December 2024

Glory, glory Hallelujah -- I did it!  I have officially caught up on all of last year just in time for this year to come to an end.  Hahaha.  I'll have one more post after this to capture our 2024 Christmas card picture and update on life as a little lagniappe for you.  (See what I did there?  LOL.)  Fair warning, this post is a massive photo dump so if any of you hang in there to the end you can go ahead and give yourself a pat on the back from me.  Hahaha.  Without further adieu, I bring you December 2024...

•  Party Time

Isaac convinced me to help out with his class party this year before they broke for Christmas break.  I don't know if you've been in a third grade classroom lately, but I’d call the vibe in there “barely-controlled-chaos.”  IYKYK.  Hahahaha.  In all seriousness, though, kudos to all the elementary school teachers out there -- they're not compensated nearly enough for all that they do.  

Here's Isaac at an ornament making station, featuring a picture taken in class and some fun stickers in a gift box frame.

That picture, tho.  Lol.  The sticker bowtie just really gives it a little something extra.  Hahaha.

The antler ring toss was a big hit with this audience.

I wasn't quite sure what category the following pictures would fit under, but I'm gonna go ahead and call them a party.  Hahahaha.  I don't know which of the girls edited these shots, but talk about giving it a little something extra.  Hahahahahaha.  You gotta love this kind of creativity.  Enjoy the following pairings...

{Edited to note: my girls tell me it was actually my brother Freddie who created the edits. 😂😂😂}

Sophie + a member of BTS (? I think ?)

Jane + Brock Purdy

And Grace + Mr. Beast

•  Jolabokaflod

It's now time for our annual Christmas Book Flood -- aka Jolabokaflod!   In this Icelandic tradition, new books are exchanged as gifts on Christmas Eve and everyone spends the evening reading them together.  According to Google, it originated during WWII when paper was one of the few non-rationed goods, making books a popular gift.  The tradition is now a cherished cultural event in Iceland, often accompanied by hot chocolate and other treats, and has gained international popularity.  I can't remember how long ago we started celebrating Jolabokaflod in our household, but it has certainly become one of our (or at least MY) cherished traditions as well.  (And in case anyone is wondering, the way we celebrate in our house is with me picking out a book for everyone else, and everyone else picking out a book for ME.  So, yes.  I do make out like a bandit on this holiday.  Lol.)

For Isaac -- "Dog Man: Big Jim Begins" by Dav Pilkey

For Alex --  "Guinness World Records: Gamer's Edition 2025"

For Jane -- "Wicked: The Grimmerie, a Behind-the-Scenes Look 

at the Hit Broadway Musical" by David Cote

For Sophie -- "The Art of Haikyu" by Haruichi Furudate

For Grace -- "Naruto: The Official Fanbook" by Masashi Kishimoto

For Ethan -- "The Lego Engineer" by Jeff Friesen

And for Scott -- "Revenge of the Tipping Point" by Malcolm Gladwell

Meanwhile, here is what everyone got me.  How to Attract Birds to Your Garden by Dan Rouse; The Penguin Classics Book by Henry Eliot; art: The Definitive Visual History by DK publishing; America's National Parks by Alexa Ward and Mike Lowery; The Story of Flowers by Noel Kingsbury; The Travel Book by lonely planet; Fly: A Family Guide to Birds and How to Spot Them by David Lindo

•    Christmas Day

And now for the real photo dump.  Enjoy the following photo essay of a Christmas morning with this crew...

The stockings were hung on the railing with care...

(Pretty sure visions of sugarplums were NOT dancing in their heads...)

This was actually the funniest thing of the morning...

Ethan had been wearing that ratty blanket/makeshift poncho since he woke up, only to open his first gift and discover...

An actual blanket shawl to keep him warm in style.  Hahahahaha.

With snaps up the front, the blanket shawl provided much better coverage than the torn blanket he was using before.  Lol.

This was just a placeholder gift.  His actual present was a printed blog book of all his emails home during his mission.  The company I used must have been super backlogged, because this was supposed to arrive before Christmas but unfortunately did not.  (I printed out a miniature of the book cover and put it in a box so he'd still have something to open on Christmas morning.)

(A closeup of the book cover.)

In case anyone didn't know, Jane loves the Bengals.  And Joe Burrow.  Hence the Joe Burrow box for her gift.  (It was filled with a jersey, a bobblehead doll, a couple of Bengals decals, and -- my personal favorite -- a "Smells Like Joe Burrow" candle I found on Etsy.  And just what does Joe Burrow smell like?  Well, according to the label he smells like, "Candlelit Charisma, Jungle Allure, and a Sprinkle of Cheeky Confidence" -- a touchdown for devoted fans.  Hahahahahahahaha.)

Grace got her own "placeholder gift" for a concert ticket to the Attack on Titan: World Tour, live at Carnegie Hall the following fall.

(Here's a closeup of the faux concert ticket I mocked up.)

For our annual Secret Santa sibling swap for stocking stuffers:

Alex had Isaac's name...

...and Isaac had Alex's name.  (Lol)

Sophie had Jane...

...Ethan had Sophie...

...Jane had Grace...

...and Grace had Ethan.

(One of Ethan's gifts was a puzzle box with cash money as his prize at the center once it was solved.)

The girls spent the rest of the morning crashing...

...and the boys opted for gaming.

(Ethan's two-monitor setup.  Hahahaha.)

(One of Isaac's gifts was this spinning chair that's supposed to be good for kids with sensory issues.)

He had a lot of fun that night spinning before bedtime.  Lol.

"First to Worst" was a new game we got for the family and it was a hit.  You basically take turns ranking 5 cards with random topics on them while the rest of the players have to decide how they THINK you ranked them.  It made for some pretty hilarious matchups and is definitely a fun one to play with family or anyone else you might know really well.

•   The Lights of the Ozarks

And finally, is it even Christmas without taking in some lights?  I think not!  Hahaha.  The square downtown does a lovely job of lighting things up and we make it a point every year to visit and stroll around to soak up the ambience of the holiday season.  

Alex loves him some aura farming.  Lol.

Merry Christmas!

And that is a WRAP!!!  I have one more little lagniappe post to come, but consider 2024 to be officially in the books.  Thank you and goodnight!  Hahaha.