Busy Days Mashup!

We did SO many things in December . . . I'm not going to even attempt to put everything in chronological order :) This is a mash-up post of lots of Christmassy things we did over the course of about a week. There were other major events each of these days, that will need their own individual posts, so here's the other part of those days!

Graysen hadn't decided on what to get me for Christmas, so I asked if he could make me something! I've been saving pictures of Christmas stocking boxes for years. We have a lot of stockings, and the individual stocking holders get pretty tippy. Plus, we added two more stockings to the mantle this year, and I wanted them all to match. So, I cut the shapes out of my tree skirt--the first quilt Buck and I were given for a wedding gift from his mom--to make an additional four Christmas stockings (planning ahead a bit ;) G$ and I went on a supplies finding mission, and bumped into a very helpful sales associate at our selected home improvement store :)

My stocking box turned out really well! I spent some time stuffing it with cute things (not nearly enough, because it is BIG), and added a whole pile of wedding tulle, and a couple of Gabby's wedding centerpiece circles, too. After all the busyness of the middle of December, the past week has been significantly more calm. I split the house into "zones" and have tried to focus on one or two a day. I spent hours cleaning and rearranging things in the living room zone, which was the most fun zone to fix up. I set out candles and Brennen moved the exercise bike downstairs for me. Here's a look!

My mom sent the little stockings for the kids' Christmas--a couple were raided early for gas money and to buy gifts for friends (income flows low this time of year with no landscaping jobs :) Oh, and the tree never did drink any water, so it got a bit droopy . . . I just tied the bottom branches up with twine so we could fit the presents underneath, lol!

Wow, so much happened on this next day . . . we had a sweet memorial service for Z in the morning, and I will post about that, too. Brennen headed across the border for a football party at friend's house, and Graysen opted to spend the afternoon with Chase instead. Caelan was asked to play Elsa at the karate studio Christmas party. That was an easy, "Yes!" Get paid to play a princess? She did a great job :) She even has a few little fans from her former co-instructors (the little red heads are the twins who were in the NICU for so long three years ago, and the little one in the red dress is the director's adopted daughter. According to later Facebook posts, all these little ladies and more were talking up a storm about meeting Elsa, pretended to be Elsa, and all the things Elsa! Good job, Karate Princess :)

We should have sent Olaf with her! She could have taught him to put on eyelashes like she taught me ;) It's not every day that there is a princess in your bathroom with an excess of fake lashes. I've always been curious to try them, so Caelan showed me how. They are fun to wear, but I did not attach them well. They started falling off as I was driving to the karate center to take pics of Caelan as Elsa. I tried sticking them back on later so I could get a few pictures of myself wearing them (as Caelan said I should). The last picture is about how I needed to continue wearing them, lol, but I think walking around with my fingers in my eyes might take away from the added oomph such lashes are meant to provide. Heehee :) 

Later that evening, Caelan got us free tickets to A Christmas Story musical at another theater. We've been very artsy this month! It was a cute show (besides the swearing) and the cast kept things moving and fun. We enjoyed the night out :)

The object-erased guy who was standing right behind my head really makes my hair look wild, whee! But he wasn't part of our Christmas show, so out he goes! Alright, oh! Gabby stopped by one morning with a box full of luminaries from her wedding. I knew I wanted one and that Caelan wanted one, and we figured Grandma J would want one, too--she'd really admired them at the wedding. Impromptu, we decided it was early Christmas and presented a little pile of gifts :) Grandma J loved the luminary from Gabby, she was excited about the book of senior photos of Brennen, and she was a little shocked when she opened the bracelet she'd admired at the Festival on her last trip to town. How's that for a fun reaction to a gift?!

I feel like I normally do not do a very good job selecting gifts, so to know these would be things she liked made gift-giving more exciting :) She said she looked at bracelets several times during her recent trip to New Zealand, but couldn't find one she liked quite as much as the one she'd seen with us. Yay! I'm so glad it was a happy surprise!

Okay, I think the last little bit of Christmas cheer I have to share on this post is the employee gifts we made for Buck to hand out at work. When we were at the cabin, Caelan stamped the cork boards for me, while I attached the thank you notes. Buck and I later added a bit of candy, and he's transported them to the office. We shall see if they are as well-received as the cookies and treats and hats and candles, etc. etc. of the past :) Update: They were! It's been awhile since I wrote this!