'Tis the Season, Part 2

This past week, I got to have some "me" time and attend two different weeknight parties, while Greg was on kid duty :) First up was Wednesday night, when I went to a Tacky Sweater/Dirty Santa/Cookie Exchange party. Oh yes, it was a lot but it was a blast. It was my first time attending a Tacky Sweater party and I was excited! Luckily, my mother (the teacher) had a Christmas sweatshirt & turtleneck (!) that she let me borrow, as well as lots of accessories - think holly hair clip, wreath earrings, etc. My look was completed with Christmas socks and tightrolled colored jeans. I got 2nd place in the costume contest but don't have a picture from that night, sorry. If you keep reading though, you may see towards the bottom :) Everyone kept saying I looked like I was 12 years old....not sure if that was b/c of the baggy sweatshirt or the way I was wearing my hair. Whatever though; I had fun!

And then Thursday night, I went to an ornament swap with my Moms Group at church. They are a great group of ladies and I'm so happy to have found them! I ended up with two really cute ornaments, and again stayed out way too late talking & eating & drinking & sitting outside by the fire pit. Good times!

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Yesterday, as a family, we attended a Christmas party at our good friends' house. The adults were supposed to wear tacky sweaters (yay!) and then the kids go to do a gift exchange. I think we were supposed to make gingerbread houses as well, and I saw the kits at Alba's house, but I think we forgot to do them :) The kids were having too much fun running around and playing to stop! 

Greg was a good sport and wore the (women's!?) sweater vest that Alba found at a thrift store. She made sure to have extras for any husbands that didn't want to participate! :) 

 Alba just got a new puppy, named Coco!! He's a golden retriever and ~8 weeks old. He is sooooo cute and Abby had a good time chasing him around. Nate, not so much.

 Here's all the kiddos, waiting for the gift exchange. Clearly, we were not going to get a picture of all of them looking/smiling, so this was my best shot:

 Ready, Set, Open!!!!

 Here we are, in all of our tacky glory :) (I took the turtleneck off shortly after this picture was taken. I had forgotten how restrictive & hot those things were!!)

 3 silly boys, all in the same class: Chandler, Anthony, Nate

 Abby was pooped from all the partying, and I found her like this on Coco's doggie bed :) Bows out and everything.

 Then I asked her if she wanted some more food and she perked up :)

We had lots of yummy grilled cheese, fruit, chili, hot chocolate/marshmallows, "Grinch Punch" for the kids, and spiked eggnog & wine for the adults. It was quite a party and one that I hope becomes a new tradition. After the party, we drove to a nearby neighborhood called Idlewood to look at all the luminaries & lights. It was beautiful, and I loved hearing all the squeals from the backseat. We even saw a few Santas dressed up and got some goodies that they were handing out. I love this town!!

And then today, between masses, my Mom's Group hosted a "Birthday Party for Jesus" where the kids made ornaments, sang songs, listened to books, and ate cupcakes. And tonight, we are headed to one.last.party at two of Greg's colleague's house. Should be fun, but like I said before, I'm a bit partied out! 

I will leave you with one last thing....a video of my sweet Abby Reece singing. Like I mentioned in the previous post, she is loving all things Christmas this year - especially the songs. I keep a "Kiddie" Christmas cd in the car, and we have listened to it maybe 100,000 times already. Click here to hear Abby sing her new favorite song, "All I Want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth." Though of course, she chose to change the lyrics a bit :)

I'm love love loving this holiday season with my sweet family, and hugging my kids just a little tighter these days thanks to all the recent tragedy in the news. I know how blessed we are, and I'm thankful every day for it!! Merry Christmas to all of our friends & family; we love you very much!