quarantine easter ’20

Posted on April 22, 2020 by tandem in love

first easter in my life where i did not spend it with my extended family! as you saw in the previous post about our situation with covid-19…it’s been several weeks of unknown, unfamiliar territory.

let’s be clear…i am not scared. i am not upset. i’m not living in fear but i understand that what we are doing is for the greater good of our world. i’ve loved our time home and if that’s what we need to do to flatten the curve, then so be it. i’m quite content.

celebrating the rise of Christ was so good. we started the morning off with easter baskets and gifts. the girls loved their presents! they spent some time opening up their treasures and then we ran outside for the easter egg hunt!

it had rained the day before, so we figured it would be safe to have the hunt outside and it was suppose to be 55 degrees, which was a great temp for us to hold this outdoors.

after the egg hunt, we came inside to open up all the colorful eggs to see what toys or candy it held inside! after playing around a bit with their egg hunt favors, we all got dressed up for the day and watched sunday easter mass via online.

we had our easter brunch catered through foxtail in downtown downers grove and all we had to do was heat it up! while we were preparing our meal, we were also waiting for the easter bunny to arrive!

a month back, our favorite shop, waterlemon offered easter bunny visits through their site! when i saw that, i thought hell yes! how awesome would that be with us not being able to visit the bunny this year but to have the bunny come to us?! i was on it.

as we were waiting for our food to warm up, the bunny arrived! we started screaming for the girls to come upstairs! olive rushed up and ellie was perplexed. we said, ‘the eater bunny is here!” and ellie was like no thank you. she said, “i scared! i scared!” well, we didn’t care. LOL we all rushed out and left ellie behind and she had no choice but to follow us outside.

oh what a treat! the bunny was waiting with balloons and gifts and asked if olive and ellie were around! olive was SOOOO excited! she was jumping up and down, so ecstatic to see the easter rabbit and so excited the bunny knew their names. the bunny was so sweet and loving towards the girls. they exchanged a few words and ellie busted out, “where are your carrots?!” hahaha! the bunny so wisely responded with, “i ate them for breakfast!” the visit was short, sweet, and socially distance. what i loved most was that ellie has always been afraid of life sized character costumes and she totally warmed up to the bunny…we are breaking through!

wow…it was such a fun 10 minutes of our day! the neighbors all came out to catch a glimpse and the bunny visit put a smile on everyone’s face!

afterwards, we all went inside to a delicious easter brunch and relaxed on the couch, in our jammies, for the rest of the day!

check out all the pics from our easter week!

*****

B U N N Y C R A F T

[ready to paint!]

[blue…her FAVORITE color]

[my sweet girl getting so big!]

[she’s so sweet]

[full focus]

[this girl is full of funny faces…she knew i was snapping a pic and wanted to display how hard she was concentrating and working on her artwork]

[finished product]

*****
E A S T E R W E E K F U N

[ellie’s easter shelfie]

[easter bunny lunch]

[easter basket goodies]

[i love creating their baskets]

*****

B U N N Y C I N N A M O N R O L L S

[yummy cinnamon bunny rolls]

[olive’s creation]

[ellie’s creation]

[she’s like – what you looking at?! LOL]

*****

E A S T E R E G G D Y I N G

[she’s been on either a cat kick or purple hair kick]

[i was very surprised at how well ellie did with dying her eggs!]

[she’s wild and sweet]

[first batch]

[painting]

[working hard with the glue, glitter, and confetti]

[olive’s batch]

[watercolor]

*****

S A T U R D A Y M O R N I N G F U N

[i had this donut decorating kit delivered to our house!]

[they ate more than they used on the donuts]

[working so diligently on her creations]

[the girl’s works of art]

[thumbs up yummy!]

[we packed up donuts for our neighbors!]

*****

E A S T E R S U N D A Y

[easeter goodies]

[excitement]

[she loves her walk a lot unicorn]

[she was excited to get this minnie mouse phone]

[olive’s glitter chalk easter eggs]

[gummi’s]

[easter dress]

*****

E A S T E R E G G H U N T

[ready to hunt eggs! i told hc to make it easy but i didn’t expect him to just dump the eggs in the middle of the yard. LOL]

[going through her goodies]

*****

E A S T E R B U N N Y

[my sweet babes]

[here comes the easter bunny!]

