Over the weekend we went to look at all the fancy Christmas trees at the Davenport and cast our names into the raffles.

I feel like we've hit the time of the year when I question whether I'm doing enough to bring in the festive spirit while simultaneously experiencing deep fatigue. It's tricky to balance out all the day to day stuff with the addition of holiday magic. Whew!

Here's a little comedic relief.

My baby girl is 7! She wanted a birthday party where her friends brought presents. This was really important to her and so even though I prefer no-gift parties, I didn't request "your presence is present enough. Please no gifts." And Maeve was thrilled! We glazed ornaments, ate pizza and cake and the girls played. It was a very successful party. Maeve enjoyed herself so much - no complaints!

And here's my girl on the morning of her birthday enjoying a pancake breakfast and more presents. It's always a relief to me when a birthday is done and dusted and my kiddo is happy.

This year we went to Bead Lake to find a tree (note to self, scope out a better place to look for a tree). This was more of a hiking experience, although the trails are wide and well maintained. It's more that the little ones are wimpy and it was cold and I didn't make Maeve wear her heavier coat. But we found a great tree that may be our best one yet. It's not too big, it looks great! So far, it only has lights and isn't getting ornaments because the combination of our sons and our puppy will mean chewed and ruined ornaments and I'm just not down for that this year.

Our yearly tradition - chocolate making! These are all the photos I took. But we did it! We spent a whole afternoon making chocolates.

That yearly tradition! Although this year, I made the pancakes on Wednesday which really through my kids for a loop! That was an adjustment. I didn't want to add that into Thursday morning turkey trot and meal prep, which was smart because I ended up with a sinus infection.