Christmas 2024

We had a quiet Christmas this year. My mother-in-law made the trip from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada to spend eight days with us in Texas. She was very quiet throughout the week. We went out for lunch on Christmas Eve. We planned on going to The Oasis on Lake Travis. We always take pictures in front of the UFO on the path to the restaurant.

Unfortunately, the restaurant was closing when we arrived. We looked for another restaurant on the lake and ended up at the Sundancer Grill.

It was so sweet to see how attentive Boogs was with his Grandmama. He helped her out of the car and took her hand to walk over the uneven ground.

Three generations.

One of our Christmas traditions is to watch Elf on Christmas Eve. That is our favorite Christmas movie.

Christmas Morning

We always start with stockings before our traditional Breakfast Casserole.

After breakfast, we took turns opening Christmas gifts.

Boogs appreciated the great wrapping job I did on this present. Duct tape is perfectly acceptable.

My mom asked for help cleaning out her outdoor storage closet this past summer. There were lots of tools in the closet. Boogs' uncle and older cousin gathered a bunch of tools they felt were important to have in a home toolbox and put them in one of the spare toolboxes in the closet for Boogs. It was really neat to give Boogs the toolbox for Christmas. He now has tools from Poppa, his great grandfather, and great-great grandfather. Boogs was very pleased with this special gift. 

We spent the afternoon playing cards, shooting rubber chickens at a target, and watching Christmas movies.

On the 26th, my parents and my niece's family came over for a Christmas gathering. My niece's husband worked on a carpentry project with my husband while I got to hold my niece's sweet little twins.

It was nice visit. I was so glad we were able to get together. I was supposed to host Thanksgiving for the family (25 people) in November, but had to cancel because I got sick. I was glad my mom was able to meet her great grandson and great granddaughter for the first time. 

My dad was able to join us and visited for over an hour before he felt the need to go to a quieter place. 

Boogs with both of his grandmothers, Grandmama and Nonnie.

It was great day. 

The rest of December was very quiet. My friend C, who I have known since kindergarten, came in to town and we were able to get together twice before she left town. Boogs had time to go for a walk with me at a new park. 

Boogs ended up working at the grocery store on New Year's Eve until 11:30. I went to bed well before midnight but my husband stayed up to ring in the new year with Boogs.

2024 was certainly filled with many ups, downs, and changes. My dad and father-in-law both had many health problems throughout the year. Boogs graduated high school and began community college, we had an incredible family trip to Fiji and several other lovely small trips. We had stressful days and relaxing days. There was more joy than misery, more laughter than tears, and more happy days than sad. I am ready to see what 2025 has in store. Happy New Year!

Cutesy the Elf December 2024 - Last days

Cutesy was busy during his last few days with us for the 2024 holiday season. Every year, he tries to trick Boogs into believing he has brought some kind of tasty treat. This year, he brought a Kinder Joy chocolate egg. 

Boogs was very suspicious when he opened it up and looked at the chocolate egg. 

He tried to take a bite but was worried he might break a bracket off of his braces. 

He decided to cut it and see what was inside. 

Cutesy had brought him a true chocolate covered egg. It was a real boiled egg, with the shell on, covered in chocolate! It made Boogs laugh.

Cutesy pulled out the old box of perler beads and brought new Christmas templates for a fun craft.

Cutesy sweetly sat on a chair with The Polar Express book. His sign invited Boogs to sit with him. Cutesy had hidden a whoppie cushion under the chair cushion. Boogs did not fall for it.

Cutesy rummaged around in a box of junk Boogs had shoved in a corner. He found these keyboard and gunk cleaners from year's past and decided to give them again.

Cutesy left behind a new game before he returned to the North Pole.

You can see all of Cutesy's adventures on his Cutesy the Elf Pinterest board.

School Spirit

I teach at an elementary that has TONS of dress up days for the staff. The students love seeing the teachers dressed up. It adds to the fun of the holiday season. Here are some of my favorite outfits from this year.

