Breaks are Good for the Soul

Ahhhhhhh Thanksgiving break, which is exactly 4.5 days, is such a perfect amount of time to relax, enjoy, and get stuff done.  We had such a great time with family at my sister's house.  Food was good, kids had lots of cousins to play with, and my older nieces were so amazing at keeping the littles entertained so that Phil and I could actually sit and eat and converse like real adults.  My brother-in-law brought over his poker table and we played in family teams.  It was so fun to see my mom get into the game and win the scratch ticket at the end of the night.  There's a funny video of her winning, my Dad dancing behind her, and me blaring the song Poker Face from my phone...but some things can't be unseen so I'll spare ye!  You can get this blurry poker selfie instead:

I shopped online that night and got the majority of my shopping done.  Alleluia!  If you were thinking about the Dude Perfect Nerf Bow and Arrow set that my boys love, it's super on sale today!  I almost bought another one just because of the good price, but we don't need two huge bow and arrows, right?  Right?  Right.  Also my favorite Tiny Saints are on sale for 30% off today (no affiliation, I just love them).  That means each saint charm is only $3.50!  Can you say stocking stuffers?  I am in the process of making a couple of presents this year, and since the crafty gene was not given to me, it's been frustrating and tiring but it's the thought that counts!  I'm gonna call my imperfect creations "rustic" or "vintage" or something cool like that.  I'll definitely share once they are given to their intended recipients :)

We (by which I mean Phil and the kids) cleaned up all the leaves just in time for our town's last leaf pickup this week.  Phew!  Now we won't have to hide small amounts of leaves in trash bags mixed in with our regular garbage collection like we had to do last year.  We decorated our house for Christmas on Black Friday too.  The tree is up, the outside lights are up and all nativities are ready and waiting for the babe Jesus to arrive.  I know I'm supposed to wait until closer to Christmas, but listen, when you've got days off from work/school/sports/everything, you take advantage and get 'er done.  Plus, I love this time of year and want to enjoy the season for as long as possible.  

Speaking of Christmas, we saw The Star movie and IT WAS AWESOME!  I mean, we all know the story of the nativity of Christ, but this was so cute, told from the animals point of view, and depicted so beautifully.  I loved the Annunciation, the conversion story at the end, that Mary had freckles (twinsies!), Joseph's personality (a little grumpy and scared but so loving at the same time - I kept thinking of how Phil is totally Joseph), the friendship between two of the animals, the sacrifice of the old donkey in the beginning, and the line that even though Mary and Joseph were following God's plan doesn't mean it's going to be easy.  I cried so much!  It was beautiful.  Oh and when Jesus was born and O Holy Night was playing and everyone knelt down...waterworks.  Go see it!  I had been asked to attend a private screening but wasn't able to make it and the National Catholic Conference for Catechetical Leadership created a Catholic curriculum for the movie that I'm happy to share here.

Other than that, it's back to life as normal!  Yesterday I had chicken a la king planned for dinner, and realized it was Christ the King....so Chicken a la Christ the King it was!  Love when God sends me a wink like that.   Baby Brendan is still fighting off this month-long ear infection and went n his third antibiotic over the weekend, he also got croup which has thankfully passed.  Poor little guy!  Babies in big families get the brunt of all the germs :(  In better news, John-Paul made First Honors in his first quarter in high school.  Basketball games start up this week for Andrew, Eamon and Maggie and I am so excited to attend as many as possible, basketball is my favorite kid sport to watch - fast and indoors!  I hope you all had a nice break with family and friends...we've got this, Monday!