Wednesday, December 28, 2022
I have so much to tell you! I really didn’t take many photos and tried to be in the moment, though. How was your holiday? It sure has been quiet in blog land and I miss my normal morning reads.
It’s weird when you get out of school so early – December 16 – and have so much time before the holiday. But, it’s also super nice because I really wasn’t that stressed about shopping. Luckily I had all of my gifts and most of my food shopping done by Thursday. We got notice of a Winter Weather Advisory and I did run to the Kroger Wine Shop and grcoery for a few things I forgot from my pick up. In Kentucky, the wine and liquor stores have to be separate stores. But, they are right next to each other and have adjoining entrances. Stupid, right?
The store was crazy. The parking lot was crazy.
The weather was super mild Thursday – the calm before the storm – so I made sure to make a fancy coffee and relax on my patio before it turned cold.
I also made homemade chocolate chip pancakes for my kids. This is Mel Larson’s recipe and it is so good. I love my non-stick electric griddle, too. Don’t be daunted; this is so much better than a box mix. Maybe this would be a good repeat for NY Day? But, of course, I also need to order all the lucky foods!
I really enjoyed this matte navy press on nail mani this week. It is by Impress and it lasted about 7 days and I could have made it last longer, but I took it off.
Thursday afternoon I made Chex Mix. Tom’s last day of work until the new year was Thursday and he likes to have lots of snacks around!
Ok, so this was not my favorite type of snow. I like when the snow starts falling during the day and I can be all cozy watching it. This time the snow started as I was going to bed and then I woke up and it was done.
Friday the temps were so cold. We were in the negatives and the wind chill was even colder. I tried to walk with Tom and Ernie and turned around. This is Tom looking at me like I was weak. I am, Tom. I am.
I think we got 3-4 inches total. Ernie is a madman in the snow and cold. Tom walked him about 3 times a day each of the coldest days, too!
Friday was a lazy day and no one was going out. The roads were very bad. We lounged and watched tv and I made three meals a day. I was happy to do so!
Saturday I made my own “honey baked ham” with Allie Carte’s recipe. It turned out great and I will definitely do it again. My ham was only $10 at Kroger.
We had our Christmas Eve dinner with homemade macaroni and cheese, green beans, and Sister Schubert’s rolls. We opened our pajama pants and played a game. We had some laughs during the game which was so nice. We didn’t have to change any plans because it was just going to be the four of us for Eve and Day this year. We also watched Wednesday on Netflix as a family and The Glass Onion on Netflix as a family.
My skinny white pencil tree made me so happy this week. I intentionally left it bare. What do you think about me moving this to the living room for January?
Christmas morning traditions of egg casserole,
monkey bread, and this year I added…
a breakfast board.
pomegranate cranberry mimosa for me, too!
fuzzy Christmas socks are the best!
Tom and I don’t really do big gifts right now, but he got me a really thoughtful one of a cutting board for meal prep that also came with meal prep containers. It is called a Tidy Board.
Ernie loved his stocking! He got a Pupsi (Pepsi bottle), a fake wooden stick to chew on, and a giant tug rope.
Jack and Mason’s big gifts were a new classical guitar for Jack and a Steam Deck for Mason which is a gaming thing. They loved their smaller gifts, too.
Tom and I took a drive later in the afternoon and I made a hot chocolate. It was still brutally cold.
It’s cool to look at the river in the winter, too!
We had waffle fries and Hawaiian ham and swiss sliders with broccoli for dinner and watched tv together.
Monday morning we had snow flurries! We still had all the snow on the ground and some roads were still questionable, but this was the day we were celebrating with my side of the family.
We take a two lane highway to my hometown and it is so picturesque with horses and farms and horse farms. But, look how bad the roads were for about half of the drive. We were going like 30 miles an hour here.
My mom lost power for several hours but luckily it came back on just in time. Look how much snow she got!
