It's beginning to look a lot like...

..Christmas!!! It's here. December. Pretty much one of my favorite months of the year. Digging out all the seasonal boxes from the basement. Reminiscing with every ornament we hang. Holiday music in every room. Ugh...I just love it.

Our house is looking more and more festive each day. The Sunday after Thanksgiving is when we put up our tree(s) and the decor starts flowing throughout the house in the days that follow. Both girls love to help and it's fun to see how their eyes light up when I hand them an ornament and they say, "I remember this one!"

 I let each girl decorate a tree for their rooms and then we have two others upstairs. All four trees are decorated with ornaments they've received over the years or they've made.

 The girls had fun playing and dancing in the stockings...

 Mike decorated our pillars out front

 Mini tree in our entry. Still looking for a mini-skirt.

 Love having the house lit up each night

 Festive mantel

 What little decor I do put out always includes a Nutcracker

 And this idea was stolen from Pinterest...

 Another Pinterest idea...making use of our large collection of wine corks. My neighbor laughed saying her front door wreath screamed country flair while our screamed come drink with us. Truth.

The girls & their buddy Maggie went to visit Santa last weekend...

 Can you tell how excited they were to see him? They all got to share with Santa what they wanted for Christmas (Izzy wanted a jewelry making kit while Laney wanted a walkin' baby doll). As they exited Santa's little house, Laney immediately started crying, "But he didn't give me my baby doll!" Had to explain that Santa's elves had to go and make it now and will deliver it at Christmas. Was really sweet.

They even got to meet a real, live reindeer!

And we've been counting down the days until Christmas. Izzy says, "Christmas is the 2 and the 5." And then she follows it up with, "Disney is the 2 and the 6!" While Mike and I keep saying, "We leave for Florida on the 2 and the 1."

Let the countdown begin!

Turkey Day 2012

This year's Thanksgiving was perhaps my favorite in memory. Mike and I hosted this year and had my mom, Aunt Gail, Uncle Thomas, sister, niece and nephew all stay under our roof. My mom was the first to arrive, the Saturday before the holiday...she kept the girls home with her all week to get her special one-on-one time. Then slowly family started to trickle in via airplane and car. Of course Mike grocery shopped for weeks preceding, anticipating the full house and hungry bellies. The beer fridge was stocked and the pantry was bursting. We were ready for the holiday!

Thanksgiving morning we hosted our 'First Annual Thanksgiving Day Hops Trot 5k." Mike's idea. He and his buddies brew beer and what better way to start off the holiday than with a beer at the end of a 5k, right?! The day turned out to be beautiful (highs in the 60's) which is perfect for a 5k. I made large turkey signs for the start line, mile markers and for the turn around. My uncle was my driver as I strategically placed my signs along the Monon. The whole house was readying for the event; layering clothes, grabbing blankets, hydrating. I cooked up some buttery spiced apple cider (if you didn't try it you seriously missed out) and friends started arriving. They unpacked bikes, joggers, bloody Mary bar and food galore. To say we were all a bit giddy with excitement was an understatement.

I'm tickled to say that we had a total of 30 (!!!) participants. And I'm so glad I got the opportunity to spend time with each of these people along the course. I'd run up to chat with some then hang back to chat with others. I ran with little cyclists, was passed by mamas pushing joggers and cheered on 4 year old runners. I am positive I had a smile from ear to ear the entire 3 miles. As I was approaching the 3rd mile I passed my mom and noticed she was pushing a double jogger but my girls were not the passengers. Rather, it was Luke and Jacob (Jaime's boys). I asked mom where the girls were and she said Mike took them back home (he walked since he is still recovering from back surgery). My mom ended up with the girls because she saw Jaime flying by towards the finish and offered to take the boys from her so she could win. And win she did. Jaime took first place. I'd be remiss if I didn't mention my Uncle Thomas won as well. His age group. Jaime and Uncle Thomas had some bantering going back and forth and I loved it. Here my family and my friends were merging on the trail. Love.

Serving up some *spiked* butter spiced cider with Aunt Gail

Hugging the winner. And why yes, that is a feather I'm wearing.

After we spent a few hours visiting post-race we all cleaned up and started preparing for the big turkey dinner. Well, these two cousins partook in some tomfoolery...

 Making Grandma Bruhn's famous homemade crescent rolls. My mom has it down to a science.

 Once we got out of the kitchen it was Mike's turn to cook. The rest of us took a walk in attempt to get some family pics...

 

 Dylan, Kim & Taylor

 Aunt Gail & mom...sisters

 Kim & Kelly (or as my mom often said when we were growing up, "Kelm!")

 Wonder where I get my silly from?

 We had Jaime and her family over again for dinner. Think it's going to become tradition (at least I hope). Her boys. My girls. A pink cowboy hat. We just let them loose and they play for hours. Love having a full house and full table.

