Wednesday, December 3, 2025
Today is Hodgepodge with Joyce and Currently with Jenn!
1. What does it mean to have the ‘holiday spirit’? On a scale of 1-10 how is yours this year? (10=off the charts, 1=still looking for it)
I don’t like the idea of only having a “holiday spirit” at Christmas or the major holidays. I want to have that spirit most of the time. Life should be celebrated, and the little things are the big things – deep thoughts, but celebrate it all. Maybe I am getting away from the question, but the holiday spirit means that you have a generous heart, and you are open to all the gifts of the Christmas season that are not material or tangible. But, shouldn’t we always have a generous heart?
I feel like I am getting some holiday spirit now! I would say I am currently at a 7. I am going to take what I learned at Thanksgiving this year and apply it to my planning for Christmas.
This photo is from last year, but I am starting to wear my Christmas sweaters, clothing, headband, and earrings. That helps!
2. What’s your favorite character from a (December) holiday-themed movie, book, or TV special? Tell us why.
I like the mom from Christmas with the Kranks and think it’s such a cute movie! I am definitely putting it on my list to watch!
3. Do you like gingerbread? Are gingerbread houses part of your holiday tradition?
It’s just ok for me. I’m not a big fan. No – I find them frustrating. I am not an architect. We did them with the boys a couple of years but it was never a big tradition.
4. Much of our vocabulary is determined by where we live or where we grew up. What say you-
Since I consider myself a language person, I find this an interesting topic. My mom was born and raised in Chicago and my Dad in Southern Indiana at the far other end of the state from my hometown. My cousins in the Chicago area said some words that my sisters and I found funny. My cousins in Southern Indiana sounded normal to us.
sprinkles or jimmies? sprinkles! I had never heard “jimmies” until recently. “Jimmies” means my two besties named Jim for forever probably since 7th grade – Jim W. and Jim G. – we used to call both of them “Jimmy” but as they got older they wanted to be called “Jim”. Love these two guys so much!
lightning bugs or fireflies? lightning bugs! Yes, I did catch them in a glass jar and put Saran Wrap on top.
soda or pop? neither – what feels most natural to me is to say “soft drink”. Or, I think I have been known to call everything a Coke.
sneakers, trainers, or tennis shoes? tennis shoes – I grew up using that term. Now I say sneakers sometimes, too.
sub, hoagie, grinder, or hero? sandwich? If I say one, it’s sub but it’s followed by sandwich as in “sub sandwich”
freeway, highway, or motorway? highway
frosting or icing? frosting
sauce or gravy? sauce for anything tomato based and gravy for anything meat based
5. Share a favorite holiday memory from your childhood.
We loved Christmas Eve. We would attend church and then have neighbors and friends over to play our player piano and eat appetizers many years. We especially loved it when it snowed.
We also loved Christmas morning, of course. My mom went all out and would often stage our new gifts under the tree with something we already had – like put an old doll into a new doll stroller.
I think I was 7 or 8, Kate was 4, and Molly was 1 in this photo.
I was always the first one awake and then I would wake up Kate (the middle) and she was a big late sleeper so it was hard, and then we would wake up Molly (the youngest) and tell her she had to wake Mom and Dad since she was the cutest. I changed the clocks a couple of times, too!
6. Insert your own random thought here.
We always left our house on Christmas Day to head to my Dad’s side (all of them lived in Evansville, Indiana except for us) and then we would go directly to Chicago to my mom’s side. I think we were gone a week total, but we had so much fun and we felt like most of our gifts were new again when we got home!
Now for Currently with Jenn!
Loving
My Christmas clothes! I have two cardigans, one sweater, one sweatshirt, one long sleeved tee, and two short sleeved tees. I have earrings, a headband, and a barrette. I think that’s enough, right? I hope I can not be tempted to add more!
This sweater has Christmas trees as buttons and I wore it on Monday:
I wore this in my hair on Sunday:
Hoping
I am hoping I can plan a nice Eve, Day, trip to Tom’s parents, and a…
stay in my hometown with my sisters and their families and my family. This is the Airbnb that I booked. It’s the entire third floor of a building on Main Street. You better believe there will be a Google Doc that I will be sharing with my sisters.
Doing
finishing decor and deciding what to donate, planning to shop for gifts, shopping for gifts, and planning which Christmas markets and events to attend.
Wearing
Oops – I jumped the gun on this one!
See above! But, I am wearing Halara jeans most days or my red Matilda Jane pants along with my Christmas capsule.
Seeing
The four walls of my house! I’m missing my outdoor time, but I feel pretty sure it will get mild again before it stays cold.
When I go out I am seeing all the decor! I feel like businesses have really gotten into the spirit this year!
Look at sweet Tom under the Christmas tree!
Tom and my boys were blondies as chidren. Do you see the resemblance? I think Tom has a narrower face as a child. Tom has blue eyes (a really pretty dark navy blue) and they got my brown eyes. I would love to go back and squeeze these little guys!
Thanks for reading!
Amy
Coffee and Cocktails at the Casa 
I mostly answered last week´s questions but I did answer this week´s question about the words. I am like you on many of them except for POP!! Other than that we´re similar. I think the certain days like Christmas should stick out and be special- if every day is special than no days are special. Ideally, the Christmas spirit ethos would exist year round and the fact that it doesn´t is sad. But having one time of the year to really think about and act upon generosity and kindness is a good thing, I think. Your Christmas morning memories are such good ones! Have a great day!
