bowling time!

My brother-in-law and his wife asked if we wanted to join them for bowling earlier this week and since Matt had off all week too we figured ok yes! It ended up turning into a night affair including delicious bar food too…. An old favorite that Matt and I hadn’t eaten since we lived in this neck of the woods so that was even more fun! David actually seems pretty good at bowling! Won’t even go there with the scores though…. Sensitive subject!

olsen christmas

I was determined to make this day a better day. The laser tag was put away… vanilla ice cream was available… and Dom did better, until he didn’t. But we tried! Matt’s aunt and uncle couldn’t make it was he is recovering from surgery so it was a smaller than usual Olsen Christmas. We relaxed and did gifts and ate…. Even got gifts from the Olsen’s who live in Florida. I’m sure those videos I sent were thrilling! Final Christmas celebration in the books!

christmas afternoon and evening

After far too much screen time we took the Olsen Train over to my parents’ for an afternoon of gift opening! These kids got all the things! We all did! We let the kids go first but taking turns and then the adults got to open their gifts after. And of course there is the annual kids in front of a tree picture….

christmas morning

It is always over too quickly right? I think next year we may do the whole take turns opening gifts thing because man I think it was like three minutes and done. The kids actually slept in sort of late for them on Christmas…. As in like 7. They tore right into their gifts as Matt got the coffee and the trash bag, as dads do. They all wanted suitcases which was a big part of the morning but the biggest was the Occulus. Lots of art things for Letty, Fortnite stuff for David, and toys toys toys for Dom. 

a christmas eve!

How happy I am to say this is back! I really missed this event last year…. My parents hosted their annual Christmas Eve party once more! See also I sort of don’t mind an excuse to dress up! There’s a ton of food and fun festive drinks and people pop in and out during the night…. We see friends and family and then! Then! Santa! He even visits! He arrived to a bunch of excitement and questions from the kids and then instead of reading this year the kids sang a few songs before all visiting with him… the kids and their friends will be talking about this night for so long! Thank you so much to my parents for opening up their home to everyone and being so fun and festive!

the in between…

In between doing all the big things are… all the things. Lunches out. Good sky. School festivities. Birthday celebrations. The loss of a first tooth. Sports. Facial injuries and gift giving. Pick up lines and coffee. Time with friends and crafting. I mean truly, all the things. It is the season of life, or so I am told….

festive fetter time

We do this, Toniel and I…. Find a time in a very busy month to have a night of festivity. Festive clothes. Festive activities. Etc. We made a craft, did cards for the teachers in our lives, watched Elf, had cookies and hot chocolate and popcorn. All the things! As we tend to do! It is tradition! And of course she spoiled us rotten with thoughtful presents as we not so patiently wait for summer!

annual cookie baking day

Oh always a favorite, this day! My mom’s most favorite to be sure. I’m being highly sarcastic. This day is a bit chaotic. I tried to make it less so by refusing admission to the boys and I think that did help, somewhat. But a lot of cooks in the kitchen always makes for a wild time…. But we did it! All cookies baked and decorated and ready to go for Christmas 2021!

cinderella a second time around

Most people go and see shows multiple times right? The tickets to see Cinderella with my family were purchased ages ago…. But when my friends started discussing going with our girls I couldn’t miss out! So here we were again, seeing Cinderella. A great show! And apparently we just made it because they had to cancel performances before and after this date so I consider us lucky. We had lunch beforehand and then off we went! Arriving just in time for the start of the show! Love that these ladies all love the theater!

candylane a second time around

Back we went! This time with all the family! It wasn’t nearly as crowded either which made for a whole lot of rides this time. We got there right as it opened to visit with Santa again…has Dominic been naughty or nice? He at least has the decency to hesitate… we rode quite a few rides before grabbing a quick dinner and heading home. It was a late night for us all but I’m glad we got back again!

letty’s first concert

Last week the middle school had all their concerts… and the one I cared about the most happened to have a certain daughter of mine in it. Dressed in her finest with three songs to sing, Letty was ready! My mom came with us too which was extra special. Matt got her flowers... I mean all the things. They sang a song I cannot spell (Kye Kye Kule?) , a version of Silent Night and A Few of My Favorite Things. We were just so full of pride for this girl. As any parent would be. And of course it was such a good concert and all the kids did so great! 

dominic’s birthday party

Last weekend we celebrated this guy’s birthday a little early with our family. Missing a few of course but still I’m glad for those who could get together! He chose a Fortnite theme which really left me hanging as far as ideas go…. I think we sort of pulled it off which I guess if you know Fortnite maybe you can see it and if you don’t then it’s just a colorful affair! The kids played before dinner, which of course Matt nailed, before it was gift time! Thank you all for spoiling him as always, I assure you he does not deserve it! Then there was singing and cake! And yes I did not fight that battle and let Dom change into pajamas halfway through so he could get “cozy”. Third child. 

a saturday of all the things

Last Saturday I tried to fit in all the things…. Registering David for baseball (the sport that never ends) before heading north to my friend’s ice cream and candy shop’s open house! We had to have lunch first though and we ate like kings! The kids all got milkshakes at Janelle’s shop and they picked out all the candy… for themselves…. For their teachers. And of course we had to hit up Cabelas on the way home. After a short break at home we headed out for a night of Christmas lights! A scavenger hunt and of course seeing the light show put on my the kids of a local school! I know there will be many more nights of lights to come! 

