Christmas Catherine

The month of December would not be complete (or nearly as fun!) without the addition of Christmas Catherine.  Every night, she leaves and heads back to the North Pole to report to Santa and then returns bright and early so that she can be here all day to observe the kids.  Over the years, she has gotten into mischief, done some thoughtful things, brought small gifts, left messages, etc.  And the kids somehow remember every one of those things.  They still talk about them ...

For that reason, C.C. tries not to do the same thing twice -- well, other than her traditional North Pole Breakfast each year to signal her return.  Here are some of her antics from the season:

She got a 'jump start' our Christmas Cards, sitting in her own personal desk:

She made a bunch of paper airplanes, which Jimmy later confiscated and kept in a safe place inside his room.

Check out all of the junk that C.C. found in the couch cushions:

It took the kids a few minutes to get this one: "Brown Es ..." there was actually a whole pan of real brownies in the oven for them!

Christmas Catherine invited Simon, Jimmy's treasured stuffed sloth, to join her is a rousing game of Tic-Tac-Toe using Christmas bows:

We have a large dry erase board in the dining room that has been there since the start of the pandemic.  I used it when recording lectures for my college students and the kids continue to use it when doing their homework (such as spelling words, math problems, etc).  

C.C. took over and made her own personal shopping list:

A new soap arrived in the bathroom, just in time for the holidays with a gentle reminder on the mirror to the kids to keep washing their hands and to stay healthy:

Christmas Catherine filled the cookie jar with oreos one night and grossed out the kids by "supposedly" replacing the filling inside with mint toothpaste:

It was a great day for a "hot air balloon ride:"

Want some bubblegum?  C.C. practiced blowing bubbles and invited the kids to have some too:

The kids looked high and low for her one morning, never suspecting that she would have arrived in a Special Delivery box under the tree.  Note: there was nothing in the box -- just her.  Ha!

Rock-climbing with gummy bears in the hallway:

Another Game Day; this time with Elf Bingo and some new friends:

Fresh Cut Christmas Trees stacked on the back of a semi-truck.  The kids LOVED these Christmas tree brownies and begged to have one for breakfast:

C.C. tried to hang some lights -- quite unsuccessfully -- but they sure were pretty when it was dark out:

Christmas Catherine was in Candy Cane Lockdown for doing something naughty:

This was one of my favorites -- the kids looked FOREVER for her after seeing this note.  They didn't quite understand what it meant (they thought maybe she was at the North Pole and didn't come back) ...

It turns out that she was in CAMO in the Christmas tree!  (Also, Jack couldn't find his Christmas list one day so he left a note for C.C. asking if she took it.  And what do you know?  A little Christmas magic -- it appeared the next morning with an OFFICAL NORTH POLE seal on it).

A NASA astronaut for a day!

Sliding down the basement stairs railing ... Oooohhh, Jimmy hoped all month that she would do this (he remembered that she did it last year) and finally -- on the last day before her trek back to the North Pole with Santa on Christmas Eve -- she donned her winter gear and made the best of it!

North Pole Breakfast - COVID 19 Style

Our elf, Christmas Catherine, made her official debut this season in full COVID-19 fashion.  That is, she brought her usual breakfast but made sure to wear a mask ... at least until we were sure that the results of her COVID test were negative.

There were donuts, muffins, fruit and orange juice ... and a big envelope clearly marked with C.C.'s Results.

With no formal school that morning and only virtual learning to prepare for, the kids sat and had a leisurely breakfast.  Apparently a shirt was optional for Jimmy that morning.

Jack had the honor of opening the envelope.  Sam was convinced that the results just HAD to be negative, but the others were not so sure.  After all, she was wearing a mask and nothing was 'normal' anymore.

And this, right here?  This, is what makes things so very special this time of year.  The excitement of traditions -- some old and some new -- it puts a real smile on my face.  Even though we have one "nonbeliever" in our house this year, the magic of it all, makes her still want to believe.

Decorating for Christmas

We received word from the school district that, as a precautious measure, Laingsburg schools would be switching to 100% virtual learning on November 30th (the Monday after Thanksgiving).  All students will continue learning from home through December 18th and then will go on vacation for Christmas Break.  The next week back to school (January 4th-8th) will also be virtual and then hopefully, those children that want to be face-to-face (1/2 days) in the classroom will be able to return on January 11th.  