[waving from afar]

*****

E A S T E R B R U N C H

[bunny cookie from foxtail]

[bb’s baby donuts! so good!]

[grapefruit mimosas]

xoxo

covid-19 hibernation

Posted on April 20, 2020 by tandem in love

well, this isn’t necessarily a fun post to write about but definitely worth documenting, as this unprecedented moment in our lives will permanently change how we will forever interact.

we had our first public cases in the u.s, in january, a few here and there. then it really started to gain traction in february…we all had heard about the virus ravaging china and of course, with us being so far away, you don’t think it will effect you. typical, right? it started in wuhan, china and soon it was spreading across the world, within a month, hitting countries like italy, iran, spain, and germany hard.

come march and it was getting serious. the cases were popping everywhere and the virus was spreading fast across the united states. washington state’s cases were multiplying and soon you could see that densely populated and urban travel areas were becoming hot zones.

governor pritzker officially closed all illinois schools starting march 17th but olive and ellie’s school closed that friday before on the 13th. we were told to socially distance ourselves. stay home if possible, don’t gather in large groups. keep 6 ft apart, person to person. then after that, with st. patrick’s day weekend upon us, pritzker was upset that too many people were out and about celebrating in large groups, bar crawls, full restaurants, etc. he then closed down all the bars and restaurants! he mandated a shelter in place starting march 21st. we were to stay home, unless you worked for an essential business. you could go to the grocery store, get gas, help care for an elderly person, or take a walk outside but he stressed how we should limit our exposure to others and remain inside our homes if possible.

well, we’ve been home now for several weeks and literally at home. i ventured out to the grocery stores, maybe twice but haven’t set foot in one in weeks. hc works for an essential business so he’s been at work everyday and he’s picked up groceries if we needed to get a supply of milk or eggs.

i started homeschooling olive the first week she was out and i was a mess. just trying to find our routine, what was right, and what worked for us. i questioned how i was going to be effective, was i suppose to keep the same routine? there was a lot of grey and no answers and with the weight of the world coming down; there were definitely some sad, hard moments. i know a lot of mamas out there were thrown for a loop with school being out. we became teachers overnight, there were those of us who were working from home and trying to homeschool. we are moms {and that’s a full time job!} who all of a sudden had to juggle a lot more with kids being home 24/7!

come the second week of us hibernating, we found our niche. we started a great ‘schedule’ and it’s completely worked for us. we or should i say i am not an early riser. never was, never will be. when i finally get up…sometimes the girls are just doing their own thing {hc will usually get them ready in the morning with breakfast} and i will get ready, start a cup of coffee {yes, i gave up starbucks…S H O C K I N G} and then i get the girls to do some e-learning {usually by 10 am}. they usually do this for an hour {sometimes they are so excited that it goes on for longer…they really love the program we use!} and then we take a snack break. after snack time, we move onto worksheets provided by the teacher. i have ellie write out her name while olive completes her worksheets. we do everything the teacher asks…so if there is a story to be read, video to be watched, game to be played, we do what’s on the teacher’s agenda. i also had and purchased some additional learning activity books for olive, so we do that too!

as a group, one of our mom friends suggested that the kids zoom together once a day to help break up our day, for the kiddos to see each other, and just feel like we are in this together! so every day, for a couple weeks. we log on at 1pm. while olive is on the call, i prepare lunch and then after the half hour call, the girls take a lunch break and ‘recess’. we then move onto more worksheets or activity books that we didn’t finish. depending on the day or we will do her ‘special’ classes, such as p.e., art {which is pretty much every day}, music, spanish, and technology!

while olive is working on her schoolwork, ellie is typically learning how to write her name, learning the alphabet, colors, or words. while olive works on her own, i will do flashcards with ellie and help her practice her writing. ellie is usually engaged 2 hours a day…which is more than what she experiences with her regular school schedule. i feel great that she is involved and will keep her interested as long as i can!

once that is all complete, we then do the hail mary or the our father together {mainly to teach ellie…olive has it down pat}, the sign of the cross, read a chapter in the bible, pray together and then call it a day!

i’m pretty happy with our routine and every day is different. i have found i’m not very montessori and prefer a more structured day/routine but, overall, it feels great to see the girls love for learning and inspiration to work.

