Happy Mother’s Day!
To my mom and to TJ’s mom… Happy Mother’s Day! Thank you for being great examples of what true motherhood is all about. XOXO
Conference Weekend + Easter
I really liked having General Conference overlapping with Easter this year. Eva did a lot of Easter crafts and activities while we watched the sessions and on Saturday it was warm enough to go to the park in the afternoon.
On Sunday for Easter, I cooked up a storm and should have taken a photo of all that I made but I forgot! But I made a lot of delicious dishes:
Cinnamon Rolls
Green Bean Casserole
Corn Casserole
Orange Jello Salad
Deviled Eggs (Check out this cool and easy way to peel eggs!)
Cupcakes (Just from a box… nothing fancy)
We brought all the food over to my friends’ theater room and had about a dozen guests join us for Easter dinner and the last session of General Conference! It was a great time and a good way to celebrate our Savior’s Resurrection. Happy Easter!
Or Santa will bring you…
So, I debated on whether or not to write this story down. But after going back and forth a couple of times… I’m going for it. Judge me. Laugh at me. Tell me I’m a bad parent. Whatevs. If you’re a mom, you know sometimes you just accidentally say stuff, especially if you’re heated or are desperately trying to make your child do something/stop bad behavior. This story reminds me of the time I accidentally told Eva there was a fish in the humidifier.
Okay, Eva was doing something bad, I don’t remember what and it was around the beginning of December. I decided it was time to bring out the big guns. Santa threats. The convo went something like this:
“Eva, Santa is watching you!”
“And he’ll bring me lots of toys?!”
“Well, if you’re good, yes. But if you don’t stop doing [what you’re doing] then he’s going to bring you…”
Then I stopped. A lump of coal? She has no idea what coal is! My brilliant mind started listing things in the same category as coal. Dirt! Yes… DIRT!
“…DIRT!”
“Santa will bring me dirt???”
“Yes…”
Oh, I couldn’t stop there. No, I’m not a normal parent. T.J. was just looking at me so confused like, “What the heck are you telling her?” Okay, more brainstorming. Dirrrttt, what else is terrible and gross? GOT IT!
“AND snakes! Santa will bring you snakes and dirt if are bad, so you BETTER BE GOOD!”
From then on, whenever I told her that Santa was watching she’d finish it off and would say while shaking her head, “Or he’ll bring me snakes and dirt!”
There you have it. Parenting during the Holidays 101. Nailed it.
Kentucky Wrap Up
baby snuggles • double date night with old friends • larosa’s pizza • gingerbread houses • blowups
And that’s the end of our trip! Who’s ready for 2015?!
Christmas Day
On Christmas Day, the kids went down around 8 or 8:30 to open up their presents from Santa. They were so excited to see that Santa had eaten the cookie and left some crumbs! Eva got an Elsa dress and a couple other little things (her cousins got Frozen dresses too but from their grandparents so we had a Frozen Christmas where they ran around constantly playing “Anna & Elsa”). After breakfast and showers, we opened up the rest of the presents. The one that took the cake was my mom getting an iPhone 6+. She has been using the same flip phone for yearssssss (didn’t even text with it) and finally got one as a surprise from my dad. She’s probably even embarrassed I’m writing about it because she’s the most humble person ever. But I had to document it because it was so cute when she opened up the present. And now she’s a texter and everything! One of the first messages she sent out to my brother was, “Learning how to use this machine.”
It was a wonderful day, we even got to nap 🙂 ! More pictures to come once I get them from my dad’s camera! Thanks to my BIL Mark for these photos!
Christmas Eve Fun
Here’s the fam acting out the nativity. Amelia was the sweetest Mary. Spencer was supposed to be Baby Jesus, but then Amelia wanted to hold her own doll, and then Eva wanted to be a part, so she came along as Strawberry Shortcake holding a doll. Three Baby Jesuses… I don’t remember that part in the bible!
The girls went up in town to look at the little train display and to visit some friends in the ward.
Crazy cousins!
This boy is the cutest thing I’ve ever seen. I couldn’t stop kissing his cheeks.
Amelia & Claire opened up new stockings on Christmas Eve.
Aunt Ashley was a hit with new nail polish and crafts for the little girls.
The shepherds
Oh heyyyy Strawberry Shortcake!
After the kids were in bed, we went to Christmas Mass over in Cincinnati where my dad played trumpet and sister played violin. A fun tradition but weird to go without my brother.
My little Elf opened up new jammies on Christmas Eve, thanks to Danica!
The shepherds took a detour for a drink on their way to see Baby Jesus.
One of cutest Kings I’ve ever seen!
Claire wrote this cute note to Santa on Christmas Eve with cookies and milk.
It was a fun Christmas Eve… a little crazy with so many people, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. Being together for the holidays is so special. I know it won’t be like this forever as we all grow our families and can’t always come back, so we tried to enjoy every minute! Can both sides of families just move to one central location so then we CAN be together every Christmas???
The Cincinnati Ballet Nutcracker
My sister, niece, mom, and I went to the Nutcracker before Christmas. I hadn’t been for probably ten or fifteen years, so it was a real treat to go again! It even made me tear up a couple times because it was so beautiful. I can’t wait to take Eva in a couple years!
Graham Cracker Toffee Crunch
I am a sucker for toffee. It’s my favorite. One year I took a cooking class and learned how to make it perfectly. But the next year when I tried to make it again, I couldn’t ever get the perfect texture and taste like I previously had learned! It was so frustrating. I tried it over and over, never getting it right again even after buying a candy thermometer so I stopped trying to make it at Christmas.
So, when I saw this recipe on the Six Sisters’ Stuff site with their review I knew I had to try it! It was so easy, virtually fail proof (unless you keep it on too long and burn it… cough…TJ did this accidentally when he was helping me make it in KY!), and SO tasty. I’ll be making it each Christmas season from now on for sure!
Oh, and bonus photo: I wrapped up a bunch of treats for our doormen and next door neighbor and attached a pass-along card on each! Easy missionary opportunity 🙂
Santa at The Plaza Hotel
Can you believe it’s January? So crazy. I’ll be playing a bit of catch up on here for the next couple days. So bear with me as I plow through these posts for journaling purposes!
One Saturday in December, we took Eva to see Santa at the Plaza Hotel. We got there at a perfect time-4:30. Santa currently was on a break so there was nobody in line. After grabbing some fun treats in the cute shops at The Plaza (you should totally check it out next time you’re in NYC… I had no idea they had shops inside!), we got in line and were second to see Santa, who came at 5. So we barely had to wait… fabulous!
Eva was very nervous with Santa this year, but she at least would sit with him because I told her that was the only way he would know what to give her for Christmas. She walked up to him, looking down, not giving any eye contact at all and just started whispering over and over, before Santa had even asked what she wanted, “Elsa dress, Elsa dress.” It made me laugh so much. But my bashful girl gave us a cute photo, so hurray!
Afterwards, we walked down Fifth ave since TJ hadn’t done that yet this season. There was a cool light show on the side of Saks, which I hadn’t seen last time. As the night went on, we realized it was Santacon because more and more Santas (and lots of slutty Santa helpers) filled the sidewalks. Eva was so confused at why the McDonalds was completely filled with Santas. Ooh, and outside of McDonalds, two Santas were about to fight. You don’t see that everyday. (Yes, we live in NYC but still eat at McDonalds… I’m ashamed. But it’s so easy and cheap with Eva. Don’t judge me!)
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