This is a big transition for us.  The three older kids have been given school-issued devices in which they are able to log in and complete assignments.  Frankly, if they start at 8:00 am -- which I make them do -- they are done for the day by 9:30 am.  And then I try to fill the rest of the (long) day with other things, like setting up Christmas decorations, movie time, hot chocolate, some outside fun ...

We are still avoiding trips to the store as much as possible with the kids.  Everyone is required to wear a mask, and while the kids are certainly used to it by now, I still try to limit their exposure.  They cannot play with many of their friends because they are outside of "our bubble," and their electronic screen time is already almost maxed out with virtual learning.  

Thanksgiving was split up this year.  We didn't want to "mix the different households" because of the ongoing virus so Steve's dad came over on Thanksgiving Eve to have dinner with us and then my family came over on Thanksgiving Day.  The night before, we did something completely untraditional.  We grilled steak and had twice-baked potatoes, rolls, fruit and vegetables ... and it was so tasty.

Thanksgiving Day was my mom's birthday so we celebrated with the immediate family and then had the traditional turkey meal with all of the fixings.  And what birthday would be complete without a cake?  None.

While it might be a little early for cranberries and greenery (aka rosemary), I love how it turned out.  And my mom is a big fan of cranberries, so it was completely fitting.  

We spoiled her with lots of gifts (and some for Sam too since this was the first time that my family was together to give her birthday presents) and I even got out the knife and spatula that was engraved from our wedding and used to cut our wedding cake.  Special events call for special utensils!

With the kids home for several weeks, I wanted to start decorating for Christmas a little earlier than usual.  The day after Thanksgiving, we set to work putting up the big tree in the living room.  

Over the years, it has evolved from Steve and me putting it together to the kids now doing most of it on their own.  They know how to look for specific branches that are labeled and they work as a mostly cohesive team.

The boys searched through the piles and brought them over to the girls.

In no time at all, the tree was put together and the kids were anxious to put the ornaments on it.

I quickly strung the lights on the tree -- we use multi-colored ones in this room -- and then hauled up the totes of ornaments so that we could decorate it.  This is their favorite part.  They love separating the boxes so that they can open and hang their own personal ornaments.  They talked animatedly about where they got each ornament, how old they were and why they received it.  There are some truly sentimental ornaments in there.

My mom buys the kids an ornament each year and it is always symbolic of something in their life at the time.  Usually, it coordinates with their birthday party theme or something that they love to eat.  For example, one year Sophia received this scoop of strawberry ice cream because it is her favorite flavor ever.  This year, Samantha's ornament was a stack of pancakes (her 12th birthday theme), Sophia's was a flamingo (her 9th birthday theme), Jack's was a fishing ornament (it became his hobby this year) and Jimmy's was a fish (his 4th birthday theme).

It was Jack's year to put the angel on the top of the tree after it was decorated and Steve kindly obliged in helping him reach.

Later, we got out our Christmas quilt and I set to work decking the halls.

In total, we put up 4 Christmas trees -- one upstairs, outside of the girls' rooms, one in the living room, one in the family room and one in the basement.  I just love the coziness that the lights bring and since we will be spending A LOT of time at home this pandemic holiday season, it is nice to be able to look at them all day long.

Pancakes and Pajamas

With Samantha's 12th birthday on the horizon, I started to think of ideas of how she could celebrate with friends ... while still in the middle of a global pandemic.  Our "bubble" (that has now become a daily phrase this year -- along with things like "social distancing," "wearing a mask," "maintaining 6 feet of distance," etc.) is relatively small and we would only be able to invite a couple of friends that we consider to be in the same "bubble."

I reached out to three mothers ahead of time to see if they were "ok" with letting their girls come over to celebrate with us.  The girls were all in school together -- albeit, wearing masks and social distancing -- and I was pretty sure that we were comfortable from both sides letting them spend some much-needed and much-missed time together.  We planned the party with a "pancakes and pajamas" theme and I promised Samantha that I would keep it 'toned down' and casual.  (She did ask me to plan at least one craft and allowed me to decorate a small poster for behind the cake table).

There were six girls in total -- three of Samantha's closest friends, the neighbor next door, Samantha and Sophia.  It was really the perfect group size.

Ahead of time, I picked out pajamas for each of the girls and had them set out on the table when they arrived.  They fit perfectly (!!!!) and one of the girls was astounded to find out that they "got to keep them!"  Ha!  

They made the perfect party favor and also made for a nice group picture of everyone that Samantha now has framed in her bedroom to forever commemorate this special event.