there are days were it feels surreal and moments were it hits me like a ton of bricks that this is our new reality. at this point, imo, staying home is the only true defense we have to stop the spreading of the virus as there isn’t a vaccine, yet. i miss my parents, mom, sisters, brothers, friends, school, pretty much everything we did on the daily. but i love, love, love this time with my girls…this family time is amazing. the girls are so sweet and special and melt my heart. i am so fortunate to be blessed with this tribe i call my family.

here’s a little questionnaire i asked olive to answer!

what’s your name? olive

how old are you? 6 {and 4 months}

how old is your mom? 99

what’s your favorite color? rose gold

what’s your favorite food? toaster strudel

who’s your best friend? madison and leyah

what’s your favorite song? elsa in frozen II, into the unknown and show yourself

what do you like to watch on t.v.? ryan’s world

what’s your favorite animal? cheetah

what makes you happy? hugs and kisses

where is your favorite place? all aboard diner

what do you want to be when you grow up? an artist

who loves you the most? family…dada, kiki, ellie, ba, rimma, gramma….people i love

what does your mom do all day? clean, work on the computer, on her phone, drinks wine

where does money come from? dada! kiki only has a credit card!

where do you live? illinois

where did you come from? from inside kiki but God made me

what’s your favorite number? 9

what’s your favorite toy? bunny

where do babies come from? mommy’s tummy and God

if you could have one thing in the entire world, what would it be? my family…God’s family

what kind of car do you want? blue

why are you so cute? cause of my parents and God loves me

what does daddy do all day? lay down, never move, text, and play games

what is your favorite thing you got for christmas? ryan’s world treasure chest

[zoom fun with her classmates!]

[my goofs finding some fun with dada’s glasses]

[lots and lots of snuggle time!]

[spreading some love and hope while we stay in]

[at home shenanigans]

[their new thing is reenacting everything they watch]

[jumping off chairs and couches]

[t.v. time]

[she totally looks up to her sister]

[working hard on writing her name!]

[completing her school worksheets]

[yay to learning]

[a lot of time like this…]

[heading out to a doctor’s appointment]

[southport avenue…desolate and quiet on a sunny, warm day]

[olive said she was making an angry bear face…LOL]

[bubbles alllllll day]

[christmas pj’s, messy hair don’t care]

[finding random treasures in the yard]

[crafting galore…we’re always trying something different and fun with what we have on hand!]

[ellie saw a kids ghoul movie and became obsessed with the main character’s purple hair…there you go.]

[a lot of chalk time!]

[e learning with vids from her teacher!]

xoxo

ellie’s first haircut

Posted on March 25, 2020 by tandem in love

ellie had her first haircut! {pre-shelter in place}

at 3.8 years old…girlfriend had her first cut! olive had hers at 5 years of age but things go so much faster when you have an older sister to inspire you!

olive had been wanting to get her haircut for awhile. she likes it long and her hair grows so fast, but it was getting too long and dried at the ends that it was so hard to brush! every time i brushed her hair, it sounded like a scene out of a horror movie and someone was getting axed to death. LOL

i promised her we would go to get it cut. week after week and month after month went by but it was so low on my priority list, i kept forgetting to make an appointment. i finally put a reminder in my phone and called the shop and secured an appointment for olive. while we were talking about it, miss ellie said she wanted to get her haircut too! i asked her repeatedly because there are so many times she tells me she wants to do something but it all ends up being a farce.

we arrived for their appointments and i asked ellie if she wanted to get her haircut. she said no. typical. i coaxed her and she continued to say no. when miss keisha was ready for her, she reluctantly went. miss keisha was super reassuring and enticed ellie with shows on an iPad and ellie gingerly got into the chair.

she started smiling, seemed comfortable and ready to get her hair chopped! miss keisha asked us how much we wanted to cut off and we showed her where. she measured how much we wanted to cut lop off and it was 7 inches! miss keisha got her scissors warmed up and off went her hair! ellie was quite happy and it looked great! oh, i really loved how it looked! her hair looked so short, cute and fresh!

afterwards, olive had her haircut and she cut off seven inches too! now they both have shorter hair and they both look adorable. i do love how easy it is to maintain the shorter do! the girls love it and olive is not screaming bloody murder when i brush her hair in the morning either! hahaha!

of course, the girls didn’t leave the ‘salon’ without lollipops and a toy! no wonder they love that place so much!

