Look, I realize this is the THIRD post this week that’s basically just photos of my family doing holiday stuff. But guys, I got my Christmas cards mailed today. I also made candy cane fudge, lemon tea cookies, three kinds of hot chocolate stir spoons, sparkle cookies and a batch of sadly misshapen mouse cookies. PLUS I hosted a playdate and got the kids their flu shots. So between now and January 1 the blog is going to be 90% photos (as opposed to the rest of the year when it’s 75% photos) so I can get real life stuff done and have a magical holiday.

The Norwich Winter Parade goes almost down my street – if you look up the hill in some of these photos you can see my green house in the background – so we go every year, even in the cold and/or rain. Luckily this year it wasn’t cold, even though it was wet, so we had a pretty good time. It is a very small-town type parade with lots of super random stuff – Elsa! A giant bicycle! LOTS of fire trucks!) – but they throw candy and my kids and their friends will sit in the rain for candy all day.

On Sunday we went to Trees in the Rigging, which is a community parade and carol sing in Essex, followed by a boat light parade. It is also very small town and adorable, but in a extremely well-off, old-money, New Englandy way. Essex is beyond charming and we love to spend time there, so it was really fun. Plus the weather was great and we met some more friends and my kids absolutely loved both the singing and the waving.

My pictures are not the best – it was really dark and we were walking and no one wanted to stop to let me hold reeeeeeallly still for photo – but they’re very accurate to the experience. Plus Linc was dressed as a fox and Caroline was dressed as a reindeer, so.

It was 60 degrees the day after Thanksgiving this year, which made getting our tree much more pleasant than last year when it was 15 degrees. They also opened up the lower field of trees this year, the ones that had been growing for a looooong time now, so a) it only took 5 minutes to find a great tree and b) we accidentally bought a really really huge one.

We also managed to get a family Christmas card picture I was willing to have printed on 50+ cards to send to everyone I know. You would think that would be an easy task for an actual photographer, but the shoemaker’s children etc etc. I needed one for the family room gallery wall too, since poor Linc is sadly underrepresented. But I’m not posting the card picture until my cards go out. Luckily that will be REALLY SOON, because I took Minted up on their free addressing service and all but a handful of my cards will come addressed (I paid with my own real money but that’s an affiliate link, fyi). I can just slap a stamp on them and be done. Of course, the reason they do that is because now my address book is all typed into Minted and I’ll prooooobably use them again next year, even if they aren’t offering 20% off (which they are, right now, but not for long).

Linc REALLY loved the Christmas tree farm. I might take him back to walk around and take some pictures. If I’m feeling REALLY ambitious, I’ll take his Cozy Coupe and take a photo with a tiny tree tied on top. That would be so adorable it might be worth the effort.

Linc ran FULL SPEED towards the gator truck that collected our tree to take it back to the sales building

Best I could do. It was really sunny.

You know what, I don’t even care if Caroline isn’t looking, this is perfect.

And this is MUCH more accurate.

Almost ordered this one for the wall instead of the one where you can see all the faces.

We stayed home for Thanksgiving again this year, which it fine by me. My kids hardly eat any of the traditional Thanksgiving food so I don’t bother with most of it. I made potato bites and bacon wrapped tater tots instead of mashed potatoes, boxed stuffing and canned cranberry sauce because I love those, and 16 crescent rolls. There were no leftover rolls. I am thankful I only had to cook for my immediate family.

Linc missed the entire meal because he was napping. I would say that was super sad, but I would be lying. Trying to eat at the real dining table with a 1 year old is not the calmest experience, He woke up for pie, so it’s not like he missed the WHOLE holiday. I am thankful I have a baby who naps really well (MOST of the time).

After we ate and relaxed and watched football and ate some more, I ended up a Target in a really long but very pleasant line to get in when they opened at 6 pm. E and I decided we wanted to buy the kids a video game for Christmas and after much debating picked the Disney Infinity system. They were super on sale and I figured it didn’t hurt to try and grab one. While I was there I finished Linc’s Christmas shopping with a Little People set and a GIANT teddy bear. I cannot wait to see his face when he tackles it.  I’m thankful for everyone who worked on Thanksgiving so I could get a good deal (and I’m thankful everyone I saw that evening was in SUCH a good mood).

Also, I am thankful for wine.

Buy tater tots, wrap them in bacon, roll them in brown sugar, bake at 400 for however long it takes for the bacon to cook, eat with joy.

I’ve done bacon-wrapped, fried, Martha’s recipe and traditional. This year I covered it in a butter-soaked cheesecloth. They’re all good, but fried wins.

In case I needed to say it, that’s sparkling cider. The kids didn’t get wine.

My grandmother’s silver, my wedding china, the dining room table E built.

He’s so patient when he thinks he’ll get fed.

Football

Proper feet-up, post-Thanksgiving relaxing

I am thankful for my messy house, because it means it is full of children (repeat, repeat, repeat)

I am thankful Evan didn’t really like pie so I got to eat his piece.

My photos this week are terrible because I used my actual camera so much I kept forgetting my phone. I promise to post a whole bunch (probably way too many) of those photos as soon as I finish my client editing.

Sunday:

Lincoln really loves Caroline

Pimp my Cozy Coupe

I caught craft herpes from glitter tulle

Monday:

Outlet shopping in style

Very important iPad work

I wore this baby so much this week

Tuesday:

My face is horrible, but Linc is waving goodbye to Target, because Target is our BFF

The pre-Christmas toy purge

Ballet waiting room selfie

Wednesday:

15 Month check-up

Poor Brutus misses his kids when they’re at school

Pie maker

Thursday:

Fascinated by the parade, AS THEY SHOULD BE

I escaped my family to photograph a brand new baby

My 8 lb turkey looks so sad on that huge plate

Friday:

Christmas Tree farm selfie

Dinner selfie

Walking home in the dark selfie

Saturday:

Early Christmas present

The dudes really like the new Star Wars game

You can’t see the mess in the dark

Despite both grown ups in our house being sick at least part of the holiday weekend, we managed to get our tree, decorate, and do a large number of Christmasy-things. I have a bunch of cleaning to catch up on, since that’s always the first thing that goes when you’re not feeling great, but I’m feeling super motivated knowing I have less than 2 weeks until Caroline’s party. Fingers crossed I can get the early prep done so I have time to actually make food. It would help if I started a menu…