We joked about the outfit my sweet niece arrived in (all her new Christmas garb) but she ended up being the smart one because my mom’s house felt tropical. We were all sweating except this one!
We snacked and did a white elephant for fun. We don’t do lots of gifts anymore because the three sisters wanted to reduce the consumerism for our kids and it is perfect now. My mom gives everyone lots of gifts and we give her lots of gifts.
I managed to get most of the kids in the photos. Jack and Mason are in the background somewhere here.
Tom and Molly’s husband Jason:
I started out in a red sweater, but switched to Prosecc Ho Ho Ho when I got too hot. I wasn’t mad!
We decided on Thanksgiving to do a pasta party and it turned out great. My sister Molly’s lasagna was amazing but she was tight lipped about her recipe. Hmmm…
I made baked ziti and bacon alfredo…
My mom made traditional spaghetti…
and I made a butter board with butter, goat cheese, roasted garlic, and copycat Pizza Hut breadstick topping seasoning…
We had Trader Joe’s ciabatta bread with it. I will definitely do that again!
I commissioned my talented niece Mia to draw Ernie for a gift for Tom and it was so good!
Right?
We had a really nice day and I will probably share my gifts in a different post.
Finally, on Tuesday, we loaded up for our final Christmas at Tom’s parents house about an hour and a half away.
Their dog Watson had fun with Ernie and carried his “blankey” around the whole time!
Jack did some guitar for the grandparents:
And, Mason got involved in a chess game:
And, Tom got his favorite chili dogs for the ride home. Yes, chili dogs in the car. Not recommended.
If you are still here, it’s probably because there are not many new blog posts to read today! Ha!
Amy
Coffee and Cocktails at the Casa 
That sounds like a wonderful and delicious way to celebrate Christmas! We didn’t get any snow but we did get some pretty cold temperatures… in fact I never warmed up at the Christmas eve party we went to! Even wearing a sweater my nose, hands, and feet were still chilled the whole night.
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Thank you! We got both the snow and the cold and it is very rare for us. The snow is still on the ground 7 days later which is also so rare. I hate being cold but I also hate being hot! Ha! Sometimes it’s so hard to know how to dress!
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I missed you here, so I was so glad to know you’re back. Even though the snow changed things, I am so glad you made the most of it and had a great time with your family and extended families. Your nieces are beautiful! I laughed at the one with the shorts and tank, along with your statement about your mom keeping her house in the tropical temps. My in-loves and dad and stepmom are the same and I ROAST EVERY TIME I am there. I was prepared this year and wore three quarter length sleeves to both places. My mom’s is my fav because she likes it nice and cold.
I love that Ernie loves the snow- so does little Oakley (my grand dog) and our oldest dog Crash. They’re both so frisky! Where do you buy your Impress nails? Are they stickers or actual nails? I’m intrigued. I love that matte color! I am going today for one last time, then I’m going to try doing them myself. Wish me luck! I know you know this, but Jack and Mason are SO handsome. I love how they each have their own look. My Jonah and Noah are like that. Jonah is your typical guy’s guy- he loves trucks, country music, camo and four wheelers. Noah has longer hair (super curly!!), is over 6 feet tall and drives the tiniest car ever with a bright iridescent turquoise wrap, loves music that is NOT country and his favorite thing to do is to work on cars, watch movies about cars or play video games (some about cars)! They’re night and day. I love that, though.
Enjoy your day! ā¤
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I’m back, baby! Yup, I think old people get cold so easily. I have always run hotter, though. And, now I think I am in the beginning of the M word.
I love videos of dogs in the snow. Ernie was born in January so we have always said he was a winter boy.
I haven’t had luck with stickers for nails but Impress are actual nails but they don’t feel too thick and artificial. In fact I knew they were on less than I did with dip. I get them at Target, Kroger, CVS, Walgreen’s, etc. They are everywhere. I kinda would love you to try them before you do the at home dip? What do you think? Challenge accepted?