[ready but not so ready for her first haircut!]

[here we go!]

[she cut off 7 inches!]

[happy with the results]

[my sweetie…super happy with her haircut experience]

*****

O L I V E’ S H A I R C U T

[she had 7″ chopped off too!]

xoxo

goldfish party

Posted on March 23, 2020 by tandem in love

we had such a fun goldfish party at the elmhurst location {pre shelter in place}! they invited all social partners with the brand in the chicagoland area in, just to celebrate – it was so sweet and thoughtful of them! the kids got to swim with a ton of creative fun floats, take pics in a photo booth, eat pizza, down rootbeer floats, color, paint, and see the goldfish mascot! they put together a serious party! i adored how much effort and thought went into it and all the details were so festive.

again, i apologize for the picture quality, as i downloaded the wrong size and had no effort to re do. LOL

ellie had no interest in swimming and olive was ready to go. she had a choice to take the swim test and pass or just choose to put on a floatation vest. olive chose to take the test. the lifeguard had her do a series of different techniques and she…….passed! now, she isn’t the strongest swimmer and if it was all deep water, she would have a vest on but she was in an area where she could stand and hc had his eyes on her at all times too. they did have three lifeguards watching all the kids, which was fantastic.

while olive swam, ellie and i spent some quality time together having fun watching her or taking pics in the photo booth. they let the kids swim for 45 minutes or so and then called them out to get ready for some grub. they served pizzas and juice and everyone was happy except ellie. she doesn’t like pizza. at. all. so i offered to pay for a bag of pirate’s booty they had in their case and they so graciously gave it to us. so sweet of them!

while olive ate pizza, she painted and i chatted with all the wonderful moms i got to meet at the event! while they were serving pizza and juice, the goldfish mascot came out and ellie just about lost it. she cannot, cannot stand human sized characters. it just freaks the shiznit outta her. i asked the goldfish mascot to stay away from her, in which it complied. LOL

i continued to socialize with the moms while our kids ate and had fun. they were then serving up root beer floats and olive was in heaven. ellie consumed one right away and olive savored hers. it was hilarious cause olive was insistent, super insistent that i try one. she would not rest until i tried the delicious root beer float. she was like, “try it kiki, try it!” “did you try it yet?!” “it’s so yummy, try it…go get one!” LOL i then asked the server to fill it with paper and just put whipped cream on top to appease olive that i was having one. i was too full and could have told her that but just relented the easy way. haha!

everyone started wrapping up and of course, we were the last ones to leave! not without snagging some extra goodies for the kids, we grabbed some paint and paper sheets and balloons and headed to our car. the girls had a great time and we had a great time too. we were so pleased at how wonderful the party had turned out!

thanks so much to goldfish swim school family and sara at 2 moms media! we hope everyone is sheltering in safely and we send visual hugs and love to everyone!

[the cutest table spread]

[me and my babes]

[olive is such a ham]

[she’s so sweet]

[seeing her in her goggles makes me laugh in a really goofy, sweet way]

[my silly girl]

[rootbeer float]

xoxo

lucky charms

Posted on March 22, 2020 by tandem in love

holidays are so much more fun with kids.

i didn’t really celebrate st. patrick’s day before kids…being irish and all. LOL i don’t drink a lot and going out to crowded bars to get hammered drunk wasn’t my gig. so, now that my kids love anything fun, crafty, or sweet…going full force with projects and activities is my jam.

also, {side note} these pics are so small. i saved them small but didn’t realize they was so tiny! ha! i am way too lazy to re-download and upload again. so, to anyone who follows along on my blog…they will be this pint size until the next batch activities! LOL

we don’t do a whole lot for st. paddy’s day. we decorate, we make a few fun treats leading up to it, and the leprechaun visits the eve before the holiday. this year, i decided to have the girls help me make lucky charm rice krispy treats…they’re easy to make and yummy!

the girls first picked out all the marshmallows in the cereal. they found this so fun! i created a challenge for them…with each bowl, could the accept the challenge of picking out every single marshmallow?? no marshmallow left behind! when they felt that they had plucked every last one, they would call me over, anxious if they were successful. they were so determined and they succeeded! i know you can buy bags of similar marshmallows but as stated, it’s not the same! we need the rainbows and unicorns!

i melted the butter and marshmallows and the girls mixed it all together. they helped push it into the pan and decorated it with marshmallows. ta da! that was it! i love making these treats…so simple and so good!

the girls loved it! everyone devoured it within days!

