8 Crazy Nights: Night 1

HANUKKAH BEGINS AT SUNDOWN!  And it overlaps with Christmas Eve and Christmas, meaning that's 2 whole days I don't have to buy presents for!  CONVERGENCE!  This article suggests that more is to be gained by the overlap, but I am mostly focused on the not having to buy more presents.

Ok.  So.  Let me give you the MAGICAL HOLIDAY WONDERFUL rundown of the last few days.

The kids finally had their last days of school

 And they've been lounging ever since:

 We proclaimed Thursday-- their first day of break-- COOKIE DAY, and Dorothy got to work choosing shapes.

 Hmm.  I wonder who made these.  Also, I dig the inclusion of the firework.

 This was only like 1/4 of them.  Why does one measly batch of dough make SO MANY COOKIES?

 Dorothy is actually really good at making cut-outs because her class does it with play doh almost every day (so that's like almost everyday of 3 days a week, so like 1 time a week?  I AM SUCH AN EXAGGERATOR)

 I dressed super fancy for the occasion, obvs.

 I left the house a total disaster (pro tip: royal icing is not easy to clean up after it hardens, you idiot)

 And took the kids to the McDonalds play land and the library.  Because where else can you take 4 kids for less than $30?  I also got a Happy Meal because McD's salads are the pits.  I only ate half of it for 275 glorious calories.

 Then when I was cleaning up our stuff after the kids had moved into the playland (SO GROSS), I spilled ketchup all over myself and looked like a crime scene and a really sweet older woman who was there with her youngest child (he's 16) helped me carry all of our drinks and told me about her 4 kids when they were little.  It was lovely.

 Harry and I sat at a table and read and we both died laughing when Cooper came out of the habitrail soaked in sweat.  He said, 'This place is awesome!  Why have we never been here before?"  Also, we were one of 4 big families in attendance.

 At the library, Cooper was STILL SWEATY.

 I freaking love the library.

 We got home around 2, and I spent the next 2 hours cleaning up the cookies  Then I made and cleaned up dinner and then Cooper wanted o make banana muffins before bed and my hands were literally BLEEDING they were so dry from all the dishes.  Also, Cooper is our most practical child and can legit make muffins on his own.

 The next morning, they ate Coop's muffins and read their library books at breakfast.

 And then we played in the snow all day.  Note, the mushroom snow cloud is not funny anymore now that our president thinks nothing of nuclear holocaust.  Or a genocidal holocaust, apparently.  OMG.

Happy Holidays, my friends!