christmas in review

for us our holidays are very full.  full in a good way.  we are so blessed with giant families and wonderful friends and i really wish i had a month just for deep visits and relaxing with the people we love.  instead we have a few consecutive weekends but we make the most of it.  out of all of the celebrations i really only took about a dozen pictures.  i'm the worst.  but don't let that fool you.  the times together were perfect.

for christmas we spent the weekend in chicago with benny's family.  we switch each year between our families but really we still get to see everyone we just change up the day.  chicago is always a blast. this year we arrived after all the fish had been cleaned at grandma ada's so we just started working at the deli.  his family owns an italian deli in chicago heights full of yummy things that i don't know how to pronounce.  it was all hands on deck for christmas weekend.

it's really fun to see who all will stop in.  so many of them know the family.  some just wanted to stop in to see all the commotion because its so crazy in there.  everyone wants roast beef & sausage.  it really could be a reality tv show.

on christmas eve they have a big ol' fish fry / bake.  don't worry i don't starve.  i even find something for my picky self.  we do a hilarious version of white elephant & visit - ben got some foot chargers circa 1987 [shown below] that are awesome and so 80's-ful and i 'won' a giant glass rooster full of vinegar and peppers.  we had slumber parties & road trips. it was indeed a blast.

at each of my parents house i failed even more picture-wise.  ben did get some awesome pics of our little nephew in his christmas pj's.  obsessed!

look at that face!

at my pop's house we also only got two shots. good thing one is great!  my little brother opening the frog we got him.  how awesome is that?  that's his...is-this-really-for-me-face.

and back to our place...

although we didn't spend a ton of time at home over the weekends i did thoroughly enjoy having our house dressed up for the holidays.  the presents were wrapped with care and i just couldn't wait for our friends and family to receive them.  i love twinkling lights and glittering ornaments.  the 'special' ornaments are my favorites.  the individual ones, given as gifts, something 'special' just for our tree.  my family gives us one each year and now i've carried that on for ben and i, so each year we get 2 to 4 new sweet treats.  one day i hope our tree will just be filled with them.  they are my favorite to pull out each year.

i cut out free, printable tags from [here & here].  they were a big hit, everyone loved them, including me.  i'd like to use them again next year but i don't know if that's "ok".

ben and i have only done stockings for each other the past few years.  we think it is a good way to give thoughtful things to each other without spending tons of money [that we don't really have].  i got ben a couple things that wouldn't fit into his stocking physically but were for his 'stocking' really.  i wrapped a couple things up and stuck his stocking on top.  fair game right?

i had him open the biggest / best present last.  he tore apart the wrapping paper and then lifted the box lid.  "aw babe, what's this?" he asks in a really sweet but confused voice.  hmm...it should have been a fleece i thought.  i lean up so i can see from the floor...it's all of my girl christmas crafts.  it basically looks like i wrapped up a bunch of random items from around the house and gave it as the 'best' gift.  oh geesh, if you're going to be embarrassed at least it's in front of your husband.  we had a good laugh about it.  i really had to go quite out of my way to wrap the wrong box and all the clanking as i flipped the box should have been a good indicator that the box wasn't filled with fleece pullovers but hey, you live and learn.  better luck next year!