Holiday Shenanigans

So we started out the Christmas season somewhat big with cutting down our Christmas tree and a holiday party, but then things sort of petered out. We went to Disney on Ice, which wasn't holiday related, but in some ways it felt like it could be. We had big intentions, but I think I got into a little funk, feeling a little overwhelmed by life, but not necessarily Christmas stuff. Just rental property, work, etc. It didn't help that Riley was miss crabby pants this past weekend. Not sure what's going on, but sure hope it passes soon (oh hey, she puked tonight - that might explain it). Also, the days have been soooo short and dark. The lack of sun has done a number on me, but at least the days are starting to get longer now. That's something, huh?

Anyhoo, the week before Riley's winter break was spirit week at her school and while it wasn't Christmas themed (super hero day, backwards day, crazy hair day, pajama day, sportswear day), I did sneak in an ugly Christmas sweater on crazy hair day. Riley was highly offended when I called it an "ugly sweater" and asked if I really thought it was an ugly sweater. Ugh, no, of course not... at least not you you little girl.

I neglected to take picture any of the other days, because MOOD, but it was a fun week for her. No surprise that she was most excited about pajama day. She is MY kid after all.

I did want to squeeze in a couple more holiday things before Christmas day so we decided to decorate a gingerbread house last week. Jesse picked up a pre-built one as he's watched the struggles in past years. Unfortunately,  the kit only came with icing and no candy so there was an extra trip to pick that up. Even so, I'm totally on board with the pre-built gingerbread house. It just made everything easier.

Towards the end of the weekend, I was determined to work in something Christmassy and while Jesse was tired, Riley seemed to be in a good mood for the moment. I had been planning to go out to a neighborhood my dad took us to last year, but I found 4 houses in Plymouth that had lights synced to Christmas music so we decided to check that out instead. Each house had a radio station that you could dial into and each were decorated to different degrees. The first spot spanned multiple houses on each side of the block. There weren't a lot of lights, but it was fun to see the lights all around you. We went on the the second property, which was probably our favorite, although we didn't know it at the time as we didn't spend much time at these houses. We knew the last house was the most decorated so we were looking forward to that, but we really should have given these first houses more of a chance.

The second house

We weren't the only ones driving around and at one point we saw a party bus that even had a fireplace roaring on the TV inside it. The last house, and the one the most decorated, was also the busiest. To be able to sit in front of the house we had to get in line and listen to at least 4 songs.

Actually, this place listed a sound track on their website of multiple songs, but their system seemed to be caught on a loop so we got to listen to a funkified Joy to the World over and over and over. It was also a lot more religious themed than I'm into so you could say I was more than ready to depart after listing to the same song 4 plus times.

We have a local park that is lit up from November to March so we were going to check that out last night, but Riley was still out of sorts. Luckily, those lights are up for awhile so we can check them out at a later time.

Christmas is right around the corner so the scope of Christmas activity so far this week has been wrapping gifts. Not the most exciting Christmas season, but far better than last year when I missed Christmas altogether because I was sick. At least I can be grateful for my health (knock on wood).