Halloween hat day - I crocheted this hat in 2021 when I was first teaching myself how to crochet. The hat is a bit of a mess so I added flowers, spiderwebs, and a creepy skeleton for dress up day.

Book Character Dress Up Day - On Halloween, students and staff dressed up as book characters. I became the Old Lady Who Lives In A Shoe who had so many children she didn't know what to do. I put small dolls in a belt I used to use to carry water on long runs. I told my students I didn't know what to do with all my children so I carried them with me to keep them out of trouble.

The day after Halloween was pajama day at school. Of course I wore Christmas pajamas! I had my phone in my pocket playing the song I Want A Hippopotamus for Christmas and carried around a hippo that I had crochet during the summer. My students told me it was "too soon" to think about Christmas. I let them know it was ONLY 54 days away.

We had a day for students and staff to Deck Your Neck. I had to add an outfit to go with my ornament and sparkly pipe cleaner necklace. One of my students told me I looked "awesomely festive". 

We had Candy Cane day so I wore stripes on my tights, shirt, hat, and even red and white stripes of eye shadow. I carried around a candy cane all day, too. 

We had a Favorite Holiday Movie Character dress up day. I went as Mrs Claus. I even had a try of cardboard cookies with me. I told my students not to touch the cookies because they were hot out of the oven. 

Two of the 2nd grade teachers went as the robbers in the first Home Alone movie. I loved that they added feathers and an iron burn to their look. 

I crocheted a Grinch hat and wore it on Holiday Hair Don't Care day.

I made one for the art teacher, too.

For Ugly Sweater day, I wore this ugly sweater. It had bells that made a lot of noise. I pinned a crocheted elf head to the sweater and topped if off with a Christmas tree hat. Someone said my sweater looked like astro turf. Many students asked me if I was dressed as a Christmas tree. 

We had a half-day today as our last school day until Jan. 6th. It was not marked as a theme day but I still had one more ugly sweater to wear. I added a teeny tiny candy cane to decorate the bun on my head. 

I did not get pictures of the other theme days - White Out, Black Tie, Ice Ice Baby, PJs, Flannel, Elf, and Cocoa day. It was a lot of fun to see the students smiling faces. Some of the days were staff only dress up days where we did not tell the students the theme. They loved trying to guess the theme on those days. Students really enjoyed the days they could dress up too. If you haven't guessed by now, I really enjoy the dress up days. There is always a lot of laughter in the hallways and classrooms on these days.

Cutesy the Elf December 2024 - Day 14 - 19

Cutesy the Elf is doing his best to bring joy to our December mornings. Here is what he has been up to lately:

Boogs is taking film classes in college so Cutesy brought him his own clapboard.

Cutesy and Purple Minion played against each other in the Foosball Championship Tournament Game. It looks like Cutesy was beating Purple Minion 7 to 3. Not sure who finally won the came.

Cutesy took some Garfield socks out of a gift bag I had from a White Elephant gift exchange. Cutesy thought the socks were cute. Boogs did not.

Cutesy made a special snack for Boogs with a Christmas tree cake and hot chocolate with a peppermint spoon. I think Boogs ate this for breakfast.

Cutesy left a challenge for Boogs to make uncooked spaghetti noodles hold the weight of some yearbooks.

That Purple Minion likes to cause trouble. He put dynamite on top of one of Boogs' gifts under the Christmas tree. Purple Minion was holding a lighter right next to the fuse. Cutesy was sitting in blast shelter to protect himself. Boogs was able to get to the dynamite before it exploded. It turns out the dynamite tube held microwaveable Porky Poppers pork rinds not TNT. Boogs microwaved the contents of the tube and he said the puffed up pork rinds tasted pretty good. 

Cutesy was hiding way up high in a stealthy spot this morning. It took a while for Boogs to find him.

When Boogs pulled him down from his hiding spot, he saw that Cutesy had Elf mints for him. The movie Elf is Cutesy's favorite movie.

It is hard to believe there are only four more sleeps until Christmas day. Wow, this month has flown by so fast! 

You can see all of Cutesy's adventures on his Cutesy the Elf Pinterest board.