[helping her big sister pick out the lucky charm marshmallows…i heard that you can just buy a bag of that stuff?? but this is much more fun!]

[stirring the marshmallows in]

[the pan of goodies]

*****
S T. P A T R I C K’ S D A Y

on st. paddy’s day…we always make green pancakes with green milk! the girls love it. it’s something special they look forward to and i love seeing their faces light up when it’s time to eat!

[lucky charm green pancakes and green milk]

[nom nom nom]

xoxo

valentine’s day crafty treats

Posted on February 14, 2020 by tandem in love

we love creating unique valentine’s day cards and gifts! it’s our jam!

ok, so it was in three parts…1) they made valentines for their non school friends 2) they made valentines for their school friends and 3) olive created her own valentine’s day mailbox to bring to school to collect said valentines!

ellie is finally showing an interest in crafting! a few times before, this past year, she’s not been interested. she enjoyed accompanying olive during the journey but she would eventually lose interest within 10 minutes or so. this time around, she’s participated in everything and has worked diligently along side olive in creating her own unique crafts! oh, so proud of my girl!

olive and ellie created beautiful works of art individually and we happily sent them out to our friends with an added extra jazz on each envelope. they seriously worked so hard on each of them! i was impressed by olive and ellie’s van gogh capabilities.

next up, class valentines. i did all the prep work and the girls assembled everything, including all the bags! they did such a great job inserting the lollipops into each card too…i was surprised because it wasn’t easy! way to go girls!

finally, olive created her valentine’s day mailbox {mind you, they did NOT do all their crafting in ONE day! LOL it was over the past few weeks!}. she was so excited to create something fun. she did all the work except handling the hot glue gun. she picked all the decor, assembled, and glittered! what a pro!

enjoy the pics below…the girls worked so hard and i course, i had to post a gazillion similar pics of them, cause those faces can’t be denied! LOL

happy valentine’s day!

*****

D I Y C A R D S

[working so hard on their cards for their non school friends!]

[showing off their works of art]

[the yearly shot over olive’s shoulder]

[olive was sooooooo detailed, each card was so meticulous with artistic details]

[working so hard!]

[showing off her yellow crayon colored card…she’s just getting started!]

[her face has really changed this year. – insert crying mom face – ]

[van gogh…right?!]

[showing off her card! i ripped the washi tape but she did everything else!]

*****

S C H O O L T R E A T S

[bath bombs]

[ellie’s face…i love her!]

[they are the sweetest]

[stickers and tattoos]

[inserting the lollipops into her cards]

[ellie doing her best to insert the lollipop herself]

[the finished product!]

[she’s so proud!]

[happy valentine’s day!]

[class treats]

*****

V D A Y M A I L B O X

[creating her mailbox]

[her finished project]

xoxo

a day of chill

Posted on February 9, 2020 by tandem in love

we had a long overdue date with dana and famille. it was a cold and dreary day in chicago which called for a cozy day date with this beautiful family. we traveled north to their abode to hang out, have some lunch and catch up.

dana and scott are pregnant with their second b o y! such exciting news…we are so excited for them and can’t wait to meet him. it’s pretty amazing to think about our journey together. i met dana yearrrrssssss ago…maybe 12 or 13 years ago? we were single or kind of single and years later, as the circle of life happens, we are married to wonderful men, and have the most beautiful children. we weathered good times and really bad times and have stayed close together through life’s crazy ride!

the girls were so excited to see the toys…LOL naturally! ellie loved rosie, the dog, and they settled in quickly as hc and i were happy to be there and spend some time with these two lovely people.

the boys grabbed some strong libations while us gals caught up with each other. after some time, we decided to grab some grub from a corner eatery down the block. we gathered everyone together and took a short walk to the restaurant to grab some food to go. we debated on eating at the place as it’s not spacious and there were so many individual people on their laptops scattered throughout the place, there wasn’t a conducive spot for a large group like us. no matter…we were happy to go back to their place to eat and relax in a comfortable environment!

as we spent the afternoon at their abode, dana’s parents stopped by to drop off some things! we were so happy our paths crossed and we had a chance to say hello and hang out for a bit with the rubin’s!

after several hours of fun, we said our goodbyes and headed home to our sweet home. it was a perfect sunday spent with wonderful friends.

