it's a swell time: holiday preparations

so addictive

We had a great weekend getting in the Christmas spirit, even though I still can't believe Christmas Eve is today. All our snow had melted over the weekend and now, like magic, it's back this morning. And it is still hard to fathom how this year went by so quickly. 

The fun part is that we get to stretch out all the celebrations: tonight we'll have dinner with my mother-in-law and her husband, then I'm taking Cupcake (my four year old) to midnight mass with me. It's at 10p and she's normally awake anyway (inherited insomnia from me, oops), so I thought she would really enjoy hearing all the beautiful music and seeing mass in a different way. I've been wanting to bring her for years; when she was first born, mass was actually at midnight, but they've backed it off to 10p.

Then tomorrow morning, my mother-in-law and her husband are coming back for brunch and to open presents. I found some really fun gifts (including the kinetic sand!) so I'm excited for the kids to open them so we can all play with them. And we'll see what Cupcake says when she sees Santa got her the pink dollhouse she's been begging for. My baby (Sunshine) is so much harder to shop for because we have so much already, but we're doing our best to make it special for her. I got her her own version of a dollhouse that I think she'll enjoy. And of course lots of books for both. It's getting exciting because, even though she isn't walking yet, Sunshine is starting to talk and "book" is one of her words. She's a really good communicator and already has opinions about what she likes and doesn't like and isn't afraid to let you know, with firm headshakes and nods and "yeah" or "nah." Love this age!

Later this week, we'll celebrate more when my brother-in-law and his family come into town, and again with my family on Saturday when my sister, aunt and uncle are in town. Lots of fun! Lots of food!

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gussying up the roof

We also made our first family gingerbread house over the weekend. You probably guessed that the gingerbread house above is not ours. But I'm sure we'll tackle that next year now that we have one under our belts. 

My husband had never made a gingerbread house before and I realized I haven't made one since home ec class in eighth grade. It was fun to do together and Cupcake really liked decorating it. Though I think, for her sake, next year I might need to get my own because I was a too little anal retentive about the decorating. The decorating ideas were mostly hers, but I made her let me do a lot of the candy placement. I feel a bit guilty, but she said she had a lot of fun, so I guess this won't come up in therapy in a couple decades. (I hope.)

Before we get the kids from daycare, we're going to make buckeyes, a family favorite. Actually a favorite of almost everyone we know (except poor Cupcake, allergic to peanuts). It's actually the best buckeye recipe I've ever tasted, so in the spirit of Christmas, here it is.

As you and your families get ready to celebrate, we hope you are having fun and making lots of memories! 

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This is the special design she made just for daddy.
A back door, a tree, a bird, and a present under the tree for him.

top image via cake central, all others my own

Xx a