Wednesday, December 27, 2023

The ABCs of Christmas

A is for Advent Calendar

Zoe and Eva had Doorables advent calendars this year, and they were the cutest darn things ever! 

They got to open one door each day and reveal a Disney figure. I’m kind of in love with Doorables. They first came into our lives a few years ago when Zoe’s friend brought her a set for Christmas. Now we have tons of them around the house, and on Christmas, Zoe opened a set that had Robin Hood in it, and now I need to find a way to make it mine!

B is for Baby

My brother and his girlfriend are having their third baby, and we (and they) found out on Christmas that it’s a girl! (My first - and probably only - biological niece).

C is for Church

Christmas Eve fell on Sunday this year, so we went to church in the morning then went to Scotty’s mom’s for breakfast burritos. 

D is for Driver

This is the first Christmas we’ve had a child that can drive, and it was amazing. I had him running all over the place on Christmas Eve.

For Christmas, Nicky got a lot of boring, practical stuff like an emergency roadside kit and frost blanket.

E is for Eating

…and eating… and eating… to the point where I hate food. But not enough to actually stop eating.


A small sampling of the food that was sent home with us over two days

F is for Fast and Testimony meeting

Wherein the first man to the pulpit intentionally told the children that Santa isn’t real. There was a baby blessing that day, and we had tons of visitors with little kids. It was quite an ordeal. 

G is for Guns

Scotty’s mom gave us all dart guns at her Christmas party and glasses so we wouldn’t shoot our eyes out. 

H is for Hoverboard

Our family history of hoverboards:

Daisy got one several years ago, but she rarely used it, and when she did use it, she would just sit on her butt and go in circles around the living room.

Zoe got a a hoverboard this year, and she at least stands on it, but she’s very cautious. She won’t ride it outside of the house.

Eva does not have a hoverboard but has been riding Zoe’s all over the place - inside and outside - like a maniac.

So… my daughters become more hoverboard friendly as they go down the line. Eva can even play games on a phone while riding.

I is for Injury

Nicky’s olecranon bursitis (“Popeye elbow”) flared up again because he did a high kick contest with his friends while wearing socks and took a fall.

His injury originated from falling too hard during a Shakespeare scene in October. The high kick contest took place backstage during The Little Mermaid.

Some parents have to worry about sports injuries. I have to worry about theatre injuries.

J is for Jokes

Zoe wanted to do a stand-up comedy routine for the family Christmas Eve party. After talking her out of several big, impossible ideas, we were able to find her some Christmas jokes online.

K is for Ken

Daisy has been saying she’s going to buy a Ken doll for months. I had to keep telling her that would be a stupid way to spend her money… because there was one under the tree. 

L is for Lights



We went to Christmas in Color with Grandma and Grandpa and followed up with ice cream and cheese fries at Leatherby’s.

M is for Melatonin

Eva got into the Melatonin on her own at 6:30 Christmas Eve and put herself to sleep. Now we’ve moved the Melatonin. 

(She was awake by 1:44 a.m.)

N is for Nemo

Our high school has a unified theatre program, which is a theatre class with combined special education and general education students. This year they performed Finding Nemo Jr, and our sweet friend, Whitney, was Nemo. Nicky helped back stage with props. It was such a  joy to watch! You can’t help but smile for the entire show.

O is for Over

As in, Nicky’s childhood is officially over. We didn’t even try to pull off Santa for him this year. This was his reaction when he saw Santa carrying the filled stockings to the basement.

P is for Potatoes

Scotty’s mom got 125 lbs of potatoes at the end of November, so we ate lots and lots of potatoes all month long because Scotty’s mom’s over abundance of food always ends up being our over abundance of food (see E is for Eating).


Scalloped potatoes, baked potatoes, potato soup (and then another potato soup and then another…), mashed potatoes, ranch potatoes…

Q is for Quilts 

My mom made all of us Christmas quilts for our beds last year, so part of our Christmas prep now includes getting our beds ready for the holiday. 

R is for Ralphie

Scotty’s mom’s party was A Christmas Story themed. She was so excited for her event. She bought a stuffed Turkey and put it in a pan and carried it into the party and pretended to drop it. Then she brought in Chinese food. 

She had Ovaltine (just normal chocolate milk with “Ovaltine” written on it, soap candies and lots of vintage candy, A Christmas Story Bingo, and a living room scene set up with a leg lamp. 

Then she broke out the guns (see G). 

S is for SIX

We got tickets to SIX for Christmas. We will be up in Tier 3 where I swore I’d never sit again after seeing Wicked, and yet, here we go again! 

T is for (movie) Theater

We went to see Migration the day after Christmas (with Fandango codes and discount Tuesday, I was able to get 6 tickets for under $20!!) I was exhausted and fought to stay awake but finally gave in during the last 20 minutes and dozed off. 

U is for Underwear

Half of us got new ones for Christmas (Nicky, Zoe, and me).

V is for Vacation

Santa brought us a journey outta here!

W is for Whip

Nicky and his friends all downloaded an app that makes whip sound effects and plays the Indiana Jones song, and they all run around the high school using their phones as whips, so we got him an Indiana Jones shirt (and, as expected, he immediately went and got his phone and started whipping).

X is for eXcited 

I’m always excited to get all the Christmas decorations put away. I feel like my house renews when I get to set it back to “normal” after fall/Halloween/Thanksgiving/Christmas. 

Y is for the (new) Year

I’m still not used to 2023, and it’s already time to move on!

Z is for Zebra

Everyone in Eva’s dance class wore Christmas jammies for their performance, but Eva insisted on being a zebra.



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