Jaime was in charge of desserts and I can't tell you how much it meant to me that she made my Nana's apple pie and pie crust from scratch. If you've never made a pie crust from scratch, it's no easy feat. She had a little coaching from my sister but Jaime did it all on her own ("I'm fluffing, I'm fluffing!"). So proud of her. My Nana would be so proud...

 The final product was perfection. Nothing short of delicious. Jaime wouldn't eat any until she had our approval that it passed the test. Love her.

 Her other dessert was a homemade strawberry cake. Let's just say I'm still eating it today. Can't stay out of it!

We did a little early Black Friday shopping (thanks for the tip Karie!), attempting WalMart at exactly 8pm. I've never gone shopping at this time and was honestly a little confused at all the turnstyle type lines and caution tap boundaries all over the store. Maps of where every deal would be and at what time. Whaaa??? I knew I wanted one thing. Plotted out where I had to go. Upon arrival two security guards/WalMart employees told me to stand in line and take a ticket. At 8pm on the dot I was handed my item and then we bee-lined it towards checkout (but we did take notice of women acting like crazy animals to get their hands on $6 fleece pajamas - no joke). I'm not kidding you when I say we were out the door at 8:05. And at that time the line to get into WM was mass chaos. Enormous. Out of control. We drove by Target for their 9pm opening and noticed the line was around the building. No thanks. Back home we went, only having been gone for 30 minutes. Anticlimactic  But I saved $60. Think that'll be all of my Black Friday / doorbusting shopping I'll ever do.

Last night we played games for several hours (my fave) and soaked in the final hours we'd all spend together.

 Uncle Thomas played the mandolin and sang a bit for us while we played. He's very talented and it was an honor to hear him in his element.

All our family has left. Laundry is beginning (although mom always kept the laundry basket empty while she was here!), dishes are being cleaned and leftovers are being eaten. The beer fridge is looking barren and the house is quiet. So what does my husband do? Invites a slew of friends over tonight for dinner. He loves being a host and entertaining...and I can't blame him: he's pretty darn good at it!

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Visitors...

Over the last 2 weeks we've had a full house of visitors...which I love. Cleaning the house, washing sheets, stocking the fridge, waiting for the car to pull up and friends to jump out. Welcome hugs, new home tours, and the first crack of a beer. Catching up, long dinners, late nights and early mornings.

Last weekend's visitors were cousin Steve and Amanda. Steve is Mike's cousin and the closest person he has to a brother. The girls adore him and we love him all the same. He and Amanda came down to attend the IU vs. Wisconsin football game on Saturday.

 And everyone knows that a true 'Sconnie comes bearing beer. Native beer. And Spotted Cow is the gold standard of Wisconsin beer.

 Friday night we stayed up way too late for as early as we had to rise on Saturday. Par for the course.

 We arrived in time to tailgate for a few hours before the game started. Amanda and I noticed the college-aged-girl trend was the following: fanny packs worn over leggings that were worn as pants. And when I say 'worn as pants' I mean that their shirts did not cover their toosh. We stopped counting in the 20's because we realized we were outnumbered. And old.

 It was a beautiful day for a football game: high 60's and sunny. Not such a beautiful day to be a Hoosier fan. But we had amazing seats (thanks to a very generous friend) in the new portion of the stadium and plenty of people watching.

 Of course a trip to Bloomington is never complete without a stop at Nick's. To play Sink the Biz and devour their famous stromboli. Check out Fozzy Bear sinkin' it up...

 I'm an old pro...

 A big thank you to Grandma Laura for watching the girls all day while we were away.

 Before leaving on Sunday we took a bike ride to the park where Steve proved he is a little kid at heart. As if there were any question.

 He's such a great uncle...and will one day be an doting father.

 The very talented Amanda made "Viking Princess" hats for the girls (pink & purple glitter!). Not sure if Mike and I like them more than the girls or not (we've both worn them already). Let's just say our new address is offering a ton of comic relief for everyone.

 And this weekend my high school girls came down for a visit. Jenny & Erin arrived late Friday night and once again we stayed up far to late. But there were stories to tell, beers to drink and laughter to be had. We all went to gymnastics together on Saturday morning then crafted the entire rest of the day. No joke. It's what we do. We sit for hours creating treasures with our hands while talking and catching up. Mike joked last week when I told him we were going to craft, "Don't you think your girlfriends are crafted-out?!" Nope. Never. How dare you say such a thing. It's part of the fun of the visit; brainstorming ideas, roaming the craft store in search of supplies, coming home to plan out our project, and then the creation...all of which is a collaborative effort.

My mom arrived late Saturday night and here everyone is Sunday morning with the big reveal...Jen & Erin made a few things for the girls:

 I've known Erin since about 3rd grade and Jenny since 7th grade. These girls mean the world to me.

Erin and Jenny have returned to Chicago but more visitors are on their way. Mom is already here, Aunt Gail & Uncle Thomas arrive on Wednesday and my sister and her kids arrive on Thursday. Let the beer keep flowing and the memories keep building!