Getting ready for the celebrations

My brother is getting married this weekend! The weekend after that will be Thanksgiving celebrations with my family in law. Soon after that we will be going back to my hometown for the Christmas holidays. So for a while now we have been preparing. Cleaning, rearranging, putting Xmas decor up (since traditionally in my family they come up the next day after Thanksgiving but we are going to be too tired to put them up when we come back), making dresses, packing... Yesterday especially was a prep day- with most of the above things getting checked off the list.

I did laundry and packed the kid's stuff and mine. I rearranged the living room so the tree would have a good spot. We decorated the house <3 Quijote brought up the tree and helped me put Christmas lights in the playroom. Miss E decorated the tree. Mr E ran around trying to get to the metal train (I eventually had to put it away. womp womp) and playing with the wrapping and the decor. Christmas music was on, the eggnog came out of the fridge (not for the first time, I must admit) and we even sent Daddy out for donuts (gosh it had been a long long while!). It was very nice.

HEY! There's the Christmas card from our Missouri friends MJ&C and from our Cali friends the Foxes!

Since I was moving things around, I also cleaned our rooms and rearranged Miss E's room so she wouldn't be sleeping right across the window anymore (it was nice for her to get the cool night air in the summer and even in the fall when the heating in her room got a little high, but not anymore).

I bought the golden frames the day before yesterday- second hand, for $15 both. That was in itself an adventure though! We got ribbon that same day and some other things Q needed for the Econ club and travel stuff for moi. As soon as the kids went in for nap/quiet time, I got to work on the flower girl's baskets.

 Another day we went shopping at the mall for shoes and outfits that we'll be using throughout the celebrations. This year we have not bought any new clothes for the winter!!! We have made do with the clothes we got for birthdays and the stuff that still fits from last year (I always buy too big but this is the first year it ever actually pays off! It makes no sense to me, given that Mr E grew well over half a foot this year. But there it is).

That day at the mall we also met up very briefly with a family who is housing a mom who recently escaped a bad relationship to help them a little bit. There is so much pain the world, but it makes me hopeful that there are still people out there willing to extend a hand to their neighbor. I have been following them on FB and they are all doing well, and many people in Amarillo have come together to help. It's amazing to me how awesome FB can be. 

Today we have been home, doing some last minute packing and waiting for Daddy to come to work so we can get on the road.

We also put olive oil in our hair. Haha! When I was a little girl, my mom would put olive oil in our hair and wrap a plastic bag around our heads. We'd walk around for hours in this (haha! brings laughter to my heart, this memory!) And so it's something I've been doing with the kids too (minus the bags as of yet, since it's a choking hazard, but I figure not for long ;) lol )
So, in the spirit of making connections to the past and "enjoying the threads that weave our families together" (from here) Here goes:

Yes, they took over the endeavor, as they usually do. Kids are such diy-ers.

crazy hair!! haha!!

 Okay friends and family!! We will see you soon!! <3