checking it twice...

 ...because it is always good to have a list this time of year so you don't leave out a single, festive thing right?

The perennial listmaking isn't just for Santa. 
 I numbered off many an item that was somewhere between NEED TO DO and DREAM OF DOING.  But before I could attempt any of it, survival of reality came first:

I tried to make "survival" look fun.  This year I found Pepe, the cutest Elf on a Shelf ever.  He made his way to my classroom and got into all kinds of things, but mostly decorating our learning environment little by little.  He put ornaments on our pre-lit tree, hung stockings and put candy canes in them, dangling from the window he strung snowflakes and paper chains, too.  He's a cool dude.

 

December was a rough patch at the beginning.  Lots of long evenings with dreaded homework...

...wishing the minutes would magically switch into Christmas holiday time. Both Brandan and Chato came down with cooties that Aly and I were glad that they did not share.  There were plenty of thermometers and hot tea clogging our countertops.

 

 We gladly discovered a Sonic Drive-in that afforded us the pleasure of a Cherry Lime-aid without having to wait for a southern trip in the Springtime.

 

And in a short two week span, my class celebrated the holidays and my school was out on break.

 

For the first time ever, I am enjoying the last of the Track E school schedule that has existed in various schools all over the Chicago area for quite a few years.  Three week winter vacations are unheard of in my personal experiences, and a WHOLE week without THE KIDS home with me was incomprehensible! B + A are still part of the regular track system.  CPS has promised a single school calendar for all schools next year - not sure what that will look like.  

So, where was that list?

Oh yeah... #1.  Begin season by making Aunt Ruth's Rosette's...

 

...even got Daddy to help out!  It's a three-handed process!  Do not try it alone!

 

 #2.  Make a cookie list a mile long and make a mess in the kitchen.

I made a dang good dent!  Out of nine on my list, I made eight.  Between the Browned Butter with Salted Caramel icing (my favorite) to the sandy tasting Peanut Butter chocolate chip Shortbread (too dry for me, but Brandan eats them) I DID NOT burn a single one! Seven of them were made in the morning hours while the kids were still in school.  I left the traditional sugar cookies for the weekend.  (More on that later.)

#3.  Back out Christmas cards.  For the first time in --I don't remember-- I did not get photo cards out for Christmas.  I did get them out, personally addressed and all, but I am ashamed of not having put together a 2012 rendition...

...but my heart was in the right place.

#4. Add some unique decor around the house.  I've spent plenty of time pinning some excellent ideas over at Pinterest, so I HAD to put forth the effort to try a few out.  Each day the kids would come home and either Aly would help me, or Brandan would fuss that it would be a project to take everything down this year because I was putting up new ideas each day...bah humbug, Scrooge!

#5  Stay traditional.  As the weekend arrived, the temperature dropped and Sami and Aly set to work on the sugar cookies.

Great final product, ladies!  And tasty, too!

Brandan helped with the icing of cupcakes and our sweets table is over flowing for the holidays.

We will spend tonight's Christmas Eve at my parents house.  Tradition.  Tomorrow, alongside a typical early wake up call, I am sure, we will host Chato's family - Griselda is going to teach me how to make pozole.  I am very excited.

I am praying that this morning's sleepyheads will be exact visions of sugar plums come tonight...

 

...as Aly is still checking NORAD to see where in the world Santa might be...

Merry Christmas, everyone!