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My oldest sister used to be the first one up and wake the rest of us up; I think I was often the last one they woke up? I definitely see a resemblance between your husband’s childhood photo and your boys.
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I loved reading your answers about sayings. Reading about your holiday travel as a kid makes me think of my kids. When I was kid, I lived near family, so we didn’t have to travel at all. Now, I feel like even on the years we don’t go to kc, we still always go to Louisville…& my kids always enjoy going to both places. They never ask for stay home or grumble about leaving and always have a good time when we are in Kc or Louisville, so I hope they look back on those holiday meals fondly as they get older. Love your festive clothes. I need to get out my holiday sweatshirts 🙂
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I agree with your answers and so funny you changed the clock a few times! My favorite from this post are these throwback pictures…love your red bonnet :).
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That’s so funny that you were the ring leader getting everyone up and then making Molly get your parents up! So clever!
I love seeing pictures of you as a kid – your boys look so much like you but then they look like Tom when he was a kid too!
xo,
Kellyann
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I love all of your pictures! And yes, Tom and the twins look alike. It is cold here in Virginia and I really hope we get more mild temps too before the cold stays. Have a great week!
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Thank you! Yes! Same here – I need some more fall like temps before January!
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The airbnb idea is top notch! Go for it, I am sure you will not regret it! I love that you included a throwback picture of you and your kiddos and hubby. So fun!
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Thank you! I’m excited!
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I also loved the question about the words I use based on where I live; I’m always fascinated by that kind of thing. I’d never heard of jimmies until two days ago! That Air BNB looks amazing! I’m so glad you’re doing that. You need to spend time with your sisters this year, more than any other year. I love those old pictures of your family!
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Yes! That’s funny – I thought jimmies were southern? Thank you – I agree. We also want to do just us but this one will be the whole fam.
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Look at those little guys! So cute! My girls spent every Christmas traveling, either to my family or the hubs. They loved it. They would have been horrified and disappointed if we suggested staying home and having it be ‘just us’. It was a bit of a hassle with all the driving and logistics, but my girls are both close to their aunts and uncles to this day and I think these holiday gatherings helped cement that. It’s harder with my sons in law and their work commitments but we try. We’re all going to be together the weekend before Christmas since this is an in-law year. We make it work. Have a great day!
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You are so right everything should be celebrated and yes, we should always have a generous heart!
My girls used to make gingerbread houses every year for years and they loved it, me not so much! It was messy and I am not a fan of gingerbread but I kept the tradition going just to see their excited faces.
I had to Google sprinkles or jimmies as I had no idea what they were on about. Here when my girls were little we called pyjamas jimmies or jim jams. It’s always pop here unless it’s soda water and I think because of Subway we call the long sandwiches subs.
What wonderful Christmas memories!
Oh wow! That Airbnb looks amazing! I hope you have a wonderful trip!
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You could always use more Christmas attire, their are 25 days in December to dress up. I love the hair barrette.
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Christmas Eves of past are some of my favorite holiday memories too! Love all of your festive attire!
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It’s crazy how identical your boys are to Tom as kids!
Sutton has the white blonde hair that Scott’s niece has. I don’t know if it’ll change…my hair was never light as a kid!
It’s funny: I would speak completely different from you on almost all of those prompts ha ha. When Scott and I say something sometimes (like slippy instead of slippery or pop instead of soda), I say it’s our “Pittsburgh” coming out.
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In that photo especially! That will be interesting to see. My boys weren’t as tow headed as Tom was but they were definitely blondies. Then by the end of elementary school I would say it was dark brown.
That is funny – I don’t know anyone from PIttsburgh.
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Very cute photos. It must be fun to raise twins. I would probably be overdoing the “matching outfits” angle 🙂
I concur that different dialects, accents, regional expressions are intriguing. I loooove to eavesdrop on conversations at airports, etc., trying to gauge where people are from purely depending on their speech 🙂
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Thank you! It was so fun. I almost always did two colors of the same shirt. People said it was more fun to dress girls but I had quite a bit of fun. The dog t-shirts in one of the photos were Boden and the plaid shorts were Target. I can’t believe I remember that!
Oh yes – so interesting to me! I love to eavesdrop especially when I hear an accent. Ha!
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I love all the old pictures! The boys really look like Tom with the blond hair, and I also would love to go back and give my little kids a hug! We really were similar on the words despite our different locations. I also just say “sandwich” most of the time. What a fun post today!
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Thank you! They do! I know; mine were so cuddly/snuggly and I could do no wrong. It was an interesting post – that Joyce does it again!
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Yes to all the words…I just started using sneakers because of the blog. They will always be tennis shoes though I’ve never played a game in my life. I think I have more Christmas Eve memories than Christmas Day. We were all (my dad’s side and my mom’s) in the same 20 mile vicinity which made things nice and easy. We saw my dad’s side about a week or two later when they held their big Christmas shindig. It was fun because I got to see that side of the family, the Rose aunts could cook, baby, and we got more gifts!
https://marshainthemiddle.com/
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