I have legitimately been procrastinating this blog post for at least 2 or 3 weeks now, and since my Christmas deadline is rapidly approaching I decided it was now or never! Hahaha. The month or so between Thanksgiving and Christmas always flies by SO quickly and this year was no exception. What WAS an exception, however, was spending Thanksgiving in Louisiana for the first time ever! Since my grandfather passed last year, my mom has since purchased the house she grew up in and has been slowly but surely updating and decorating and -- in general -- creating a warm and welcoming home for all her family to gather 'round. Since my kids get the whole week off for Thanksgiving, we decided it was high time to drive on down and have ourselves a cozy cajun Thanksgiving. Haha. In addition to a delicious feast on Thanksgiving day, we also enjoyed all the other food that was consumed -- as well as a fun trip to New Orleans (where I grew up); several hilarious game nights (where many hijinks ensued); a few jam sessions with my sister Amy, who accompanied me and Sophie on the piano while joining us in song; and a little binge-watching action with my mom (who got me hooked on The Gilded Age) and Scott (we blew through a couple of season of The Great Pottery Throw Down), while the kids did their own thing and had plenty of screen time as well. All in all, it was a highly satisfying week! Hahahaha.
(The girls really took advantage of their break to catch up on sleep. Fun fact -- this upstairs bedroom where my 3 girls are sleeping is the same room that my sisters and I would sleep in when we would visit my grandparents as kids, and it's the same room that my mom and her two sisters slept in, AND it's the same one that my paw paw's three sisters shared as well. Kind of cool, amiright??)
(panoramic shot of the "girls' room" courtesy of my mom.)
Bourgeois Meat Market hamburgers are always a hit with my crew.
And speaking of hits -- Codenames with my mom was hiLARious. NGL. We also had fun playing Balderdash, Boggle, Scattergories Categories, as well as a few others.
(Lots of candy was consumed.)
We headed to City Park in New Orleans for one of the afternoons we were in town. The weather that day was ABSOLUTELY gorgeous, so we wanted to make the most of it. (The rest of the days we were there were mostly rainy.)
Cheers!
(Beignets courtesy of Cafe du Monde)
Amy + my girlie bugs
My mom and Amy took the girls souvenir shopping and to the French Quarter, while Scott and I stayed with the boys at the Park. Everyone had fun all around. Hahaha.
City Park -- entertaining generations of children with its extremely climbable live oaks.
After we finished at the Park -- and before we headed back to Thibodaux -- Scott and I took the boys to eat at the Camellia Grill for dinner. It's one of my favorite places to eat whenever we visit New Orleans. # BLT & chocolate freeze 4 lyfe.
My girlie bugs + Amy at Jackson Square
The boys had fun tossing a football around in the vast front yard of my mom's house. (The meat market is in the very background.)
We were all sad to say goodbye when the week was over, but knowing that Christmas was just around the corner -- and that we had plenty to do to decorate and get ready for the season once we got back home -- helped to ease ourselves out of vacation mode and back into regular life. And then the following three weeks went by in a flash! Lol. It feels like it's been a whirlwind of activity since we've been back, and it's been such a delight to have this full week of school break leading up to Christmas day to be able to chill out and relax and drop the hustle and bustle of real life.
Non sequitur of a picture, but too funny not to include. Grace convinced Isaac to star in a music video for her, and this (and the picture below) is one of the still shots. Obviously, he had not had his hair cut just yet. LOL.
(A close-up of him holding out the rose is currently on my phone's lock screen. Hahahahahaha.)
I feel like there is an overabundance of Isaac photos in every post these days, but he is the most willing and most-often-around-me child, so what am I supposed to do? Hahaha. He came to me the week before Thanksgiving all excited to tell me that there was an app we could download that would teach him how to play the piano, and so I humored him thinking it was a passing fancy and nothing else. Well, color me surprised, because he actually kind of loves it and has started learning some very rudimentary piano skills and songs all on his own. I mean, yes -- I'm usually around and will sit with him while he does his thing, giving input from time to time, but it's his determination and single-minded focus that is doing most of the work. Lol. I'm pretty sure 7-year-old Ethan would have been ALL over this app. Hahaha.
I thought it was hilarious that as soon as we got home from our Thanksgiving trip, Jane promptly created this Christmas wishlist for me -- after she had already spent the entire week we were in Thibodaux sending me screen shot after link after screen shot of all of the things she REALLY wanted me to know were on her list.
The unveiling of the Christmas jammies the night after we got back was a hit. As are these poses. Hahahaha.
{As a side note, I will say that this is the first year where it feels like there's been a distinct divide between "the teens" and "the kids" in the house in terms of celebrating styles and interests and everything else that comes with making the season bright. It's also the first Christmas with only 5 kids at home, and I have to say that I don't like it! Hahaha. Everything feels a bit incomplete this year without Ethan home to round things out and needless to say, we're all looking forward to video chatting with him on Christmas Day -- and potentially Christmas Eve as well.}
Ethan's 3 gifts from "Santa"
Don't even get me started on how annoyed I was with the size limitations for Ethan's Christmas package. I mean, I get it -- the mission office doesn't have a lot of space for hundreds of oversized boxes to store until they were handed out at zone conference (? I think ?) last week. But it was a CHALLENGE to stuff everything in that I wanted to send. As in, I needed help squeezing the lid shut on top so that I could tape it all down. And tape it all down (and around) I did. Hahahaha.
Scott's parents have been sending "Countdown to Christmas" gifts throughout the month, and the kids were excited to open up this advent calendar on December 1st.
(Maxwell's paw print picture from doggie daycare.)
Isaac drew this adorable Grinch at school.
For our family home evening activity last Monday, I had everyone write a Thank You card to someone as an act of service, and I was pleasantly surprised to find this note from Jane shoved under my bedroom door the next day.
"Dear Mom, Thank you so much for making the Christmas szn the best ever. You're so amazing at wrapping presents. It's crazy because I'm actually awful at it. Luv you to death mother dearest. * kissy face *
-- Jane (notice how we're the same height!!)"
Another adorable Isaac Christmas drawing.
And this year's attempt at homemade ornaments for the kids. I thought going with a gnome theme would fit right in with our Christmas card picture. Haha. For the record, though, these have been a PAIN to make and if I had to do it all over again, I would have chosen a different medium than air-dry clay. Lol. #LiveAndLearn
With the year coming swiftly to an end, it's hard to believe 2022 is almost over! I should theoretically be back to blog again before time runs out on the year, but if the past few posts indicate anything, it's that it might be best not to expect a Christmas recap until January is almost over. Hahahaha. In all seriousness, though, I'm really going to try and do my best to knock something out next week, if for no other reason than I know Ethan will be eagerly awaiting an update. :) Until then, a merry Christmas to all -- and to all, a good night!!
