Christmas Magic

I've made a conscious effort to slow down and soak in the Christmas magic this week. It's easier now that my students have gone home and my work calendar has a bit more breathing room.

For us, some of the magic still comes in the form of our elf, Buddy. He tries to find little ways to remind of to slow down and focus on what's important this season, and he also tried to insert a little extra fun into our days.

Yesterday, he left us treat sacks and big bags of candy so we could Jingle Bell our neighbors. It's really the elf version of ding-dong-ditch. I watched as the kids mixed all the candy and plotted the route least likely to get them caught. They also decided which houses to just leave a treat in the mailbox because their littles were probably already in bed. (The mailman may be getting some extra treats today.)

The magic, though, was when the kids came back in. They were both out of breath and laughing so hard. They watched some neighbors we don't know well come out, look around, and then laugh. They fell in the ditch. They had fun.

It's those moments, those little moments of giving and laughter, that bring me the most joy this season, and I'm so grateful I slowed down enough to soak it in last night.

A Little Christmas

Last weekend, we celebrated our little family Christmas. We had already given the kids our gifts, but we all agreed it might be best if Santa came to North Carolina this year. He usually fills stockings on his early route, but we asked if he might be willing to drop off the gifts early since Evan had requested a huge Nerf gun. That Santa came through for us:

 Issa asked for a FitBit this year:

 Santa came through with a couple of extra bands for it, too:

Evan asked for some ridiculously huge Nerf gun:

 

 And Santa came through with extra ammo:

Poor Brad spent most of the rest of the day rehanging my nightstand that fell off the wall, and Issa and I had to go to one more Company dress rehearsal.

We did manage to squeeze in some family Christmas time. We baked cookies and watched Christmas movies. We ended the day with the traditional fried chicken dinner. It's nothing fancy, but we did laugh until we cried. And that's really all anyone can ask for.

Part Two of Merry Christmas

This weekend, we gave the kids part two of their Christmas gift: tickets to the Hillsborough Candlelight Tour. It is sponsored by the Chamber, and they say you can't possibly do all of the activities in the window of the event--and they are right! We prioritized and did all of the things that were most important to us, though! 

We started at the Burwell School, where we learned more about housekeeping in the early 1800s. My favorite new tidbit is that they made irons that were hinged to make pleats; it looked like a giant cast iron crimper for clothing! We also learned more about the seamstress, Kepley, who lived her in Hillsborough and went on to be the seamstress for Mary Todd Lincoln, and new tidbit, Mrs. Jefferson Davis! We also learned a lot about the history of harps from around the world and listened to some old Christmas carols performed on a harp.

We saw an original play performed in the old courthouse. A local playwrite wrote it about the Alamance Regulators, and an ancestor of one the Regulators spoke, which was really cool. We toured many historic homes and buildings, voted in the gingerbread house competition, drank hot beverages from all our local favorites, road a train around town, and listened to some local authors read. It was one of those wonderful afternoons where I am so grateful to live in this little town!

I took no pictures on the tours, but I did get these cuties:

And Issa captured my new favorite picture of Brad and I:

It was truly a fabulous day!

The Beginning of Holly Jolly

When we got back from Chicago, we started the process of holly jollying everything! The first stop is always the fire department for our trees:

Bless Brad. He was starting in with the virus I had last week, but he powered through and put up both trees:

Mom's is significantly larger than ours:

Brad was much happier putting up our tree:

After the trees, we went to see A Magical Cirque Christmas:

Evan was not that unhappy; he was just uncomfortable for the picture.

It was an amazing show! We still can't figure out some of the magic, and the performers were incredible!

We spent this week decorating a little in the tiny pockets of time we could, but we are most excited about getting very holly jolly this weekend!

Thankful in Chicago

 This Thanksgiving, we did something totally different: we went to Chicago to spend Thanksgiving with Aunt Shannon. She has come to us for every holiday, birthday, and major life event literally forever. She really wanted to host a holiday, and we thought it was high time we made that happen.

Wednesday, for once, I did not get over excited and book us on the earliest flight possible. We ate lunch at the airport and caught a lovely 12:15 flight direct to Midway. After a short Uber ride, we were at Aunt Shannon's, and after about 20 minutes we we up to our elbows in puzzle:

Our family loves a good puzzle. And we spent a lot of Friday puzzling until it was time to go to dinner at a fabulous Italian place where I had Vin Santo for the first time state-side. We went back to Shannon's where the children fell in love with her building's pool. They would be in it multiple times a day until we left.

Thursday, we spent the entire day at Shannon's puzzling, cooking, and just being:

Eventually, we needed the table for our Thanksgiving feast, so we moved completed puzzle sections to cutting boards:

Brad carved the turkey:

And we sat down to quite the feast!

Also, the children are obsessed with being velociraptors:

Friday morning, we got up and went to the aquarium where we met Tim, Amy, and Maura! It was so good to see them, but we took nary a picture. We did have an amazing time watching the fish and enjoying their Christmas decorations. The belugas, especially the baby, were the highlight, though. As soon as Evan hits five feet tall we are going to go behind the scenes to meet them up close!

We had lunch at Bright Wok, and entirely gluten free Asian place Brad is convinced is heaven. He insists it was the best thing he ate in Chicago. We also experiences the Christmas Market. It is a completely European arts and food fair, and while parts of it were lovely we were all desperate to get out of the crown after 45 minutes. It was the best hot chocolate I have ever had, though--and it came in a little boot mug!

We finished the puzzle Friday!

 And then we bundled up to go to the lights at the Lincoln Park Zoo:

The lights were magic, and we had a blast watching the ice carvings, but the monkeys stole the show. We learned that family groups twine their tails:

 And we got to see the baby gorilla:

 I love that you can see Mom, Shannon, and Issa reflected in that picture.

We ended Friday at an amazing tapas place followed by yet another swim.

Saturday we just spend a quiet morning at Shannon's before we flew back home.

We packed a lot into those few days, but more than anything I'm grateful to see Shannon's city with her. I loved watching my kiddos soak in the city--especially now that they are older and can really see and experience it. No more strollers. No more worries about naps or meal times. We could just enjoy.

I'm truly thankful for a wonderful Thanksgiving and beginning of the Christmas season.