Happy Monday! I’m here with Holly sharing some fun from our weekend. I hope you’ll link up with us for Hello Monday! Can you believe that Christmas Eve is tomorrow? Christmas is in two day? Hanukkah starts in two days? Oh my goodness, December absolutely flew by!

Like I have been for the past few months, I have eight great things to share with you!

1-At 2:45 on Friday afternoon, I was officially on winter break! That felt so good! I was ready to sit down and relax, but that did not happen! I had a few errands to run on the way home and didn’t think about the fact that it was pajama day until I was in line at the liquor store. Oops!

2-Jeff and I went to a holiday party on Friday evening. We saw some friends we haven’t seen in months. It was so fun to get a little festive and hang out with friends. They had a delicious wintery prosecco punch! I am going to try to get that recipe and I’ll share it with you if I do! I didn’t take a single picture of us that night, but I was so comfy in black watch plaid pants and a black cardigan.

3-We volunteered at our club’s swim meet for 8 and under swimmers. Jack and a buddy timed together. Luke was going to help me in the clerk of course (lining swimmers up to get ready for their race), but he got pulled to time as well. We all rocked our volunteer vests and had a great time.

4-Our club hosted a distance meet for older kids after the 8 and under meet. Jack swam 1000 yard freestyle for the first time on Saturday and did a great job!! Jack and Luke both swam 500 yard freestyle on Sunday afternoon. It was Luke’s first time and he CRUSHED IT!! Jack got a best time by over 6 seconds. It was a super meet all around for the Parsons brothers!

5-I got together with a few girlfriends on Saturday and it was so lovely to enjoy a leisurely dinner and take a little time to relax and catch up. We got a little festive and holidayed!

6-I quadrupled my buttercream candy recipe because I can never remember how much candy it makes and I wasn’t sure how much I would need for our cookie exchange. I wanted to get the candy finished before Monday, so I set about making what turned out to be 200 pieces of candy. I think a quadrupled recipe makes about 350 pieces. Note to self: When you are making candy in 2025, do not quadruple the recipe!!

7-The great part of having teenagers is that you can start decorating cookies at 9 pm on Sunday night and everyone can handle it. I really wanted to make our family’s traditional decorated cookies – sand tarts – before Monday so the kitchen could get a good cleaning and be ready for the week. We did it! Imade them completely gluten free this year. They are a little puffier but delicious!!

8-I think the last great thing from the weekend is the grocery store. I think I have been to a grocery store every single day for the past two weeks. I dash in to grab something, realize we ran out of something (eggs last night), or changed my mind about what we were having for dinner. I’m going again today, but I hope to avoid the store on Tuesday and Wednesday!

I have a few errands to run today and need to wrap until my fingers fall off. Wrapping means Christmas movies all day which I am excited about. I hope you have a wonderful Christmas Eve, Christmas, and first evening of Hanukkah. Have a great day full of sunshine and books!