Polar Express 2024

Hey everyone!

How are you doing? We are doing great… I had to take a couple of days to recuperate from the Polar Express Party. It was so much fun but it did take a lot out of me… I ended up with a migraine that night and spent the next two days in bed with a dreaded FIBRO FLARE but it was worth it… everyone seemed to have a great time.

I didn’t get as many pictures as I should have as I was too busy taking it all in… the smiles, the laughter, and just the blessing of being surrounded by friends and family.

We made some Fudge and Sourdough for gifts plus we still had some things left over from the baby shower and wedding earlier this year so those were given as gifts as well… the kids got lots of little toys and some cocoa and popcorn for their own movie night plus some really cute cups that I found at Dollar Tree…

I also found some cute headbands for the kiddos … they could choose from a headband or a conductor’s hat.

Our menu this year was:

Please forgive the messy handwriting… I’ll try to go back and get this typed up pretty with links, if I can. Most of these recipes can be found on the blog if you search for them.

We had some dishes and silverware left over from the wedding so things looked a little extra fancy this year… the dishes were so pretty!

We had a LOT of cookies… but unfortunately, I don’t think we got any pictures of them but you can get a glimpse of them in the video. All of the displays were full though…

We also had some new games like the DIY BINGO games and the Saran Wrap game… it was so much FUN!

We also had a ‘Count the Kisses’ jar where we filled a pretty holiday-themed container with Hershey’s Kisses and everyone takes a guess as to how many are in it. The person who guesses the closest wins the jar and the candy!

Some of the older kids and adults had fun playing cornhole outside and just running through the yard and gardens… pure, simple fun. A lot of the kiddos also made some candles like the ones that we made earlier this month.

Advent Celebrations: DIY BINGO Game and Crafts

I did get a new snowflake projector (link below) and I used some dry-erase markers to adapt an older light to do the Northern Lights although I didn’t get a good picture of that… I’ll try to get one and add it to this post when I can. I really would like to get a projector that does them though. I also ordered a remote outlet set that made the lighting effects so much easier!

I’m thinking for next year I may just buy some bagged popcorn to make that part a little easier… the kids love the ‘theater baskets’ though and it makes it so much easier to get everyone ready for the movie. It also helps contain messes and prevent the spilling of hot cocoa.

We did a hot cocoa bar that my kiddos have really been enjoying:

Here is the list that we used to assemble this:

Again, not a fancy printed-out list but it gives you an idea of what we have there.

There were a couple of elves who were spotted as they helped tremendously:

Our outdoor decorations have been simple but I am working on getting a few more…

I think everyone enjoyed getting together and I know my kids have been talking about it non-stop… these are the memories that we live to create… memories that everyone can look back on and remember from their childhood.

We don’t have to be fancy… much of what we have has been accumulated over time and I didn’t even put up a lot of the decorations that we had because I just didn’t have the time or energy this year and that’s OK… just do what you can with what you have.

We have another new tradition that we want to introduce this year … A Bethlehem Dinner. It seems like such a fun concept and another way to bring the true meaning of Christmas back to the season. Maybe we can even incorporate this into our annual Christmas party next year… I really hope we can.

God Bless!

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