christmas day

is christmas really over? how did this happen?! i still haven't watched elf all the way through yet!

this year the holidays are really flying by. we didn't get a white christmas, so i found it really hard to get into the christmas spirit. then one day i woke up and it was christmas eve--not sure how that happened! regardless, i had a wonderful day full of food and giggles. 

christmas eve breakfast: french toast. yum. 

we had a crazy few days getting ready for christmas day; lots of last minute baking and wrapping!

the kids decorated the gingerbread house without me...but it is pretty cute...

baking. except all the cookies were in the oven before i could snap a picture.

prezzies wrapped and ready for my family to open :)

the altar at christmas eve mass. gosh darn, i love being catholic.

christmas dinner was at my aunt's & uncle's house this year, so we had a bit of a drive, but it was definitely worth it.

parcheesi is a tradition on my mom's side of the family, so my uncle pulled out the board. i played a game with conner, my mom, and my uncle--the sibling rivalry was strong ;) we also had it's a wonderful life on in the background--it was definitely one of the moments this year that i felt peaceful and joyous. the kind of memory i treasure forever. 

see the blue pieces? that's me. i'm not very good at parcheesi. i actually got pretty close to winning towards the end, until conner caught on and everybody ganged up on me.  conner won and i ended up in last place. haha

 the adult table at christmas dinner...that blur in the back is the chef/my aunt.

notice how my plate (to the right) is about 90% cheesy potatoes...yeah.

merry christmas & God bless!

xoxo, kate

haul out the holly

i can't believe we're already half way to christmas--this is crazy! i'm totally not ready. i've got 0% of my shopping done. no christmassy foods have been made. the tree isn't decorated, aside from the lights that i slaved away on. haha. oh, and i have no idea what i'm wearing to the vigil mass.

oh, and did i mention we have *zero* snow?! it's so hard to get in the christmas spirit without snow. how do people from california do it?

even though december if flying back waaaaay too fast, and i'm kind of freaking out, and i really need it to slow down a bit, i'm still excited. this christmas, we've hit a milestone.

we got a life christmas tree! for the first time since my parents got married (which is what, like 25 years? crazy.) we were able to convince dad that a live tree will *not* explode if left unattended with the lights on.

now if only we could slap some ornaments on there. haha.

i can't wait for the holiday prep to pick up a bit!

xoxo,
kate