I hope you all had a joyous time with your families and loved ones over Christmas. My heart (and stomach) felt very full! We’re off to my mom’s today for some more, so here are my Friday Five.
1. Up Before Dawn – Carter is at such a fun age for Christmas. He really believes in the magic of the season which makes it so much fun. It was still dark when he woke up but at least we got to sleep until a little past 6 a.m. before he was up and ready to go. We had a fun and laid back morning at home and then headed to my aunt’s house for Christmas dinner in the afternoon.
2. Baking Traditions – I got a bit of late start on holiday baking this year, but I managed to sneak in Todd’s favorite – peanut butter blossoms and I also made almond creme cookies to take to my family Christmas. Of course, I had to also make my Best Ever Chex Mix. There might be a mutiny if I showed up without it.
3. We Are Family – All of my cousins except one were home over the holidays. We spent a few hours catching up on Christmas Eve day at Hessen Haus, a German beer hall and restaurant in Downtown Des Moines.
4. Chippy Has Left the Building – I can’t say we’re too sad about our Elf Chippy going back to the North Pole with Santa. It gets pretty tiresome remembering to move him every night. His final surprise was pretending to be Spiderman.
5. Vintage Monogram Love – last weekend my father-in-law and step mother-in-law were in town to celebrate Christmas with us. I took my step mother-in-law to West End Salvage for a few hours since she’d never been there and I knew she’d love it. I ran across this display of E’s and H’s and thought it had to have been put there just for me. I wish I had a space big enough for one of them! I haven’t added to my monogram collection in a while.
We still have one more Christmas with my family this weekend, then I’m off work most of next week. Right now I’m planning to paint our basement, but we’ll see how much motivation I come up with. Drinking tea and reading some good books seems pretty appealing right now!