This is the first year we’ve attempted a traditional yule log, or, considering our francophile family, a buche de noel. I may not be able to serve up a decent holiday meal, but if you invite me over, I’ve got dessert covered for sure. 😉
Yule Log: chocolate sponge / semi-sweet whipped ganache chocolate
cream cheese whipped cream frosting / cream cheese frosting
meringue mushrooms
When we moved into our house five years ago, we purchased a beautiful artificial Christmas tree — the first one that Ryan and I picked out together in our ten years of marriage! (Up until that point, we’d used hand-me-down and donated trees and were thankful for them.) But this, thiswas ourtree, and we loved it instantly. In fact, now five years later we still love this exact tree — well, mostly.
Over the years, as often happens, the lights have slowly died, section by section, becoming frankenlights with bits of electrical tape and replaced bulbs and wire connectors poking out everywhere in hopes of reviving cut, stripped and twisted copper. It was a pain, but each time a strand went dark, Ryan found a way to make it come back to life.
And then, last year, it died. Like D-E-A-D.
We laughed, threw up our hands in defeat, and resolved survived the season with an unlit tree, a funny memory we’ll probably always joke about together.
At the end of that holiday season, as we schlepped all of the holiday merriment back down to the basement for storage, Ryan and I decided to keep the tree for the time being — we’d decide next year to whether re-light it or toss it.
Then, this November we began talking about putting up Christmas decor (because #2020), and when it came to the tree portion of our discussion, Ryan felt strongly that if we were to re-light the tree, we needed to remove the dead lights first. (“We” being “Talie.”) Ugh.
It took me three and a half hours to de-light that dang tree. I was ruthless, and the tree fought back. My arms were scratched like I’d fought an alley cat; my back ached; my feet were sore from standing on tip-toe on a ladder for so long. By the end, my living room looked like a war had broken out in Santa’s workshop with bulbs instead of bullets. But it was done!
Well, halfway done.
It then took another two hours to re-light the tree. Strand by strand, I pre-checked the lights before adding them to our tree, wrapping them around each branch. I was exhausted. And over it. And thankful that my job was almost done. I motivated myself by thinking about all the money I’d saved, the landfill space I’d spared, the pride I’d have when it was done. With one strand left to go — at the very top of our beloved tree — it died. Like D-E-A-D. Again. Out of nowhere. With no warning. Not a single light survived.
I tried all the things you would naturally think of: check the outlet; check the plug; check each strand; give up.
Although I hoped to impress Ryan with a freshly-lit fir when he came home from work that day, I failed. He walked in, and (after a moment of being impressed that I schlepped our 9-footer up from the basement all alone) I handed the frustrating project off to him. I’d done all I could.
The days that followed were filled with lots of cursing and cajoling, but eventually he got the tree to fully light up. Talk about a Christmas miracle! I will never, never take the warm glow of a Christmas tree at night for granted again. (And I will remind myself of how much I love our exact tree each year as we inevitably continue to fight the lights, haha!)
It’s 2020, so we’re leaning into anything we can to bring joy into our homes (which is literally the one arena where I feel like I have control this year), and Halloween makes our family happy!
In addition to our usual decor, the girls both made their own paper haunted houses to add to our spooky vibes this month, and I LOVE THEM. (The houses and the girls, of course.)
HAPPY HAUNTING!
“And all at once, summer collapsed into fall.”
Oscar Wilde
We’re ignoring the sweltering heat outside and running full-force into autumn with every ounce of energy we have over here!
My favorite thing this year has to be the pumpkin-filled fireplace — which literally was the result of trying to let my girls help decorate (without being OCD, eek!) and them piling up pumpkins on my hearth in a haphazard manner…which was the ended up being the best inspiration (as usual). 😉
Well, we’re two weeks into our (at least) nine-week stint doing virtual school. We’re…surviving. Truthfully, it’s not as bad as the spring, and we’ll make it through (and I’m learning a lot of French in the process, haha!).
Right now Cricket’s learning space is in our playroom, and E.V.’s studying in her room. The week prior to school starting, I cleaned up, cleaned out, and added all the cutesy, fun school supplies I could get my hands on. (I mean, I figured if we’re going to be stuck learning at home, we might as well surround ourselves with all the happy things we can…)
As the days go on, the girls have started wandering around a bit with their iPads during class, but as of now I’m trying to make the girls stick as much as they can to their own school spaces — with me running back and forth like a madwoman — playing mom, para pro, butler and translator, haha!
It’s officially Christmas season, and our house is ready!
We vary our decorations every other holiday season between being a little bit more coordinated and what I call “Kid Christmas” — color + fun + childhood memories. Since our decor was a little more muted and grown-up last year, Kid Christmas gets a turn in 2018!
It’s our tradition for the girls make a tree topper each year (this year baby Jesus on a star won), and for Kid Christmas we pull out all the homemade ornaments and lean into the mismatched madness. I have a few family items that remind me of my mother and grandmother — the obnoxious bells my mom hung on the front door each December, Great Grandma Vance’s WWII ornaments, a couple of broken angels that have somehow survived the past four decades. Pairing the memories of my family’s older generations with tiny handprints and crooked angels from our girls’ first few years makes for a warm + cozy holiday, which is what Kid Christmas is all about. (Oh, and I vowed notto buy anything new for Christmas this year, but how could I resist the light-up Santa Schnauzer that looks like our beloved Oscar? But I swear that’s it! 🙂 )
