Our Five Ring Circus: The Start of the Holiday Season

Wednesday, December 6, 2017

The Start of the Holiday Season

The Lucky Few

Like most families, the excitement about the upcoming holiday season starts to kick in for us in October, but we don't consider it the true holiday season until Thanksgiving! The anticipation builds for 3 months, and no matter how much we try to slow down to enjoy each moment, it seems to go faster with each passing year. And even though it goes far too quickly for my liking, it's still my favorite time of year!


Thanksgiving was the start of all the holiday excitement, and we crammed a lot of activities into five short days. From Thanksgiving with our family to ice skating with friends to decorating our tree, we had a fun Thanksgiving Break!

Thanksgiving Day was mostly spent with my side of the family. We started the day at home by watching the Macy's parade and the dog show, like we always do, while I cooked and baked for hours. I just might have made a bit too much this year!


In the afternoon, we headed over to my sister's house to have dinner with my family.  We visited until early evening, and we all had a great time! It's always fun when a bunch of us siblings get together. It reminds me of my early childhood when holidays were absoultely chaotic and houses were filled with family. I really wish we could have just one holiday when all 8 of us can get together with our families. That hasn't happened in over 15 years! Sadly, this might be the last time most of us are together. My niece will be moving to Georgia in a few months with her family and I'm sure my sister, who always hosts Thanksgiving, will be going there for most holidays now. It's definitely a bummer!

Before going home, we headed over to Grant's Nannie's house for a visit. We took advantage of the fact that our families were together and celebrated Dylan's birthday with both sides of the family, since he turned 13 the day before! We didn't get home until late, but it was a great day spent with our family!

Family

Down syndrome blogs

Cousins

Childhood

13th Birthday

Cousins

Siblings

13th Birthday

Thanksgiving

We spent the weekend with family and friends, then on Sunday, we went to the holiday party for Pittsburgh Moms Blog.  It was an ice skating party at the nearby North Park ice rink. I have been ice skating since I could walk, but Grant and I haven't ice skated in over 15 years, and 3 of our 4 kids had never ice skated before.


Teaching 3 kids, including one who has special needs, to ice skate was an undertaking! It took about 20 minutes just to make it around the rink once, and most of it was spent laughing as our kids fell on the ice. In the end, the girls ended up loving it and wanting to go back, but Liam wasn't as enthusiastic. Let's not forget that he hates being cold, so touching ice was not something he was a fan of!

Although I spent most of my time teaching kids how to skate, I did manage to race around the rink a few times on my own.  And as always, it was so nice to see the Pittsburgh Moms Blog team!

Ice Skating

Ice skating

Ice skating

Ice skating

Ice skating

Ice skating

The following day was our last day of Thanksgiving Break. We had a quiet day at home, then gathered to decorate our Christmas Tree.


Motherhood

Christmas Tree Decorating

Christmas Tree Decorating

Christmas Traditions

Christmas Traditions

Sisters

Down syndrome

Christmas Tree Decorating

Christmas Tree Decorating

Christmas Traditions

I don't have any decorated tree or house pictures yet, because right after we finished putting the ornaments on the tree and Liam topped it with the star, a nasty illness hit half of us. I truly don't know if it was just a cold or the flu. We are starting to feel better, but it has been over a week, and we're still sick! 


Life never slowed down, but I really struggled to keep up and had to say no to a lot of stuff over the past week, including decorating and missing a few events. There are so many upcoming holiday events that we're really looking forward to, so here's hoping good health returns to our home as soon as possible!

Here we are...just 19 days away from Christmas! The elf has returned, presents are being purchased, decorations are still going up, the excitement is building, and the countdown is on! My family is happily in full Christmas mode!


The Holiday Season

How is your holiday season going so far?

11 comments:

  1. What a Thanksgiving weekend you had! And ice skating?! Oh my gosh - how fun! I'd love to take my kids, but we don't have a rink nearby. Ahh! I hope you guys start feeling better and better so that you can get out there and enjoy all the holiday fun!

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    1. Thank you! We are definitely going to go ice skating again, but I think we might leave Liam at home next time. He wasn't a fan just yet!

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  2. I love that even though you have been sick, you have still been on the go, not letting it get you down. I was SO the opposite this time. I got sick and life as we know it came to a halt. The good news is, I am almost all better already, but I feel like I lost a week of Christmas too. UGH! Sending all the healthy vibes your way.

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    1. No worries! It came to a halt last week. I was trapped at home for three days straight! But yes, it feels like I lost a week, too. I hope you're feeling better!

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  3. Ice skating is so in my plans this season!

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    1. You should definitely go! We had a lot of fun and we're planning to go again after Christmas!

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  4. Such cute pictures and it looks like the perfect way to kick off the holiday season. I am right there with ya.. presents still being purchased, I have the gift wrap but haven't wrapped anything. The elves have returned and I've already forgotten to move them once! The calendar is full of Christmas parties, birthday parties and class parties at which I need 3 of me! LOL. So yeah so far so good! :)

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  5. So much fun!! We are the same, it's not time to start celebrating the season until after Thanksgiving. I really want to take my kids ice skating this year!

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  6. So. Much. Fun! I want to take our kiddos ice skating some time!

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  7. I still can't believe that Dylan is 13! Seriously, how is that possible?!

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  8. You guys look so cute all dressed up! I can't believe Dylan is 13 and that you have a 13 year old. So crazy. love all the decorating photos!

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