December 30, 2018

Holiday Happenings

It's been so long since I've posted! The time goes by so fast over the holidays. Only two more days left of 2018--I cannot believe it.

We haven't really been up to anything super exciting, so I'll just recap a few highlights over the last week or so.

On Christmas Eve, Jerry and I took the kids to Jerry's parents' house to exchange gifts with them. Jerry's parents gave us a gift card to Lowe's (which is much appreciated, considering how much time/money I've spent there in the last four months!).

It's funny--a few days prior, my mom called my house to talk to me and Eli told her I wasn't home. She asked where I was, and he said, "Probably at Lowe's." Hahaha! When I'm not at home or driving the kids to/from school and activities, I can usually be found at Lowe's.

We went from Jerry's parents' house to Jerry's grandparents' house for his family Christmas party. Jerry was really happy to get to chat with his grandma and to see his aunts, uncles, and cousins. I love this photo of him with his grandma:


On Christmas morning, my parents, Nathan, Brian, Becky, Luke and Riley came over. When my kids were the only ones in the family, I always invited everyone over to watch them open gifts. I was so happy when Becky said they wanted to come again this year.

I always keep it super low-key (Christmas should be stress-free, in my opinion... although that's a bit of an oxymoron). I made coffee cake and my mom brought over a couple of other things for breakfast. Then we had a lazy morning watching the kids open presents.

My kids are at the ages where watching them open gifts isn't quite as exciting as it used to be, but watching Luke was SO entertaining! He'll be two years old in March, and this age is so funny. He asks what everything is and repeats words constantly. He loves to watch us do something and then try to do it himself.

We bought him a little recliner--my kids had one when they were little (although theirs didn't have a cup holder!) and they loved it.


Nathan gave Luke a little battery operated four-wheeler, and he spent some time putting that together. Luke was super interested in watching him, so I ended up digging out the gift I'd put away for his birthday and giving it to him then. It was a tool belt with a bunch of toy tools. He immediately got out the hammer and started "fixing" his four-wheeler.

Riley is obviously too young to enjoy opening gifts, but she was super smiley. She and Luke wore matching pajamas--so cute. Riley has this smile that is SO big and contagious--and it's much easier to make her smile than it was to get Luke to smile at that age! Of course, I can never manage to get a picture of it, but Becky gets great ones, like this:


My kids were probably just humoring me when I asked what their favorite gift was, but each of them said it was the shirt I designed for them. (I love to design shirts and then get them printed at a local shop--I can buy shirts for cheap at the craft store and then get the design printed for $4-7.) I use the word "design" loosely--it usually involves browsing through Google images for inspiration once I have an idea of what I want to do.

My family LOVES the show Psych (it went off the air several years ago, but we watch episodes on Amazon Prime), and I designed a Psych shirt for each of the kids. (A little tidbit from the show is that there is a pineapple somewhere in every episode.)

This one is Noah's:

Psych pineapple shirt

On Eli's shirt, I included part of the lyrics for the show's theme song--it's super catchy and we all sing along when watching.

Psych pineapple lyrics

Jerry and I agreed on a $15 gift limit for each other (we don't typically exchange gifts, but we wanted to do a little something for fun). For his gift, I designed a shirt with his favorite quote from National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation:

Clark Griswold quote

Since we had my family over on Christmas, and I knew we'd be having my childhood friends over on the 28th, I was really hoping to find a loveseat or small couch to finish off the living room furniture. Without it, we didn't have much seating. I'd been looking at Facebook Marketplace every day waiting for the perfect one to come along. I wanted a good quality couch that wasn't going to fall apart. And on Christmas Eve, we got one!

It was a sofa I'd seen several times while browsing, and I was interested, but one thing that bothered me was that the cushions on the back looked a little deflated. I really liked the shape of the couch, though (a crescent shaped front) and the size, so when I saw that they'd lowered the price to only $50, I inquired about it. When I asked about the fabric, they sent a picture of the label, and I saw that it was a Sherrill sofa! Sherrill is a high-quality brand, and when I learned this sofa was Sherrill, I was sold.

Jerry and Noah picked it up on Christmas Eve morning. When they were bringing it inside, I wasn't thrilled with the color--it wasn't as gray as I thought--but once they set it in the living room, it actually looked pretty perfect.

It fit where I wanted it, and when I sat on it, I announced it was the most comfortable couch I'd ever owned. And I discovered that the reason the cushions on the back didn't look very full is because they are filled with some sort of synthetic down or a down blend--SO squishy and comfortable. Everything about the couch was in fantastic shape and I couldn't stop exclaiming how comfy it was. My kids and Jerry agreed.

Sherrill sofa

I've been worried about the cats scratching up the new (used) furniture we have, so I bought them a scratcher on Amazon. They LOVE this one. They are always scratching it, but they also like to sleep on it. And the best part is, they have not touched the furniture at all. I felt stupid paying so much for a scratching pad, but it was worth every penny.


On Friday, some of my childhood friends came over. We get together every Christmas, which is a fun tradition. We all grew up on the same block and have been friends for over 30 years, so we love to reminisce about our childhood days.

It was SO much fun to see everyone. I made a list of Jeopardy-like questions about people and places from our old neighborhood, and reading those out loud prompted some memories that I'd completely forgotten about.


Jerry was off work yesterday, and I declared that I wanted a day for us to just completely veg on our super comfy sofa and watch movies all day. We hardly ever have days that we literally don't have anything going on, so it was really nice to do nothing.

Tonight, Dave and Renee and their boys are coming over. They haven't been here since we started the remodel, so I'm excited for Renee to see what I'd been working so hard on during cross country season. (I would frequently show up to practice with paint or drywall dust in my hair.)

I wish that our floor was done, because that will really make the whole thing look put together, but aside from the floor (and the island countertop, which we are hoping to do tomorrow) it looks pretty good. I'm thrilled with the way it's all turning out.

Every New Year's Eve, I write a post about my top moments of the year. I haven't even started thinking about it yet, so I'm going to start working on it now. Hopefully, I'll have it ready to post tomorrow.

I hope everyone is having a great holiday season!

8 comments:

  1. You should find a circuit machine, design and sell your own T-Shirts. I think they’re great.

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    Replies
    1. I would love a way to make my own shirts! I looked into the machine that the store uses, and it's insanely expensive. I didn't know you could do it with a Cricut machine! I'm going to look into that. Thanks!

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    2. My sister in law has been making the cutest shirts with hers. You'd have a ball with it!

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    3. https://shop.cricut.com/en_us/machines/easypress.html

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  2. Psych is one of the best shows ever! I literally laugh out loud at least once every episode.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes! It's one of the only shows that makes me literally laugh out loud.

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  3. I like the couch....and is the beard a new thing for Jerry? Dare I say he looks younger in it??? My hubby had the beard during Nov. and Christmas....it was pure grey...he just shaved it and I can't believe how much younger he looks...ha! Funny how facial hair can change a look so much.

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  4. That couch is super cute! My living room is currently part teenage boy bedroom but when that gets changed I need to buy new furniture. I like the shape of the couch.

    ReplyDelete

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