December's Monthly Musings 2025

 I wasn't sure I was going to participate this month; first off I already had a post scheduled for the blog today (since it's the 3rd Thursday of the month it's time for the Ageless Style link up with all my co-hosts), but also because I read through the questions and thought my answers were going to be rather brutally honest and depressing. But this is life with young adults and not much family around... 


1. We celebrate Christmas... and sometimes New Year's day.

2.  This year I think I'm holding firm at about a 4 or 5 (hey, that's up from the last time I was asked!)... I really have enjoyed watching Christmas movies and wrapping all the gifts. Even shopping was a bit more fun than usual as I went out IN person at least twice this year. 


 

3. The only thing I'm making this year (as of right now) for the holidays is Christmas crack (saltine toffee) and I mixed up a batch on Tuesday that is probably mostly gone by now. 


 

4. My favorite holiday movies include The Holiday, Love Actually, National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, Elf, While You Were Sleeping, & The Family Stone. Though this year we've tried watching a few totally new to us ones like Love the Coopers (it was fun) & Oh. What. Fun 

Not sure how I missed Love the Coopers with this cast of famous people that came out in 2015!


5. Our newest (and pretty much only tradition) is that Alec makes us homemade pastries or croissants for Christmas morning. This year he wants to try making some homemade marzipan so he can make almond croissants complete with powdered sugar. 

2021 he made a snowflake cinnamon roll

2020 we had plain croissants

2022 he made raspberry filled ones with white chocolate drizzle 

2023 (I *think* these were chocolate filled but I really can't remember) 

 2024 we were in Hawaii! So no homemade croissants that year but we did have some amazing cinnamon buns (though not on Christmas day; we actually lost track of the days and didn't even realize it WAS Christmas until the day was nearly done.

 


6. I offered to host Christmas eve with my brother and his kids if they'd like to come but I'm waiting to hear back from him but other than that we aren't hosting any get-togethers of any kind. If they do come we'll just make spaghetti, meat sauce (of some sort), salad, garlic bread, and probably apple pie for dessert. 

7. We have never rung in the New Year in any way shape or form. I don't think any of my boys has ever even stayed up until midnight on New Years Eve and I certainly haven't since I was in college. 

8.  Nope.

9.  Um.. I'm drawing a blank. I'm not a huge music person. I like it and I enjoy singing along to it but ask me the name of a song or a band and I'm probably just making wild guesses... 

 Watching a Christmas movie while typing helped... I do like Step Into Christmas 


 Christmas shoes


 

10. I'm not great at picking just one memory but I immediately thought of this group photo. It was the last time my whole family was together for Christmas (in fact I think is the last holiday we were all together period) before my older sister and her family moved to South Carolina. Christmas eve at my mom's was always fun and chaotic and filled with good food, games, and gifts. 

 

Linking up with: Thinking Out Loud, 


 

Comments

  1. Maria RineerDecember 18, 2025 at 5:25 AM

    We used to have a fun and chaotic Christmas Eve at my MIL´s. Then she stopped hosting and now she´s hosting again. Anyway, that picture is really good- you can sort of ¨see¨ the liveliness even though the still frame masks actual movement. Alec´s baked goods look amazing!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Joanne December 18, 2025 at 5:56 AM

      Aw, thank you! We had some great times at my mom's!

      Delete
  2. HollyDecember 18, 2025 at 6:39 AM

    Love the Christmas Eve pic- that is how I remember mine growing up and I miss that. Ok just you writing about Alec's baking on Christmas morning is making me hungry- so so cool that he can make marzipan! Almond croissants are my fave :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Joanne December 18, 2025 at 6:47 AM

      Aw, thank you! I can't wait to try this year's breakfast; though he is a little nervous about making the marzipan. But the store bought stuff has so many fillers to keep it shelf stable that (I'm told) it doesn't really take like marzipan is supposed to.

