Merry Merry!

So much Christmas this year! We've been busy giving and receiving and socializing nonstop since December 20th and its been both wonderful and exhausting.  As I type, presents in various states of unboxing spill out from under the tree and mingle with the general chaos of unpacking and dust that greets one upon returning from a trip.  So much joy, so much cleaning. 

Because we can't be bothered with staying home, we're heading off for two days in Pittsburgh with friends just as soon as some laundry goes through. So for now, a quick photo recap of Christmas 2019:

 Rewinding back to the weekend of December 14th for good measure...  Our annual Cookies and Caroling party.  A small group this year but that means the house stayed clean and what we lacked in number we made up for in enthusiasm of singing.

 Another day, another party. This time Sarah's annual cookie-exchange-and-Aaron's-birthday party.

 I just love these kids.

 The last week of school before break was a blur, with two concerts at the kids' schools, two holiday parties, and a gift exchange with our Community of Hope family.

Luckily we had enough cookies on hand to make it through.

 Oh and we squeezed in a return trip to Glow, this time with beer, birch rods, and people dressed up as Krampus.

 It was a hoot.

 In the midst of our busy week we also trekked out to Stan Hywet. It was a frigid night but absolutely perfect, with a snowfall from earlier in the week lingering, draped artfully over the outdoor floral arrangements, reflecting the colorful lights.

Perfection in my happy place.

 The house was beautiful, too, though the theme of "A Superhero Christmas" was not one of my all time favorites. The Lego display in the great hall was fabulous.

And I did enjoy the general mess in the breakfast room, where snowmen create just as much chaos while baking as my family does.

 Speaking of messes... one forgets how wild Christmas can be with little ones around!  Sally and I gave gifts from our table to Ellie and her kiddos, and had cookies and cocoa and sang carols.  It was very sweet if surprisingly crowded for the small group in attendance.

 December 21st-- the winter solstice and the first of our family Christmases.

 A short day but a sunny one, and full of Christmas cheer. We were all well spoiled by Gram and Vovo and between the lovely gifts, visiting relatives, and beautiful brunch, it really felt like the holiday had been accomplished.

 Also the yule log screensaver on the computer really added to the day, I think.

 A quick visit to the Solstice Steps to see our lovely lake on the shortest day...

... then home to pack like crazy for our trip to Aurora...

Breaking this post into two because there's just too much loveliness.  More to come!

Beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

(everywhere we go!)

As we race headlong through December I find my real life is at odds with my desire.  I want so much for this season of Advent to be a time of peace and contemplation-- and lots and lots of candles and singing.  I always start out with such good intentions and then I turn around and have a calendar that looks like this:

For those that do not use iphones- each dot represents an event on that date.  Most of the dots you see in December actually represent 2 or 3 events..

Apparently the peaceful waiting is going to have to wait, because we've got places to go and things to do and festive times to experience, gosh darn it.

A recap of December so far:

Starting things off with a quick visit to Winterfest..

Our little girl is still little enough to want to wait in line for a balloon animal...

Our little-big boy spent a lot of time tech-decking on obstacles around the city.

He also chowed down on some Indian food so there's that.   Full of surprises, this guy.

We spent a lot of time juggling these two clementines that Nat had in his pocket. The kids thought he was pretty much the best because of this.  I'm inclined to agree with them...

A treat at the new downtown branch of Corbo's to finish our adventure.

Then-- back home for a birthday gathering for the mama.

Thanks to the well-timed delivery of disco lights purchased for a school event, our party looked like a it was way more rocking than a small group of grown ups playing tabletop games.  It WAS a really good time, though.  I have good people in my life.

December 1:  Time to decorate!  Gram joined us for a day of relaxing and tree trimming.

Midweek:  Capstone projects at Boulevard...

... and a celebration of Nat's birthday.  We treated ourselves to Tommy's and the children were IN LOVE with their burgers.

By the end of the week... the gradual decorating process was complete.

Friday:  A visit to Mix...

... and a stop at the Uptown Winter Fest.

December 7-8th-- chock full of things to do, with my West Shore dress rehearsal and concert, and several winter festivals to choose from both days, and soccer practices and games interspersed throughout.  I'll spare you the details of our ill-fated trip to see Light Up Lakewood (I'm looking at you, poorly communicated Facebook event...) and note the highlights:

An unseasonably bright day on Saturday, that called us to the lake where we ignored our freezing fingers and gathered seaglass like it was summer.

Our first ever visit to Circlefest, where we were offered an overwhelming assortment of arts experiences at 10 different venues.  With only a few hours to spend, we decided to tour the McGaffin Carrillon.  Which was totally the best choice because we got to go up spiral stairs into the bell tower of a gothic stone cathedral.  Always one of my favorite things.

Then we took the shuttle back to Wade oval where we bought kettle corn, browsed booths of crap and stopped into the Art museum in time to hear several Heights kids perform with the Youth Chorus. 

Midweek again. We've officially discovered the best time to visit Glow at the Botanical Gardens:  One hour before they close, on a Wednesday.  We had the whole magnificent place to ourselves.  We were enamored of this year's theme, Holiday hollows.  There were gnomes and fairies everywhere and the effect was natural and festive and magical.

Also it turns out that my family still loves train tables.  Here we thought we'd put this phase behind us, got rid of all the trains and everything... and then my children spend a good 25 minutes peacefully building track and setting up neighborhoods and running the one little train back and forth...  It really doesn't take much, does it??

Great family photo taken by Jack. Not pictured:  Jack.

Weekending again:  Starting things off with our annual special ed department happy hour...

... then straight over to Boulevard for the the annual snowball dance.  Nat did a great job organizing things and the party went off without a hitch, complete with great party lights in the gym.

Ivy and Quinn spent the whole time making popcorn to sell.  My kiddos aren't really party animals, it turns out.  It's ok, there's time for that later in life...

Saturday... the parties continue.

Ivy spent the day at Fun N Stuff with a friend...

... while we polished up the house for our annual cookies and caroling party.

 A small but enthusiastic gathering of friends sang boisterous carols, played games and had a lovely time. 

 Sunday:  Youth Sunday at church (Ivy read the scripture and we got to learn the words "conceive" and "Messiah"), decorating at Ellie's apartment, and then off to the Cookie Exchange party at our friend's house.
Phew.

The next few days (DAYS!!!) before Christmas will be full of wrapping.  So. Much. Wrapping.  And schoolwork... grading and progress reports and holiday activities oh my...  And holiday concerts at two schools and dishes and laundry to fill in the spaces left between...  And, I hope, just as much joy as we've packed into December so far.