[little abe]

[love this family]

[the girls loved abe’s toys!]

[he’s so cute!]

[the girls goofing around at the corner eatery]

[scott and abe]

[goofy girl]

xoxo

NYE ‘19

Posted on January 26, 2020 by tandem in love

well, gosh…at the rate i posted this nye post, it might as well be 2021! i legit forgot that i had this waiting in queue. LOL!!!!!!

per usual, we always do too much. between christmas eve and new year’s day, we hosted 4 events. yes, f o u r. as gwen said, ‘b a n a n a s’.

this new year’s eve was a bit more quiet as the 5 usual suspects that typically celebrate with us, did not celebrate with us this time around but we had two new comers!!! huy and tashina stayed in town and they were able to ring in the new year with us!! such a gift to have and we were so excited to celebrate with them!

we decided to do heavy apps and drinks…i am 100% ok with that, as i love grazing. my parents came over and they were legit like, “what?…there’s no real food?” LOL so we ordered chinese food for them to eat, in which everyone else ended up eating it too! hahaha!

kim made a burrata and buffalo chicken dip, we had flaky apps, onion dip, shrimp cocktail, charcuterie board, and a few other dishes i can’t remember! we ate to our belly’s content, imbibed delicious beverages, and fire placed our way to midnight. or more so, 11 o’clock as we always ring in the new year on new york city time! but this year, we celebrated at 11 pm and everyone ended up staying until midnight {helloooo, we have kids!} and we truly rung in the new year in accurate fashion!

there were streamers and confetti everywhere…as a good new year’s party should have! now, everyone did trickle out and hc and i started to clean up. yes, we are too type a…we love to wake up to a clean house and just chillllllllll.

the next day, hc let me sleep in as i was beat down from the holiday season {i ended up having walking pneumonia, bronchitis, and a sinus infection that was formulating the whole week after christmas and did a smack down on me on new year’s day…ugh!} he did an amazing job prepping everything for us…honestly, he doesn’t get enough credit. this man works so hard to make us happy and it fills my heart with joy. he did a little extra cleaning, he started a fire in the fireplace, he got both girls ready, fed, and set for the morning and letting me sleep in was the best gift of all!

he then prepped breakfast and we enjoyed the entire day in front of the fireplace while the girls occupied themselves with toys and make believe.

it was a perfect evening and day to start 2020 with. i am so blessed and i could not have asked for a better way or people to ring in the new year. may God bless us all!

[table centerpiece]

[a little sugar sprinkles for the champagne]

[disco balls, fresh garland, and noise makers]

[ellie and uncle huy]

[favors for the kids, popper, crackers, candy, glow sticks, and streamer!]

[tashina and me]

[photo booth]

[new years day breakfast]

xoxo

true food experience

Posted on January 9, 2020 by tandem in love

we were given the opportunity to try out the brand new true food kitchen in oakbrook center! we were excited! who doesn’t want to try out a new restaurant in the area…privately?! everyone within the restaurant was personally invited and we were treated like royalty! it was so fun and a wonderful experience!

the restaurant is fueled by the philosophy of food should make you feel better! they believe that nutrition and delicious dining should go hand in hand! the dishes are creative, beautiful, and flavorful. they use whole foods, organic, and partner with amazing chefs to creative delectable dishes at each location!

we started off with a herb hummus and edamame dumplings…both soooooo savory and delicious!! i also had the prairie mary drink and my husband ordered a libation just as tasty! hc ordered the unbeetable burger and i chose the korean noodles. hc loved the burger and i thoroulgly enjoyed my glassy noodles! olive and ellie highly recommend the grass fed burger and expressed strong opinions on how yummy it was!

we had such a great time chatting it up with everyone, learning so much about the restaurant, the history, and appreciating the passion behind the food. i feel that a lot people hear ‘organic, healthy, or whole’, it’s not going to be tasty or filling but trust me, it’s amazing! every bite, every morsel had my mouth singing!

i’m a fan, my fam are fans and i so positive you will be too!

come check out the new location at oakbrook center and find out for yourself! you will not be disappointed!

happy eating my friends!

