Merry Christmas

My gosh I loved this year's Christmas card! I've never put so much work into a card and I probably never will again. There aren't really any Christmas cards with an art deco style to them, so I edited a wedding announcement and yes, paid extra for the gold foil so it would really stand out!

I chuckled over the update- throwing every gangster reference I could think of. Brent heartily approved and it felt sooo good to finally click "approve" because man I'd spent hours and hours perfecting it. Yes I know these eventually end up in the trash and a lot of people don't even bother but it is my way of sending a little love out into the world during the holidays.

The girls patiently (or maybe impatiently) waiting as Brent finished up a breakfast which was a tater tot casserole with a choice of orange juice or eggnog with coconut whipped cream. Gita and I discovered that at Trader Joes and with 1/2 eggnog and 1/2 regular milk it is now our favorite holiday drink!

You know the kids are growing up when they walk right past the Christmas tree and presents- ha!

I loved this year's pajamas although I'm confident Liesel's somehow were switched with Gita's. I have no idea why Sydney has only one sock on but hey- they all look fabulous in this shade of blue.

"Sorority girl squat!" This year I put Liesel in charge of taping up the Christmas cards we received and she did it with such meticulous perfection I think she will need to do it every year!

The girls mentioned they would actually enjoy the Christmas pajama tradition a bit more if Brent and I joined in. Since I'd bought these right after Christmas last year when they went on sale, I am making notes for next year!

I have to laugh at myself because sometimes I forget little details and sometimes I go overboard. The girls have plenty of ornaments but I some Mickey ear photo frame ornaments and thought they would be perfect since we had just taken a trip to Disneyland. But when we actually set up the tree, everyone commented on the glut of ornaments we have. So I think I'm going to back off on those for a while!

I didn't do individual advent calendars like I did last year, still not sure how I feel about those. Somehow come Christmas Eve I don't feel like I've done enough for Brent which always escapes my notice until we are stuffing the stockings. It always feels like I've done a ton because I help each of the girls with their gifts for him and of course I've taken care of a gift for him, but I still forget the little things like his stocking stuffers! I managed to have a few, but I felt like I could have done better. 

When I landed my new job, I wanted to get a new tree, a really BIG tree, a pre-lit tree! I measured the ceiling height which was 10' so I insisted we get a 10' tree. The fat one. Because we had space, right? Oh man, that thing is HUGE! It came in 2 heavy boxes and fluffing it took me hours and when I secured the final section in place, it scraped the ceiling. Brent gave me a wry look. Oooohkay so we would not be putting a tree topper on this one! I felt like a proper idiot for not taking that into consideration. I have to say, it looked incredibly festive from the street! Once it was all set up up, that tree was on 24-7! We enjoyed it all season long, for sure.

On to gifts!

Typically I'm happy to just sit back and enjoy watching everyone else but this year there were several gifts that really got me. Brent and the girls gave me a bottle of Chloe which I've always wanted. I've mentioned to my sisters how I'm motivated by "little Danika" and how I want to make her proud. Whitney gave me this:

In case you can't tell, that's now me hugging little me. The card said Danika I know that "little Danika" is proud of you and it caught me so off guard I started crying.

The gift that elicited the biggest reaction was this ugly Christmas sweater Whitney gifted Brent!

Ha ha- can you see our old tree behind him positively dripping in ornaments?

Traditional Pringle pics!

Another lovely addition this year was having a bit more furniture meant fewer people sitting on the floor! Slowly but surely we are transitioning into a more grown-up house and I have to say, that is nice.