Looking back at December

Now that I've already covered my 2017 goals it seems a little redundant and dated to look back at 2016 but yet, here we are doing it anyways!  December is always a fast month that ends with a lot of busyness but also one of my favorite months of the year!  I love the whole Christmas season from Thanksgiving weekend (wonderful in it's own right) through New Years and I start looking forward to it pretty much as soon as my birthday (and the majority of the summer) is over.  Even with various family events we still had a lot of time at home, both over Christmas and the month in general which was wonderful!  #homebodyforever

1) Luke "helping" Dad with some project in the garage.  Someday he'll actually be helpful but gotta teach him some skills first!
2) Very happy kid bundled up to play in the snow.  I was even happier when I realized he's big enough to play in our (fenced) backyard alone while I stayed warm and dry inside!
3) I mentioned that Luke has quite a few Star Wars Galactic Heroes and this is most of them set-up after he got a new set for finishing a sticker chart.  And this doesn't include the 4 ships he also has...
4) "Helping" me dip my truffles.  He actually was helpful handing them to me even though I couldn't dip quite as fast as he could hand!
5) Early morning frost and the sunrise on the porch!  One upside to Christmas being over is that the days will start to get longer again!
6) We got a decently big snowfall in mid-December which then stuck around for a few weeks...mostly melting right before Christmas.  It was pretty while it lasted!
7) Luke's first high school wrestling meet (and our first in almost 5 years).  He was not a fan until his cousin's match.
8) Drinking something warm and reading a book under a blanket by the tree.  I have a lot of almost identical pictures to this...
9) It was raining horribly the night before Thanksgiving when our city does the annual lighting so we missed for the first time in quite a few years.  Instead we went and walked around downtown, just the three of us, a few nights before Christmas and it was so fun!  A picture I posted to Instagram from that night was later named one of our tourism bureau's top 16 of the year which was pretty cool.
10) Luke working on a stocking kit which was later hung and filled...the three of us already had stockings so you get one guess for who this one was for.....  *
11) My Mom made ornaments for the whole extended family using picture of Grandma and Grandpa.  I hung ours on the tree and then Luke insisted on moving it front and center, right at his eye level, because he wanted to see Great Grandpa too.  It makes me so happy that Luke still remembers and talks fondly about him.
12) Working on a stocking for baby #2 which most definitely isn't an announcement of any kind, just something fun to do this month (a more completed picture here).  It's now all done besides the name and back!
13) Our first date night in waaaay too long (we saw Rogue One, naturally).
14) A post-Christmas sunset on a library walk!

15) Three of us together on New Years...I'd tell you our exciting plans but you might get super jealous...
16) We ate Chinese, watched Finding Dory with Luke, and then Matt and I built Legos that we had each received as gifts from each other.  It was highly enjoyable (that's not sarcasm...we love Legos).  (Mine, Matt's)


CHRISTMAS

1) Celebrating Christmas at the in-laws on Christmas Eve (outside of our house celebration #2).
2) Christmas morning...we don't do Santa and I don't want to hide presents (I honestly don't know where I'd put them that Luke couldn't find them besides the attic anyways) so everything is under the tree as it gets wrapped...so we had this view for many days.
3) At home on Christmas morning!  Still a treat after Matt's many years of working it early in our marriage!
4) Luke and his new Galactic Hero X-Wing.  He was very excited to open this!
5) My Dad made us a stable to go with the nativity set my Godparents gave me when I was 7ish (and I've displayed every year since).  It makes the whole thing so special!
6) Luke and his stocking on Boxing Day, our tradition.
7) Celebrating Christmas with my side on Boxing Day (outside of our house celebration #4 and our last!  Easy Christmas this year!).
8) And Luke with all his presents, the traditional picture I've been doing my whole life.  I love looking back at these!

December was busy but so fun. Also looking forward to the relative calm of January, possible blizzards aside.**

Books finished: 16 (140 for the year)
Things sewn:  14 burb cloths, 1 clutch, and 1 blanket I may blog about.  
Miles ran: 0.0.  See this.   Still shredding most mornings in the basement...I really should try something new...any DVD workout recommendations?
Currently watching: FINALLY finished The Crown and someday I will finish Hart of Dixie...maybe within a year of starting??  (Still on season 3...)
Most read post this month:  December Quick Lit, followed by Christmas at Grandma's (and then Oreo Truffles, thanks Pinterest!)
Luke's current favorite song:  Hum...Paint it Black, sometimes.  Or he's frequently been requesting Carrie Underwood's version of Do You Hear What I Hear?

January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November


*Lemur, of course.
**Craziness from suddenly getting twins would definitely be welcomed though!