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

15 Family Restaurant Games

Image
When my boys were little and we'd take them out to eat I kept a small bag of toys in the car to grab on our way into any restaurant.  That way they would be entertained and a bit quieter while we enjoyed our meal. Now that the boys are older we don't keep a bag of toys handy but we do have few games we use to keep the boys occupied if they start getting bored or squirmy while we're waiting for our food or our check. While there are many phone apps, portable gaming systems and electronic games that could occupy my kids we prefer to use the time together at restaurants to connect with one another and so we tend to play games like: Hangman--   any restaurant that has paper place mats works well for this.  We take turns picking  a word and drawing our hangman stand then take turns calling out letters and seeing if we can solve the puzzle.   Tic Tac Toe-- This works best with pen on paper place mats but we have played making a grid with butter knives ...
Read more

Favorite TV Shows Growing Up in the 80's and early 90's

Image
Do you remember the TGIF lineups on Friday nights? I can remember planning sleepovers and time with friends around TV Show lineups of our favorite shows... or else trying to set the VCR to record our favorite shows if we weren't going to be home. And through the years I had SO MANY favorites! Growing pains aired in 1985 which put me around age 8 and it stayed on the air until I was 15 or so; I'm pretty sure most people in my age group watched mostly for Kirk Cameron and all his antics.  I still have a soft spot for family sit-coms!  The Facts of Life aired when I was just 2  and stayed on the air until I was 11 so I'm sure the episodes I remember so fondly were either some of the later ones and then reruns shown later on when I was old enough to watch from the beginning. I think everyone would have loved an Edna Garret in their lives.   Benson another sitcom that began airing when I was just 2 and was done by the time I was 9 (another one I must have watched mai...
Read more

Things That Make Me Laugh

Image
I loved the challenge of this week's list for our 26 lists link up.  I don't know about you but I really need to laugh more lately.  It's such a great stress reliever. 1.  Books-- I love a good funny book that makes me laugh out loud.  I haven't read one in a while but if you have any recommendations I'm all ears.  The last book I can remember making me laugh was the Un-Honeymooners. 2  The boys being silly. 3.  Watching shows like America's Funniest Videos or Family Feud. 4. My husband.  Most people don't realize it but he's actually pretty funny and often makes me laugh. 5.  Whenever my sisters/ family get together and we get to reminiscing (particularly if my Aunt Elaine is around) we end up laughing so hard at all the old family stories that we are all in tears by the end of the night.  It's fabulous. 6. Movies like Mom's Night Out, Christmas Vacation, and Grown Ups make me laugh out loud. 7.  When my ...
Read more

10 Most Popular Posts of All Time

Image
Each year near the end of December/ beginning of January I share the top 10 posts of the year but this year, in particular, I have noticed some much older posts that are still bringing in lots of pageviews and thought it would be fun to look back and see a top 10 list of all time.  I started my blog in June of 2012 and while so many of my first posts were long blocky, chunky rambles without any real photos of us and our family I just can't bring myself to delete any of them as I really do enjoy looking back and seeing how my blog has change and grown over time. Not surprisingly all my top 10 posts are from more recent years.  I love to look at what is popular and try to figure out WHY each post is so popular. Most of the time I can't but I love to speculate anyway.  10. Our 2022 Disney/Universal Trip Day 1 & 2 has almost 2000 views. Who doesn't love Disney and the Magic Kingdom? 😊 9. My Would You rather; Fall Edition had well over 3,000 pageview. I do, however, thi...
Read more

Dollar Store Candy Cane Wreath

Image
Today I am linking up with some fellow bloggers for a Dollar Store craft challenge.  I don't often participate in these challenges since I try to stay away from our local Dollar Stores; I find they can be quite dangerous for me!  I knew this was the perfect time to find some inexpensive holiday decorations though and I just LOVE how my wreath turned out!  I hope you stop by and see what the other hosts are sharing. Meet this month's co-hosts! Across the Blvd | Purple Hues & Me This Autoimmune Life | Our Unschooling Journey Domestic Deadline | Sew Crafty Crochet Stone Cottage Adventures | Sum of Their Stories | Two Chicks & a Mom I bought the candy cane wreath base and a few rolls of mesh (not knowing how many I'd need I bought waaay to many; I only ended up using one white roll and one red roll. Using some chenille stems I already had on hand I attached the mesh to the wreath base trying to alternate the whit...
Read more