most of my holiday decorations never saw the light of day last year.  I'm soooooo happy to be spending our first Christmas in our new house.  This will be the first time in many years that I won't have a mantle to decorate for the holiday, so I was trying to come up with a way to display our Christmas stockings. 

Here's what I came up with:



and added words to.....
and added hooks......
to make this.

Eat your heart out, Pinterest.


Speaking of Christmas, I still have Christmas scarves available in the Etsy shop!  Hurry before they're all gone!

I love to bake.  I do it a lot.  So I'm pretty excited when the holidays come along and I can bake my little heart out. 

Pies are one of my favorite things to bake.  I can sometimes see myself as Jenna from Waitress (minus the horrible home life and job), creating and baking pies all day.

Here are some of my favorite pies to make around the holidays:

I've made this apple pie in the past, but lately this recipe is my personal favorite and the clear winner around my house. 

I love this peppermint pie, but I think I'm the only one in my family that likes peppermint so it doesn't get made often.

This peanut butter fudge pie is always a favorite at family gatherings. 

For the past couple of years, instead of the peanut butter fudge pie, I've made a chocolate pie.  It's been a big hit with my family (except for Jason who only likes apple pie or cherry pie).  This year I'm going to attempt to make mini chocolate pies. 

I could probably skip the Thanksgiving meal and go straight for dessert.  But I won't. 

For a fun summer pie, try this one.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

I spent most of today actually thinking it was Wednesday.  It's too early in the holiday season for me to already lose track of the days. 

Anyway...

Is anyone else really enjoying the new Instagram stories feature?  I love looking at everyone else's stories, and it's also a great way to show what we're up to on a particular day without being wordy.  Plus the post will disappear in 24 hours. 

Here are some of our recent stories:

We were in the backyard one afternoon, when out of nowhere a giant hot air balloon came sailing by, almost touching the tops of houses along the way.  Random.

Jason's been pretty busy with work lately, so Katherine and I have been trying to get out of the house while he catches up on sleep.

On this same outing, we stopped by Target where Christmas was in full swing already.

We filled our Operation Christmas Child shoebox last week.  It's one of our favorite Christmas traditions.

Katherine has a sweet friend at story time at the library.  They hang out every week.

Buying baking supplies in bulk because the baking season is upon us

In other news, I was pleasantly surprised the other day when I noticed that the Christmas menu was now available at Starbucks.  While others love the #PSL, I'm all about the Peppermint Mocha. 

Because this post has taken on a "holiday" theme, I'll let you in on my favorite competition show this time of year.  I've been obsessed with Holiday Baking Championship on the Food Network since it's first season a couple of years ago.  I'm probably a little too into this show.  I love to bake and watching others bake up crazy concoctions is entertainment for me.   

I'm loving that the long chunky sweaters are back this season.  My favorites are this one, this one, and this one (which I have a similar, bought resale for way, way less years ago).

So this post was on the random side today.  Hopefully I can get through the rest of the week, knowing what day it actually is.   

This election.  Yeesh.  Election depression is a real thing, you guys.  Who else is soooooooo ready for this to be over? 

Today I'm going to do what I normally do on Election Day.  First, I'll vote.  Then, I'll avoid all social media and news outlets until tomorrow morning.  No news, local or national.  No social media.  I will find out how the elections went tomorrow morning. 


I don't need a play-by-play or a political analyst.  I don't want to hear people on the losing side bicker and complain or the winning side celebrating.  I just can't handle the anxiousness and negativity of it all.  I've been doing this since the 2004 Presidential Election.  It's just what I do. 

So tonight, I've got a good book to read and Say Anything on the DVR.  I'm set. 

So get out there and vote! 

And then be nice. 

 

Here's another Halloween recap blog post to add to your weekly reading. 

This was our first Halloween in our new house, and we had heard from neighbors that our neighborhood (and the one a street over) went all out for this holiday.  They were right.  We had the best Halloween, trick or treating with Katherine and catching up with neighbors. 


Monday was also my birthday, so we started the day off with birthday lunch followed by birthday cupcakes. Luckily our local grocery store carries our favorite cupcakes from Jilly's. 


Later we headed out to the driveway to participate in Halloween festivities.  My parents came by for my birthday and to hold down the candy fort while we took Katherine trick or treating. 



Katherine did pretty well on the candy front, bringing home pounds of candy. She won't be coming down off her sugar high any time soon. 

Now I've got to go get my shorts out of the storage box in the basement because it's 82 degrees outside.  Happy November!

I'll keep this post short and sweet.  We've all got Halloween things to do.

Jason's work schedule this past weekend caused us to alter our plans slightly.  Instead of two fun days of events, we did it all in one day. 

On Saturday we headed to the city for Trunk or Treat at my brother's church.  Katherine transformed into Princess Elena of Avalor and loaded up on lots of candy and treats. 





After trunk or treat, we headed to the cobblestone streets of Main Street St. Charles for Pumpkin Glow.  This is one of our favorite events each year, and we get to stock up on our favorite Main Street treats while we're there (flavored popcorn, Grandma's Cookies, caramel apples, etc.).






Like I said.  Short and sweet.  Just like Halloween. 

Happy Halloween, friends!