December 2, 2016

Weekend Plans


It's December! The coziest, merriest time of the year! Our weekend plans reflect that. I plan on being lazy cozy and merry all weekend. Friday is a make pizza and watch a Christmas movie kind of night. Peyton is planning on making some yummy pizza, and I think Flynn will choose a movie. And there is a 99.99% chance it will be Frosty the Snowman. Fortunately, that one is a favorite here. I love it. But Rudolph will always be my favorite. : )

Saturday is free. Which translates to...stay in jammies and drink coffee on the sofa while watching television before getting ready for Mass in the early afternoon. Just keeping it real, my friends. : ) Saturday night we will get some take out and head home for a quiet night together. This time of year I so enjoy simply sitting and looking at the tree. Is that weird? Maybe. But...me. : )

Sunday we will organize and wrap gifts for our friends and family. We enjoy doing it together, and have a pretty good system going. I am the organizer...Steve is the wrapper...Flynn secures the bows and ribbons...Peyton writes out the tags...and Rhett organizes them in piles...to give, to deliver, and to send. After that, and an afternoon nap...dinner will be lasagna and garlic toast. Then our Sunday night fix...The Holiday Baking Championship. Followed of course by The Walking Dead. Which hopefully will be better than last week.

Here is a quick look at the past week here in our country home...

Advent is here.
That makes me happy.

December is here as well.
And that means fun.
I countdown the days until Christmas on the chalkboard in the kitchen, and I write  one or two Christmas activities each day.
Sometimes it is a prayer intention. Other times it is a popcorn and a special movie night. Just little things to help us enjoy each and every moment of this magical season.

December 1st brings the Advent Candy calendars too.
Always a favorite in this house. : )

Suddenly, my Flynn is a kid. Does that happen to you too? One day she was small. And suddenly she was older. Here she is after setting the table all by herself for the first time. And she did it with that big smile on her face the entire time. I think with the baby, I see her as  younger than she is. Maybe. I don't know. You'd think after four kids and twenty years, I'd have this whole thing down, right? But no. Still winging it. : )

Our Daily Activities in December are all about Christmas. Fun Christmas. This week, we learned about reindeer. I read Flynn some interesting facts about them, and she wrote her favorite down before we decorated it as... you guessed it...a reindeer. We also watched the sweetest video on YouTube of a baby reindeer taking her first steps. It was adorable!

Finally, we made some fresh reindeer food to sprinkle on the lawn for Santa's Reindeer.
We mixed oatmeal, cinnamon, and a whole bunch of Christmas sprinkles and colored sugar together. Then we shook it all up. And that would be Rhett's headphones she's wearing. She likes to wear them around sometimes. Because. Fun.

All ready for Christmas Eve.
Hopefully we added enough sparkle so the reindeer can find their way!

While my youngest was making Reindeer food here at home, my oldest was doing this. Across the ocean. That is my Madison on the right, doing what she does best...making women look and feel more beautiful. She is finishing her make up academy course, and will soon be certified! I am so very proud of her for following her dreams.

I am also proud of her for continuing our Advent traditions in Denmark. Here is Nicolas opening his Advent calendar...

And here is my girl lighting the Advent candle.
When I get sad about the fact that my firstborn is grown and off on her own, I remember something two of my very dear friends told me. They told me not to be sad. But to be happy. Because I did that! I raised this amazing child to be a responsible, lovely young woman with all the skills and confidence she needs to fly off on her own. And I created a home she would want to return to as much as she can. And that helps. It really does.

In other news...the puppies in this house got their Christmas haircuts!
This is Kirby looking fresh and clean...

And here's my Mocha!
Puppies are the best.


Have a merry, cozy December weekend, my friends.
Thank you so much for visiting!


Oh. And a few years ago I did a series on 24 Things To Do Until Christmas Comes.
If you are a new reader and are interested, you can find it starting here.

Happy December!










13 comments:

  1. December is always the best! Your weekend sounds wonderful. Ours will be similar, however our oldest is on choir and has several performances and lots of gifts to wrap in between! So ready for the Christmas movies! And as for Madison, great job! 😉

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Billie Jo!

    Ahhhh . . . for some reason this post just made me a little emotional... :0)

    You have such a beautiful family, and yes, you are certainly doing something right! What beautiful faces I see everytime I open your blog. Enjoy those moments!

    It's so amazing that no matter where we are, those of us who celebrate, Christmas, all do it to honor Him. He, who gave us all. I just love your Christmas traditions, that's what matters most, and you do it very well, dear friend! I love the Christmas Season, and I love you too!

    Hugs,
    Barb

    ReplyDelete
  3. A wonderful time of year that I love as you do. My girls are all grown, married and have families of their own we used to say we loved them enough to let them go secure in the knowledge they love us enough to keep coming back. They do, keep coming back I couldn't be more proud. You have a beautiful family.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I love where your advent wreath is... so so pretty with Steve's den in the background and I know because I've been there that you can see it in the school room too... love! Oh, and sorry, Flynn is still really really little.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Oh my dear Billie Jo! You have to know you're not weird - everyone else is. Lol!! Truly though, just sitting and looking at the tree is one of my favorite past times this time of year. I think your whole weekend sounds like pure bliss.

    I love your advent wreath too. I have not been good about doing that as a parent. But I do some devotional time myself and they of course light the wreath at church at week. My Hubby was not raised in the church and some of those things become a struggle at times. He's a dreamboat in every way, but was just brought up differently than I was.

    Anyway, sorry to babble on. I will just wish you happy wrapping, cozy time, movie time and just being with your wonderful people this weekend! I'll be watching the Baking Championship too! ;)

    Blessings. xoxo

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. PS: I also LOVE following your Madison on IG and her blog. I congratulated her today for her certificate! Such a beautiful young woman and you must be so proud. You done good Sweetie. xoxo

      Delete
  6. Awe mom I love this post!!! Can't wait to come home and see all the decorations, too. Flynn is the cutest. <3

    ReplyDelete
  7. {{big smiles}}--I just want to say you did a wonderful job with the raising of your children...and I adore Madison's new hair cut. Thank you for sharing, Billie Jo.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Enjoy your weekend! My boys are camping (in the rain), and the girls are going to enjoy every single moment! :)

    ReplyDelete
  9. What a lovely, merry, cozy home and so filled with love! Everytime I read your posts, no matter what they are about, but especially around this time of year :) ... I feel so cozy. What fun times in your home are to come I'm sure this wonderful season!
    So glad Madison is following her dreams and doing so well, and I can't get over how big sweet Flynn is getting. Congrats to her on the milestone of setting her first table! The faces of your fresh-faced pups made me smile, too- they look so spiffy and cute.

    Blessings and hugs!
    & Happy December!
    Jazzmin

    ReplyDelete
  10. You are the organizer!! Love everything about this post! Ok so I know Flynn is growing fast, but I have 4 year old grandsons, how did that happen haha. The kids look healthy and happy, even the pups! (they're kids right?)

    ReplyDelete
  11. So many things to be thankful for and happy about in this post! ♥♥♥
    From Flynn to Madison and everything in between! Dreams are being made and coming true every day! : )

    ReplyDelete

Thanks so much for saying hello!

Billie Jo