[we have fun together]

[get yur drink on]

[this babe is so extra]

[spicy bloody mary]

[this was sooooooo freakin’ yummy!]

[my girl gang]

[korean noodles with tofu]

[goofing around]

[dig in!]

xoxo

christmas ’19

Posted on January 8, 2020 by tandem in love

we did our usual…christmas eve at my parent’s house with my side of the family and christmas day at our house with hc’s side of the family.

for christmas eve, my sister kim, usually plans the main entree and we bring additional dishes. we all partake in the food and decor. we have always had christmas eve at my parent’s house our whole lives, so although we all don’t live at home, it’s only natural for us to host it there every year!

this year started very late for us as mass at st. mary’s was pushed back another hour, causing us to be a bit behind. our day flew by as we were trying to prepare for christmas day, eve, get ourselves ready, do odds and ends around the house prepping for our guests for christmas day.

i was hoping we could prep the salad i wanted to bring over before we headed to mass but we completely ran out of time. we hustled our way to church, attended a very beautiful christmas eve mass and came home to to put together the not so quick salad. ughhhhhhhh. we finally arrived at my parent’s house after 7! i believe that is the latest we have ever come over on christmas eve!!!

reagardless, the holiday spirit was in full swing. the house smelled yummy, the candles were lit, christmas music was blasting, glasses of wine were plentiful as we laughed, talked, cooked, and the kids played.

everyone was joyous and the mood was bright. as we sat down for dinner, olive helped my dad say the dinner’s prayer, and we all then tried pulling our christmas cracker with our neighbor. the trick was to make a wish and the person holding the longest end, their wish would come true!!! we all held crackers with each other and pulled and pulled. we were laughing so hard as some of us could not get our cracker to pop! LOL we were practically crying and then some of us didn’t even get the long end of the stick and we couldn’t stop laughing!

dinner was delicious and the kids could not wait to open up their gifts! per usual, we cleaned up, set up desserts and the kids started to open up their gifts. one by one, group by group, we opened up all our gifts. it was getting so darn late and ellie was becoming deliriously tired. she was not in a bad mood, grouchy, or anything of that sort but she was out of it!

i held her in my arms, like she was a little baby, and literally rocked her to sleep. her eyes rolled back and forth and i swung her and within a few minutes she was o u t. oh she was so tired. it was so cute and darling that i rocked her to sleep…i don’t think i have done that since she was a newborn!

there were so many gifts and the girls had so much fun. christmas eve was definitely a wonderful, enchanted success!

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C H R I S T M A S E V E

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christmas day started out slow and, per usual, before i knew it…the deadline was approaching and i was not ready! i still needed to finish the table settings, i didn’t get everyone’s names out on place cards, i hadn’t set the flatware, i didn’t start the charcuterie board…shoot! shoot! shoot! i always wonder, where did the time go?!! LOL there was still soooooooo much to do!!!

but in the end..it all falls into place. the guests arrived early, per hc’ s whole side of the family and the festivities began with a bang. aunt wendy put together the drinks, his cousins and aunts brought sides and different entrees and hc was putting the finishing touches on the prime rib and ham.

everyone was in good spirits and the food prep was humming along perfectly. after an hour or so of warming everything up, it was time to eat. hc had everyone gathered around before food was served and proceeded to give a little speech. this was our first christmas without his dad and it was a tough one. hc tried to continue on with his speech but i picked up, in tears, thanking everyone for coming and that it was our first christmas without papa and we felt blessed that everyone was here to celebrate together.

that was pretty much all i could spit out. there were tears shed and lots of hugs given. what a heavy but heartfelt day. we miss him so, so much and it’s not the same at all. such a big void in the day that will never be the same but we continue to share all the wonderful memories of him and that warms our hearts and keeps us going.

overall, it was a very beautiful and wonderful christmas day with our family. the food was delicious, the decor was festive, and the energy was palpable.

we deeply miss you papa.

C H R I S T M A S D A Y