Holiday Season Bucket List

If only there was a reasonable explanation for my absence from the blogging world but unfortunately, I can't think of a one. I can think of excuses: I've been sick, I don't have my camera memory card, I haven't had the time, Kade has been clingy and cranky.. But none of these are good excuses. A blog can be written with no pictures, a blog can be written through the sniffles, with a baby in your lap. Here goes.

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Old Father Winter checked in at 3am and unpacked in the darkness of the deepest night. Upon morning, I was shocked to find trees bare, ice on overpasses and a heavy sky. This is the kind of sky that pushes the very breath from my chest. Perhaps, winter moved in slowly and I wasn't paying attention. It's very possible that while I was focused on my baby and the amazing way in which he's growing, learning, loving that I didn't notice as winter slowly moving in his things. But its certain that its here.


Winter is for snowmen, sweets, turning up the thermostat, slippers, cinnamon coffee, fleece sheets, an extra quilt on the bed. In Utah, specifically, winter is ski season. Winter is trips to Christmas Village, bundled up and staring into small boxes displaying the designers interpretation of the magic of the holidays. All of this is good; So why do I have such a difficult time with winter? Winter leaves me chapped, cold, cranky and stressed to the max. On especially cold days, you can find me huddled over a heater vent with three pairs of socks on and a box of tissues. My nose is raw, my lips are raw, my skin is red and dry. This is reality.

This year, I'm determined to experience winter in a different way. It's been over ten years since I've built a snow man. I've never been skiing and I've lived in Utah my entire life. I don't own a pair of slippers. I see a serious problem here.

Behold, the Winter Bucket List: 

Go sledding.

Have a snowball fight.

Take time to choose meaningful gifts for my loved ones.

Watch A Christmas Story, more than once.

Kiss under the mistletoe.

Build a snowman family.

Roll in the snow before jumping in a hot tub.

Build a bonfire.

Read a classic novel.

Take five naps in one day.

Eat a bigger breakfast than dinner.

Build a fort with blankets and couch pillows and read Christmas stories with a flashlight.

Go caroling.

Learn about a holiday I haven’t celebrated.

Build a jump out of snow and go off it in a sled.

Complete a jigsaw puzzle.

Volunteer.

Call someone I haven’t talked to in a while.

Roast marshmallows in a fireplace.

Wear a bad holiday sweater.

Host a party.

Join the countdown to the New Year.

Make dinner for someone you care about — whether you can cook or not.

 Make sock puppets and put on a puppet show.

 Bundle my baby up and take him to Christmas Village. 

Let Kade stay up extra late eating cookies and waiting for Santa. 

Go to a concert- you know, the kinds where elementary students sing carols off tune?  That kind.

See the Nutcracker.

Bring on the Aquaphor, sunscreen and warm socks. This holiday season will be unlike any other. 

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Kade and Mommy made these great leaves to hang in our window for thanksgiving! We used coffee filters and Crayola washable paint, cut the filters into leaf shapes and painted away. I love the way the paint bled together and they look so cheerful hanging in our big windows! 

 

Have yourself a happy End Of The Week. 

Do you have a list of things you'd like to do this winter? Please, share!!