Well, hello December! I’m so excited for this month, but also a little nervous about fitting in all the fun, family, holiday prep, and the regular stuff. We squeezed a bunch in this weekend for sure!

We spent the weekend decking our halls. We put 5 Christmas trees up, got the candles in the windows, wreaths up outside, and did some holiday shopping.

For the first time in years all of the lights I had to put on the tree worked!! Woohoo!! I busted out my holiday shirts, and picked this one in preparation of the lights not working. We can’t wait to watch Elf – it is a Parsons family favorite. However, the lights on the kids trees and our family room tree did not. They are pre-lit trees so I was pretty bummed about that. I guess my shirt ended up being appropriate – Son of a nutcracker! I picked up a few new strands of lights on one of my Wal-mart dashes to remedy the problem.

Jack played in a basketball tournament on Friday and Saturday. Their team went 3-1 and they looked even better than last year. Jack played well so he was pretty pumped!Jack is 00 and that’s Jeff in the red shirt coaching them to victory!

Luke’s fish, Blue Dragon Jr, died last week so he got a new fish this weekend. Meet Ghost!

I did some small business shopping on Saturday. I love the shops on our Main Street every day, but I love them a little more on Small Business Saturday!!

Luke and I joined my parents at the Electric Lights Parade in their hometown on Saturday. We always get reservations in a restaurant that has a great view of the parade. It’s warm and cozy and we can have appetizers while we watch the parade. It’s ideal! Jack and Jeff joined us for dinner after basketball.

How clever is this? One of the shops on my parents’ Main Street decorated one of their doors as a holiday selfie station. Mom and I couldn’t pass it by without trying it out.

On Sunday, I joined a few girlfriends to try a new to me class at the gym. It was fun and a great workout. I’ll definitely do it again. It was Day 4 of the Holiday Challenge. It’s not too late to join me!!

We spent the rest of the day watching Hallmark and football, going to basketball practice, and decorating a little bit more. I tried to modify one of my favorite recipes to make it gluten free, but I will not be sharing it. It wasn’t my best modification. Oh well! Everyone went to bed full and happy but I won’t be making it again that way. My Holiday Baking Team was perfect for wrangling my curly hair on a rainy Sunday.

I have a few Christmas books on my list to start/finish this week – Snowflakes at the Little Christmas Tree Farm, Noel Street, and 25 Days Until Christmas, so I better get reading! Have a great day full of sunshine and books!

Linking up with Tanya and the girls.