I have to admit, Christmas December snuck up on me this year. I was putting our advent calendar together the last day of November, trying to put things in the first week that were "easy" to do because we seemed to be so busy, thinking (for some odd reason) things would get less busy later in the month. We have been on the go non stop it has seemed this month, which made our advent calendar a bit hard to complete this year. As I was looking back at it last week, I realized we did more than I thought we did, but still missed out on a few fun activities. Some we're still going to do; they just didn't happen before Christmas.
Get Starbucks together
Chick-Fil-A Date Night-we love Chick-Fil-A so date nights there are often!
Make our Favorite Christmas Snack-This is one of our favorite Christmas snacks. I did a lot of baking this year. Our actual favorite Christmas snack I didn't get a picture of. We take three Town House crackers, put them together with peanut butter, dip them in white chocolate, and top with red and green sugar sprinkles. They are delightful!
These yummy things are always a huge hit at Christmas parties! They are the perfect mix of sweet and salty! Click picture for the full how-to post!
Try a New Recipe- I have several on the menu for December. We've just been at so many parties and out of town so much this month I really haven't cooked much. So, this one is coming soon!
Volunteer-I had several volunteer opportunities lined up for us this holiday season trying to be intentional with this task because I feel like it's so important. Two out of three got canceled! I was so bummed. We did get to volunteer with Summit Kids for Christmas at the DPAC and that was a lot of fun!
Go see the Living Christmas Tree-Always a treat to go back to GSBC!
Drink Hot Chocolate and Watch a Christmas Movie-We watched a lot of Christmas movies this year, which is unusual for us. We love Christmas movies, but usually struggle to find time to watch one. It was ironic that we were so busy this year, but still got several of our favorites squeezed in!
Have a Date Night-Coming Soon!
Make a Gingerbread House-Coming Soon!
Go to Dinner at our my Favorite Mexican Restaurant (new favorite! El Corral)
Shop for Stocking Stuffers-I thought we might decide to get stockings for each other this year, but we opted out after all of the sweets we had this season. Our parents still spoiled us with stockings full of goodies!
Summit Staff Christmas Party-The staff party is always a blast! Not to mention we got a free Chick-Fil-A calendar as a gift! This year they had a photo booth to show our love to our sweet friends who were in another country fighting hard to bring their sweet little boy home. The father is still there fighting for him. Please join us in continuing to pray for this family!
Watch a Christmas Movie on TV-I started this before Thanksgiving with Steph watching Hallmark Christmas movies. Stephen and I also enjoyed some Christmas movies on TV that were not on the Hallmark channel.
Go to the Bahama Christmas Parade-We had intentions of going to the parade, but it was supposed to rain that day and I stayed up late the night before working on some other Christmas tasks. I decided to stay asleep in my warm bed rather than go stand out in the cold rain.
Youth Leader Christmas Party-Good times!
We also had a Christmas party with our students that was a lot of fun and included this awesome photo booth prop!
Mail out Christmas Cards-Despite the terrible customer service, we did get our cards sent out in just the nick of time.
Drive Around and Look at Christmas Lights-We didn't intentionally do this one, but we did see some cool lights around town. My favorite was a house in North Durham that has several popular, life size cartoon blow ups on their front porch! Mickey, Pooh, Frosty, and Santa...just to name a few.
Make Ornaments-Check out this post for this fun one!
Make Cookies-You may remember my major failed attempt at home made chocolate chip cookies. I went to a cookie exchange this year where it was encouraged expected that you make cookies from scratch. I found a fairly simple red velvet crinkle cookie recipe on pinterest that I thought I would try. They actually turned out really good. My only problem was I didn't buy enough red food coloring. So, I mixed some blue in and came out with a deep brownish/purple "red" velvet cookie. They still tasted great! Click picture for full recipe. If you click the picture, don't judge me based on how awesome the real ones look! I promise mine still tasted good!
Make and Take Presents to the Neighbors-I did make and take gifts to our neighbors this year, but had to just drop them off and only got to the ones in our building. We were up and out early Christmas morning so I had to leave them outside their door and we've been out of town since then so I haven't had a chance to talk to them yet. :(
Wrap Presents-Yes...all of them...thanks to Allyson!
Camp out under the Christmas Tree-I decided we might have to invest in an air mattress if this tradition continues. I felt like an old lady this year. I had extra pillows under my head and hip because the floor was so hard!
Christmas at DPAC-Awesome!
Open Presents-Always a fun time!
Merry Christmas- What's a Christmas post without a cute Christmas puppy in it?!?
No comments:
Post a Comment