Took a bit of a break around the holidays, but I'm starting to get back into our write-ups.
Here's a look at a few of the things we did to get into the Holiday spirit.
We love how some of the smaller towns have decorated their areas for the season.
And this historic house in Ocoee looks gorgeous.
Very classy and clean with neat garland and wreaths all around.
T and I like to sit on the porch in the rocking chairs provided and rock and talk.
And inside Ocoee City Hall they have not just one, but two trees set up.
Love seeing the decorations and festive posters everywhere.
Yeah, we come sit on this porch often while the kids are in school.
For our advent calendar this year, we're doing something a little different. Instead of a simple box to open and get a little present, Theresa has found an educational advent calendar that we're all going to enjoy.
I've already been playing around with a Raspberry Pi Pico microcontroller for a few projects around the house (maybe I'll write them up sometime), so these looks pretty fun.
Each day has a different project to learn about.
It combines computer programming and real-life hardware that you can interact with. It starts off pretty basic, making an LED light blink.
But as the days go on, we incorporate switches, smarts, and new components to do other creative things. I love that we have an easier way now to make something in software and hardware come together. We'll have to see what sorts of projects we can come up with in the future.
We loved getting over to the Orlando Hyatt Regency and having an
Eat the Movie Home Alone event. Alli saying Hi to their lobby ambassador Merlot.
We were all in need of some Christmas outfits, so I headed to Goodwill to see what I could find. Theresa did not want me bringing home this creepy doll.
Disney shirt and Grogu pants. I think that'll work!
A little Christmas flair for everyone.
Chick-fil-A had a couple end of the year bingo events. We made sure to attend.
Prizes were free food, as well as a Santa duck.
And between rounds, they even gave out prizes for silly things like "anyone wearing a red shirt" or "anyone wearing green".
Free breakfast sandwiches because we're wearing festive clothes!
Their ice-dream plus the peppermint and chocolate crumbles is so good!
Alli winning a Chick-fil-A santa hat.
Jacob winning a Chick-fil-A stocking.
And if you didn't happen to win at Bingo, they still give you a prize at the end of the night. A free drink on your next visit.
Theresa has been busy working, and a couple of the tools she's created for her job have interesting acronyms. SEM and SQMR. We've heard her say the names out loud enough that to us, they sound like characters. Alli decided she'd bring Sem and Squimer to life and in her mind, these are two helpful penguins. I think we're going to be seeing a lot more of them as we go forward.
While Alli was in gymnastics having her Christmas party with her team, we took Ian out to enjoy the historic house and look at lights with us.
I love the palm trees being decorated with green on the fronds.
It reminds me of how I decorated back in California.
Not only does Chick-fil-A do bingo at nights, but they also have Breakfast Bingo! Good thing we have all those free breakfast sandwich cards to use!
The most lucky bingo player I've seen. She won 3 times that morning! Wow!
Bringing T pretty Christmas flowers, just cause.
Time to make some goodies. It's not the holidays if I don't have a cup of
Grandma's Spiced Tea in my hands. Alli was a great helper in making it.
And we've got to make some tasty treats as well. Gingerbread cookies for sure!
These are the round cookies that stay soft. They're so good.
Definitely saving this recipe from LoveFromTheOven.com.
It's not ideal for forming cookie shapes, but Alli still wanted to try.
Yum!
Trees, stars, and snowman going in.
And plump trees and snowman coming out. In the end, we agreed that the round shapes tasted better, but the shapes were funner to look at.
Gotta get our Christmas cards out. There's always plenty of options to choose from for what to put on the back. We have our fair share of adventures throughout the year.
And we love getting Christmas cards and presents from friends and family too. They decorate our fridge for months and months after Christmas is over.
Yum. Freshly baked bread and a variety of cookies! Thanks friends!
I thought the kids' gymnastics did a really good job decorating with all the balloons.
Balloon presents.
And an awesome wreath archway.
You may recall that we've been going to Chuck E Cheese quite a bit this year. Each time we save up our tickets so we can eventually earn the prizes off the top shelf.
And we certainly earned a few! And this is why! The kids have been winning all those tickets and toys to give to other kids at a year-end toy drive!
Filling a box all by ourselves!
Going with friends to donate the toys.
Getting a tasty cup of hot chocolate with whipped cream and peppermint crumbles in return.
The kids have been crafting all month. Inspired by the reindeer ornaments he made with Gram, this is made out of popsicle sticks.
He's a very skinny reindeer.
And Alli has been going through all the hot glue. It works so much better than the white glue or tape.
Aww. I see some adorable gift tags in the future.
Ian hard at work on Christmas presents for the family this year. Lots of construction paper and drawings going into his and Alli's presents.
A tree!
I was hoping they'd make a Christmas tree for us!
Ah, all those popsicle stick boxes are why you asked for 1000 popsicle sticks earlier this month. You've got a lot of presents cooked up, don't you.
We'll continue from here in the next post.
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