Whew! Did you make it through the holidays with flying colors? Returns are done, we've had time to recover, I've taken a break from my email and the internet in general, and eaten way too many cookies, but so it goes. Here's what we've been up to the past week or so...
I took L to see Santa (again) on Christmas Eve. We stood in a very very long line, but it was actually kind of fun. There were no tears this time but there's no mistaking the look of fear in her eyes.
We decorated (and ate) cookies.
Hung out in pj's on Christmas Eve.
Lo ate the treats we set out for Santa and Rudolph.
Christmas morning – just us three. Gifts, stockings, hot chocolate.
Smiles...
...concentration...
...and abc's courtesy of Paul Frank.
All of my favorite gifts this year were paper. Listography, a ticket stub diary (for all my concert tickets - hooray!), Angela Adams' box of labels and my new favorite journaling-prompt book, the True and the Questions by Sabrina Ward Harrison. Which is so amazing that I can't stop paging through it. (Totally forgot to include my new copy of Handmade Nation in this photo! duh!)
Off to grandma and grandpa's for fun with aunts and uncles and cousins.
Five cousin pile-up. (A sad attempt to get one picture of all the kids.)
On to Aunt Mel's to see great grandma and the rest of the family. And eat yummy desserts.
And to sing silly songs (that we don't know the words to) over and over again.
Then we traveled in the fog to my dad's house in northern Iowa. And got to spend some quality time with Uncle Chris and the grandparents.
And Chris' sweet girlfriend, (Lo's favorite pal) Lisa.
Chris and Lisa and my mom followed us back to DM for yet another family gathering at our house. (I gave out nine scarves that I knitted this season – here are two of them!)
And last but not least, we had a traditional Christmas dinner at my aunt's house.
Ham, mashed potatoes, cranberries, pie and lace tablecloths. Memories I've had since I was little. The food, the family ... traditions handed down over the years, and now I get to share that with little Lo. And as my mom pointed out, now I'm the one who brings the pies.
I took L to see Santa (again) on Christmas Eve. We stood in a very very long line, but it was actually kind of fun. There were no tears this time but there's no mistaking the look of fear in her eyes.
We decorated (and ate) cookies.
Hung out in pj's on Christmas Eve.
Lo ate the treats we set out for Santa and Rudolph.
Christmas morning – just us three. Gifts, stockings, hot chocolate.
Smiles...
...concentration...
...and abc's courtesy of Paul Frank.
All of my favorite gifts this year were paper. Listography, a ticket stub diary (for all my concert tickets - hooray!), Angela Adams' box of labels and my new favorite journaling-prompt book, the True and the Questions by Sabrina Ward Harrison. Which is so amazing that I can't stop paging through it. (Totally forgot to include my new copy of Handmade Nation in this photo! duh!)
Off to grandma and grandpa's for fun with aunts and uncles and cousins.
Five cousin pile-up. (A sad attempt to get one picture of all the kids.)
On to Aunt Mel's to see great grandma and the rest of the family. And eat yummy desserts.
And to sing silly songs (that we don't know the words to) over and over again.
Then we traveled in the fog to my dad's house in northern Iowa. And got to spend some quality time with Uncle Chris and the grandparents.
And Chris' sweet girlfriend, (Lo's favorite pal) Lisa.
Chris and Lisa and my mom followed us back to DM for yet another family gathering at our house. (I gave out nine scarves that I knitted this season – here are two of them!)
And last but not least, we had a traditional Christmas dinner at my aunt's house.
Ham, mashed potatoes, cranberries, pie and lace tablecloths. Memories I've had since I was little. The food, the family ... traditions handed down over the years, and now I get to share that with little Lo. And as my mom pointed out, now I'm the one who brings the pies.