Thank you – both are enjoying long hair and I am fine with it – they are not into tattoos and piercings and I guess I would be ok with that, but it’s just more permanent. They are beautiful to me beautiful to me because I know their personalities and their sensitive sweet souls, of course. Do your twins have a good relationship? Mine are identical but as they are older they do have their own looks. They have such a special relationship. They each think the other is the best person on Earth and it is so fun to be a witness to the fun they have together. They share pretty much all the same interests and always have.
I hope you are off this week, too!
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I too missed you! Glad to see you back with all the joys of Christmas with family. My favorite, Ernie.
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Aww, thank you Ruth! He is a cutie, isn’t he? He loves having us all home, too. hope you had a beautiful holiday!
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So glad you’re back! Seasons greetings!
I’m so jealous that you had all that time before Christmas… I’m still shell chocked! My husband said that if felt like Jesus was delivered with an emergency cesarean… (I hope you don’t mind that joke…)
For how long will you have Jack and Mason in the house? Our girls are working at Stockholm’s amusement park for a couple of days, but we will enjoy their company in the cabin for New Year’s. I wonder if it’s the last time!?
Christmas was great over here but you actually beat us with the snow!
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You know I can’t stay away for long! It was a lot of time! I love that joke! No joke is offensive to me, really. It’s a joke! J and M will be here until January 5 which works out pretty well so that I can be focused and go to bed early for my return on January 4th with students. You should have a really great time at the cabin with all 4 of you! Love that! No, it’s not the last time. They will bring partners eventually, don’t you think?
The snow stuck around for 7 days! I am so happy to be in the 50s with rain the rest of my break!
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Sounds like you had a wonderful Christmas! š The picture of Ernie your niece did is fabulous!! Happy New Year to you!! I look forward to your blog in 2023. Yours is my favorite of all the ones I read. š
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Thank you! She did a really great job. Happy New Year to you as well! You are too kind to say that. It makes my day!
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The snow is so pretty, the food looks delicious and I love the idea of keeping the white tree for January! I like having a wintry, snowy look untilall the Valentine decor comes around.
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It was pretty for a couple of days and then it just annoyed me. I didn’t drive for 5 days! The food was really good. I think I am going to do that with my tree. I am the same. I have a lot of V Day decor actually and it makes me really happy. I tend to put it up around the last week of January.
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Wow, all that snow!!! Looks like you all had some great celebrations with lots of yummy food. That drawing of Ernie is really spectacular, your niece has some major talent!
xo,
Kellyann
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And it stuck around for 7 days! Lots of good food. I did a Kroger order yesterday with all the healthy stuff! I am ready to eat more vegetables! She really does.
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I loved this post! Such a fun recap. I love the breakfast and butter boards. Yum! I have that same cutting board. Travis got it for me last year. It sure does come in handy. The drawing of Ernie is amazing! It looks like you had a great Christmas!
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Thank you so much! It was fun to put together. I still don’t really understand how to use the cutting board! Thank you – I love the drawing of Ernie. We did have a nice holiday this year.
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I usually only use it when Iām chopping a lot. The collapsible side hangs off the counter
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I am going to try to use it today. I’m making a farmer’s market skillet breakfast for myself. Love my breakfasts!
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We stayed home on Christmas day too. Highly recommend! Glad you got to see all of your family. That drawing of Ernie is perfection.
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It’s so relaxed, right? Thank you – yes, it all worked out and the weather didn’t deter us. It is a really special drawing.
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Your Christmas looks so wonderful! I’m drooling over the food!! Yum! You inspired me to buy a pack of Impress nails! I’ve got to trim my cuticles before applying them, so I will let you know how it goes! I’m such a habitual hand washer that I’m worried they might not stay on long. We shall see! š
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Thank you! I had too much good food. My body is screaming for a green vegetable now. I hope you like the nails. I did lots of dishes and my hands were constantly in the water and they lasted a week.
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