I opted for a light pink and gold theme; I thought that the gold was so classy for a 12-year old and I was able to use some decorations from parties in the past.  These balloons were a special find and they lasted for weeks afterwards before we finally (carefully) popped them and let the confetti out.

Six girls fit perfectly at the table ...

And what party of mine would be complete without flowers!  I cannot believe that this tiny peanut is 12 years old already!  I have such vivid memories, all these years later, of bringing her home from the hospital weighing less than 6 lbs with a tiny head of dark fuzz cuddled up next to me.

We ordered pizza and breadsticks and the girls stuffed themselves silly and laughed the whole time. 

 

After dinner, we headed into the living room so that Sam could open her birthday presents.  Her friends know her SO WELL and she smiled and gushed over every single item.

Then, it was time for cake!  Over the years, decorating cakes has become a hobby for me.  I use it as a creative outlet for myself and love the whole process from start to finish.  I've been asked before if I would consider doing it for more than just a hobby but right now I prefer to just do it for family and friends.  

For her cake, I used white cake and buttercream frosting.  I stacked the layers and added a basecoat of frosting.  Once that was set, I set to work making it look like a stack of pancakes.  Most of the girls were convinced that I actually just used pancakes to make it!  I made a pat of butter out of marshmallow fondant, a real strawberry and real blueberries and a dollop of frosting for whip cream.  Oh!  And the "maple syrup" was dark corn syrup drizzled over the top.

The craft that we chose was homemade soap-making.  I bought a few molds, some glycerin, some colors/dyes and some scents.  The girls had the best time choosing their colors and scents and it did not take very long for the soaps to set up.  The girls were able to put them in bags to take home later within an hour after pouring.

That night, I fixed a few snacks and the girls chose a movie to watch in the basement.  I didn't hear a single peep out of them after 11 pm ...

The next morning (Opening Day for hunters!), Steve headed out into the woods to hunt and I set to work preparing the big breakfast.  

Obviously pancakes were on the menu, but I also served a parfait bar, eggs, chocolate chip muffins and lots of bacon.  I even fixed virgin mimosas.  And do you know what makes mimosas even better?  Drinking them out of gold-plated bottles with gold straws!

Happy birthday to my favorite 12-year old girl!

Fall Fun

 It was unseasonably warm this week for October in MI ... a few days hit 70 degrees!  The kids were excited to get outside to play every day when they arrived home from (their half days of) school.  And, I was thrilled to be able to use one of the days to take our annual pictures for our Christmas card.

In my more "novice" years, I often found myself waiting until closer to the holiday season before I thought about and even considered taking a picture for our card.  Waiting that long, especially because I liked having 'outside pictures,' meant that I was risking the weather and (usually) grumpy kids that were anxious to 'just get the photo shoot over.'  

Now, I plan a little more in advance and this year, the timing couldn't have been better.  

This is the picture that I used for the Christmas card this year:

And in between snapping photos on the outskirts of the woods, Jimmy took time out to play.  Just look at the strength in his arms!  He is turning more and more into his (busy) brother every day.

This summer,  Steve and Jack built a platform in our backyard and secured a "zip-line" to it.  Jack jumped on and cruised into the focus of my lens as I was snapping this picture.

I can't believe how tall she is getting; or how grown-up she looks.  She'll be 12 next month and I am still trying to wrap my head around how fast the years have flown by.

I think that we have roughly 16 pumpkins in front of our house right now.  The kids love to bring a few home from the orchard every time we go and they secured a few more from a farmer that Steve works with!  At one point, one of our neighbors pulled up at the end of the driveway and jokingly asked if our pumpkin patch was open for people to purchase.  Ha!

Pumpkins, squash and gourds!  True signs of Fall.

Our neighbors had a cute little set up in their backyard and I couldn't resist grabbing a picture of the kids again on the bale of straw.

Standing next to Steve, I noticed just how tall Sophia is getting.  Both of the girls have always stayed in the 80th percentile for height ... 

Lots of leaves have fallen in the woods and the kids begged me to let them play with them.  I couldn't resist!

Yesssss!  Is is really Fall in Michigan if you don't take the time to play in and throw leaves up in the air?!

Just two sister girls.

And this boy ... his hair is SO thick.   He was really in need of a haircut (we do these all at home now) but I love how genuine his smile is.  He asked to take a picture over by the garden -- it is in the background -- since that is one of his 'happy places' right now.

He is getting so tall too.  He will be 7 1/2 next month and I feel like he is just a year or two away from being a full-fledged teenager.  Time just needs to slow down for me!

And one more picture on the zip-line!