This weekend was filled with a blank calendar, cookie making, & birthday celebrations.
Tony and I decided this past weekend was going to be “Tony & Kaylee” weekend. We were going to stay in and make cookies on Friday night, clean our house Saturday, and host a double birthday celebration for my mom and sister on Sunday. It went off without a hitch.
Friday night the two of us picked a type of cookie we wanted to bake. We started this tradition last year; we set aside a night leading up to Christmas & decorate cookies together. Tony has been known to have a little ADD tendencies, (squirrel!), so sitting down and decorating cookies for two hours is a BIG DEAL. We had fun coming up with different, mostly inappropriate cookie designs, & Ace sat right underneath the table, hoping to catch a sprinkle or two. This year, we changed up the game a tad and actually BAKED cookies, instead of decorating. Tony picked gingerbread cookies with brown butter frosting & I picked dark chocolate oatmeal cookies with a sprinkle of sea salt.
Don’t worry, we also made cookies for Ace – peanut butter, banana, and honey 🙂
We had so much fun! We got a new Christmas present from Tony’s parents; a sound bar for our TV, we played Frank Sinatra Christmas songs and danced in the kitchen. Alert: Cheesy, sentimental statement coming up… But these are truly the moments that make me the happiest. Being in the moment, dancing in the kitchen with my husband & crazy puppy, makes my heart sing.
We also hosted a Mexican themed birthday dinner for my mom and my sister. Tony and I made apps, provided a taco bar, and poured sangria. My grandpa joined us for the afternoon, and it was so relaxing to chat and spend some time with him. My mom and sister grumble about their birthdays being cut short every year, since their special days are so close to Christmas. I did my best as the dinner host to make it special.
There was a big floral bouquet in my table, somewhat holiday themed, but so beautiful, I knew my mom would appreciate it. I wanted both my mom and sister to feel special, so I tried my hardest to make the day/night all about them. (Tonight, I was actually labeled the ‘diva’ of the family… but that’s a whole other story).
It was nice to have this time as a family, it doesn’t happen often.
All in all, it was a great day to kick off the week of Christmas 🙂 Tomorrow, I will be molding young minds for the day before Winter Break begins, (molding, HA, who am I kidding? I will be showing A Charlie Brown Christmas and eating chocolates most of the day.. life of a teacher during the holidays), and I am looking forward to spending more time with Tony’s family, as well as more time with my own. Off to lay in bed and watch Home Alone.. happy holidays!