farewell old traditions, hello teen Christmas years!

This year christmas break feels a little bit different. It will continue to do this, I am sure, as my kid grows up and becomes her own person. We took down the Advent calendar because she has aged out of it. We talked about not having to go sing carols. We move the elf when little kids are coming over, but even the elf is just a traditional formality.

Stockings are still hung. Presents are wrapped with bright labels and bows. There are a few things I refuse to give up yet: walking the lights at Sinnissippi gardens, a full blown pj day with movies and snacks, and baking. The rest just doesn't bring all the feels like it used to. We have already checked off all 3 of my non negotiable winter break fun activities, so we are on the right track.

Yesterday we sat in our pjs most of the day and read books, played games, made Chex Mix, and binged Netflix. I changed from pjs to jeans for a few hours so we could head out for some indoor mini putt, but then it was right back home to fresh pjs and more lazy fun. The rest was appreciated and welcomed. Since we live so close to town, a walk to DeeDee's coffee shop for cocoa is always an easy way to support local and get some fresh air. Two little kids I know got a Grinch themed cocoa with a smile in town.

Then we pulled out the games we insist on keeping, yet never play. Sometimes, the slow lazy days are the best ones. I have some fresh snowmen in my yard, a stack of games on the table for down time, and a list of baking to get to. That sounds like a good time, if I do say so myself. Breaking away from what we knew to explore the older, more mature holiday options is actually quite nice. And I have a second set of eyes, hands, and wrapping partner now.

As weird as it is to not force her to smile next to Santa or throw glitter and oatmeal in the yard for those dang reindeer, now we are content knowing she got her turn and it's time to share that love with the younger kids. We have enough Littles in our life that we are okay with it. I will take my cocoa/pj/game day any day of the week knowing it means I am with my family and we will laugh, play, and enjoy the time together. Time for newer and better traditions. It's finally time to just sit back and watch the fun unfold naturally instead of forcing smiles, forcing myself out of bed to move the dang elf, and forcing what we "have" to do instead of what we GET to do.

Bring on the games and cocoa. Bring on the pjs. Bring on the family fun days. Farewell glitter. Farewell elf. Farewell stress of trying to make it all perfect. True perfection lies in happiness and I am a very happy, very content mama.

passing down the traditions

Tis the season for traditions. The day after Thanksgiving is the day for turkey pot pie. We kept the tradition alive this year and I remembered to take a picture before we tore into it! We even used our special cookie cutters to decorate it. It was so nice to pass the tradition down to someone who loves to cook, loves to be in the kitchen, and loves to spend mommy time. 

It's not my recipe. It's good ol' Betty Crocker that I wrote down on a notecard in college. I used to spend hours in the library at NIU and discovered an entire section of cookbooks. I would look up all the foods I loved and write the recipes on notecards for when I had a real kitchen and not a dorm kitchen or a tiny apartment kitchen. I have been making this recipe since 2000. 

The pot pie is sacred! It represents my roots and comfort foods, two of my favorite things :) Watching my kid roll her own crust just made me so proud. Sure, I got excited to see her ride a bike and lose her first tooth, but rolling a crust? That's a priceless skill that brings a tear to my eye.

It was tasty. It used up some Thanksgiving leftovers. It is a fun tradition to roll down. We made a mess, but we laughed. We listened to music. We made memories and then we ATE it!

in the fall, we call it football season

Last Sunday was a great day. The NFL is back! Even though it was really nice weather, we equate Sundays with football in this house! The Bears pulled a win and we root for anyone playing against the Packers. I even stayed up to watch the entire Cowboys game and even though they lost, there was still a smile on my face knowing that my normal routine is safely back in action. 

On my Facebook memories this morning were pictures of a homecoming parade from years back and I just realized that I haven't seen or heard any local football. I see the local high schoolers practicing after school. They were out on the field a lot this summer. I just never forwarded that thought to a season. And then it occurred to me that it's Homecoming season...

These poor kids lost prom and graduation and now, apparently, Homecoming. Homecoming is the time honored tradition of rivalries and loyalties, dancing and camaraderie. As sad as I am that I lost a trip or birthday plans, I am sad more and more for our kids. I can rebook a trip or postpone a party, but you can't relive high school (and I would NEVER want to do that!). I hope that every kid is happy in their educational journey right now. I hope the schools and communities rally together and find alternatives to the traditions. When I was in high school, we painted the windows of all the local shops downtown. That won't happen this year. 

I don't know what I can do. I will think on it. I know a lot of great people who have big ideas. I do know that if we don't rally together as a community, as a whole, as a world, we are going to lose a lot more than Homecoming fun. Stay strong everyone! Stay smiling! Stay on your couch Sundays and do what we have been doing for a long time (especially if you're a Bears or a Cowboys fan), have faith in something!

creating new traditions

I am a day late, but Happy Easter! I hope everyone was able to have a quarantine Easter of good faith, family, and fun. This was a year of firsts for us in so many ways! 

We made salt dough eggs and painted those instead of coloring actual eggs. My daughter never wants to color eggs and, of course, this year she asked! The salt dough gave us hours of fun and creativity in painting. Now I will have them for years to come.  

Also, for the first time ever we watched online mass. It was fun getting all dressed up with full hair and makeup, then watching mass from our bedroom. We were able to watch Youtube clip for kids about Jesus on the cross and I felt that made a bigger impact for us than sitting and listening to a sermon.

I would say the best part of my day was being able to see my family. We have taught our family how to video chat, so using filters and being able to chat outside in the beautiful weather definitely helped make the day better!

We hid the plastic eggs outside and timed ourselves trying to find them. We had 17 eggs and 2 minutes. We each took turns hiding the eggs and my daughter just laughed and laughed. When she said that was the best part of the day, I knew we had won the Quarantine Easter battle.

Things were different, but we were together. We were clean, fed, and happy. We are all healthy. We had love, laughter, and good desserts. We had sunshine and made memories. That's really all I can ask for on any given year. 

It will never be about the baskets, the gifts, and the frills. My favorite part of Easter is the mass with the story of WHY we have Easter. The brunch afterwards is another favorite but this year we made do with a smorgasbord of food throughout the day. 

The point is, we focused on the reason for the season. We focused on family and faith and fun. This will definitely be one of my most memorable Easters yet because of that. Slowing down and focusing on us is maybe what we all need to do from time to time and if it takes a quarantine to realize that, then so be it.