Fun Times of Late

The last week has been very busy but also very fun and it's included lots of time with some of my favorite kiddos!  Here's a glimpse of some of the highlights of the last week.

On Monday, I headed out to my brother's house to watch my nephews for the evening as my brother and his wife got back late from their weekend getaway (my parents watched them over the weekend).  I hadn't had them to myself since back in June so was well overdue for some one-on-one time.  We went out for dinner at a Thai restaurant (my nephews have such well-developed palates thanks to their parents exposing them to lots of food)!

After dinner we went back to their house and played 3 different board games:  a Scooby-Doo jenga-type of game, uno attack, and Zingo.  They basically put themselves to bed and I just had to let them know when to turn their lights out so it was an easy peasy and fun babysitting gig!

On Tuesday night, my college girlfriends and their kids came over for the annual gingerbread decorating party that I host each year.  We've had this tradition going for over 6 years and it's one of my favorite nights of the year.

Anything goes as "aunt" Lisa's. I think we have a picture of Elliot getting a mouthful of frosting every year!

The kids and I with our finished houses!

Later in the week, I flew to Chicago for a holiday party and for the first time I was able to squeeze in some time with my brother and his family that live in the Chicago area.  I worked in the office on Friday and then took the train out to them.  It was very cute to see how excited they were to see me when they picked me up at the train station!

On Saturday, my sister-in-law had planned a brunch with her family and Santa showed up!  It was fun to see the kids sit on his lap and make their requests.  I was impressed by how short their lists were, though, as they mostly asked for one thing each.

I was there for less than 24 hours as I flew home on Saturday night but I am so glad I was able to see them.

I got home around 7:30 on Saturday night and then spent the rest of the weekend soaking up quality time with Phil as we barely saw each other last week thanks to my crazy schedule.  It was very nice to end the weekend on a low key note and thankfully the week to come will be much quieter!

What were the highlights of the last week for you?

It's Beginning to Look a lot Like Christmas

Ready or not, Christmas is coming!  I do love this season of the year but it seems like it really sneaks up on me each year, especially this year as December feels especially short since we were on vacation.  Couple that with the fact that it's been unseasonably warm (which I am NOT complaining about) and it just boggles my mind that Christmas is less than 10 days away.

All that said, I am doing all I can to get into the Christmas spirit.  Phil and I put my tree up the last weekend of November.  I leave the lights on non-stop.  There's nothing like coming home to the glow of a Christmas tree. 

Aside from my Eiffel Tower tree topper, there are other French-themed ornaments scattered about.  I hope to someday have a small tree exclusively decorated with French-themed ornaments.

A sparky Eiffel Tower and the word Paris (which is tough to spot in this photo) are tucked into these boughs

A blue macaron graces this part of the tree

and a different Eiffel Tower found its home on this bough.

We've attended a Christmas Party and will go to another one this week.  Phil's been a good sport about taking photos (which is not his favorite thing to do).  It always takes several attempts to get it just right, but the outtakes are my favorite, especially this one.

We did get a good one in the end, though.

And of course, now that I am back in Minneapolis, I got to resume the tradition of hosting a Gingerbread House Decorating party with my college friends and their kids.  We had some snacks (all gluten free, of course) before we got into decorating mode!

The houses turned out great!  Mine is on the far right.

And of course we had to take some "silly face" photos.  Phil would fit in with this group.

Do you feel ready for the holiday season?  Have you been to any holiday parties?

Gingerbread House Decorating Party 2012

Greetings and Happy Monday!  I hope you had a wonderful weekend*!  I had a very fun weekend that included a double date with my best friend and her husband and the Christmas Party on Saturday night.  Both nights were SO much fun!

Last week was a fun-filled week for me in general.  I had date night on Tuesday night, the Gingerbread House Decorating Party on Wednesday night, and a knitting (err, I worked on Christmas cards) google-hangout with Kyla and Becky on Thursday night!  It's been quite awhile since I packed so many fun things into one week!

The Gingerbread House Decorating Party was so much fun!  Now that my friends' kids are all a little bit older, we decided to include them this year.  They are 2, 3, and 6, and all had a total blast!  I thought I'd share some pictures from our fun night!

The completed houses - mine is on the right, Owen's is on the left, and Stella & Elliot's is in the middle.  Doesn't it look like a Santa on the middle house?  Well, it's actually a zombie Santa according to Elliot!

The night wouldn't be complete without a little frosting squirted into everyone's mouth!  I love the look on Stella's face in this photo!

Owen kept up with the big kids!  He looks a little angelic in this photo as there is a light shining right on him.

Similar to last year, Elliot practiced more planking!

Lastly, I thought I'd share a picture of my decorated tree since I haven't shared a picture yet this year.  I am really happy with how it turned out and love that, each year, I have more Paris-themed ornaments!

How was your weekend? Will you decorate/have you decorated a gingerbread house this year?

* While I had a wonderful weekend, my heart goes out to those in CT who are dealing with this horrible tragedy.  I know many will be posting about this topic, but I couldn't come up with the right words to address this tragedy...