And it was in the mid sixties. Heaven in December. 

who dominic is at seven.

Being the youngest of his “triplet” cousins it sure feels as though he is already seven. Which of course, he most certainly was not. Until today that is. Time is moving at a break neck speed and I can’t quite believe my youngest is here already. Seven is a year I distinctly remember as a kid. He’s almost half way done with first grade for goodness sake! How is this a thing!?

all aboard the polar express!

This has to be done every year of course! Tickets for the kids…. The movie… hot chocolate and of course popcorn all in Christmas pajamas! Bells handed out to all! This is such a great Christmas movie and it’s even better with family and cousins!

Small nod to the matching Christmas/Disney pajama bottoms we accidentally received…. Love them!

a festive afternoon off in the city

The kids had a random half day off last week and you know me I had to fill it up with all the things! Luckily I know someone who shares my affinity for elf culture (read: doing all the things Christmas as much as one can) and so we combined efforts for this afternoon! First up was of course lunch because one needs sustenance…. Then we saw Lancaster’s tree before heading to paint Christmas ornaments at Potteryworks. Which had its fair share of drama with Dom threatening to break the ornament and kicking me in the shins…. Reminder to future Laurie don’t do ornaments! I took over his and got him a simpler one and we moved on. I am looking forward to seeing them next week after they are fired! Then we went down the street to Lancaster Cupcake. All the things in one short afternoon! 

the in between

You guys. This season of our life. It is nuts. Completely crazy. The kids and their extra-curricular activities have taken on a whole new level and I find that fact shocking. Letty has tutoring two days a week, basketball 2-3 times a week, hockey once a week, artists in action once a week…. David has coding club, gym club and basketball just started…. Dom thankfully doesn’t start with basketball token January and I am thanking all those chickens before they hatch about that. It’s just all the things. In the busiest time of the year. So we are here for it. No wonder the days fly by? So in between all of that there has been a lot of little things… and gorgeous skies….holiday craft days at school… basement renovations….because why not?

gingerbread houses with the family

Way back in the day my dear readers (if you have been around that long) we always did gingerbread houses with our neighbors even after they were no longer our neighbors. After that stopped because life is busy and all that we just did them ourselves. Us Olsen’s. But this year my mom said she would be interested in doing it together which I mean, duh. So we joined forces with my sister and made an afternoon of it! The boys rode Lena’s bus home from school and Letty walked (gasp!) and I only freaked out about that for like…. A half hour internally. All babies accounted for we started our decorating! Beth and I thought it would be best to have the houses assembled beforehand which it really was for the best but my kids thought they missed out on something. Eye roll. 

They decorated. They ate a ton of sugar. They had fun. And with cousins! Which is my favorite!

pop’s birthday and a snowflake ornament

These days are flying by and as much as I hate it I know we are getting all the things in! Double booking or triple booking whatever we are doing it. Last Sunday was my dad’s birthday which of course we got together for dinner…. And matching pajamas…. But before that and gifts and singing we had a craft courtesy of my mother, snowflake ornaments!

cinderella!

Oh the theater…. The theater…. What happened to the theater? 

We all know what happened. But we got back there! To. The. Fulton. For Cinderella, of course. Letty and I haven’t been here since Mamma Mia and we have really missed it! So this past weekend what a treat it was! All the older (ahem, relatively) ladies in the family met up with John and Sadie in our Sunday’s finest. The Fulton always does a wonderful show and this was no exception! I didn’t really recognize many songs other than Impossible but that didn’t stop the entertainment!

the first candylane visit of the year…

Repeat: who knows what the month will hold? So given the chance and even though it was cold we headed up here after David’s basketball practice to hit three main things. Santa. Reindeer. Lights. If a ride or two could happen in there then so be it. But those three were our goal. Santa moved to an outdoor location which I quite like. The kids got their photos taken from afar but this time with no masks and there was  little interaction. Way better than last year. We met up with my sister and family and mom and headed towards the reindeer! They had been there a little bit more than us so they headed home while I took the kids to see the light show. Super quick in and out but we saw what we needed to see. 

a festive thanksgiving break.

I typically go all the places on these little breaks off of school. I want to make it so fun and make memories and do all the things. This year I decided to just stay home. The kids have been pushing buttons and just generally being unappreciative so I figured why do it all? We literally had no plans other than Thanksgiving at my parents’. So we got a lot done around the house of the festive variety. Less screens. More fighting. You know, typical sibling stuff. And a lot of ibuprofen for me. 

Of course there were some things we had to do… like get David’s expander out! And a lunch beforehand. And then leaf play at Nonna’s for a bit…. Lots of cookie baking and movie watching… making snowflakes and reindeer food and ornaments. Matt got a lot of work done on a project in our basement… We got so much off our festive list this past break and I appreciate that because you just never know what things will pop up in the next few weeks am I right?!