Sobremesa Stories

Letting stories unfold around the table

Five on Friday: Christmas Break!

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Oh. My. Word.  What a week! I am so glad to have made it through these last few weeks and finally be at the point where we can enjoy two weeks off.  I can’t wait to celebrate Christmas with family, enjoy sweet time with friends, and take some time off from the routines of everyday life. But before I get too carried away, here are a few updates from our last week of the fall semester!

1) Fun Deliveries

All of those packages we ordered over Black Friday have been starting to arrive and it’s been so fun to come home from work to surprises on my doorstep! I don’t want to give too much away since I’m sure I’ll do a nursery reveal, but I’ve loved seeing some of this room start to come together.  A friend from our church small group came and helped Jordan put up trim in the nursery and our entire upstairs hallway (shoutout to Bret for helping and Madi to letting us steal him for the night) and now hubby has been starting to assemble some of that furniture that’s been arriving.  I am so excited to have all of break to start putting that room together and am grateful to have a husband who’s willing to work on it with me.  Make sure to follow me on Instagram for more updates like this picture below that I shared this week!

Nursery Sneak Peek Pouf and Glider

2) Affordable Christmas

On Saturday, we volunteered for the fourth year in a row at our church’s annual “Affordable Christmas” event.  Basically, they turn the entire church into a giant Christmas store full of tons of new, donated gifts from church and community members.  Then, they invite in local families they’ve built relationships with over the year to come eat breakfast and buy presents for their whole family at about 90% off.  It is a beautiful, intentional event designed to love and serve people well while still allowing them to keep their dignity, and we LOVE being a part of it.  We both loved the families we got to shop with and get to know this year and I’m so glad we participated! I may or may not have crashed on the couch for several hours afterward but it was totally worth it!

3) Mexican Food and Good Company

We had some friends over Thursday night and it was so fun to catch up! I made this yummy enchilada casserole I’d found on Pinterest and it was a fun night spent sharing stories and talking about the crazy realities of being a grownup and having “grownup jobs.”  I’ve said it a million times, but those moments around the table are so sacred to me and I wouldn’t trade them for anything.  We love you, Spencer and Kelsey…thanks for sharing life with us!

4) Rough Week At School

I’ll spare you the details, but let’s just say it’s been a week that has taught me all sorts of wonderful lessons about classroom and behavioral management.  I can count on one hand the amount of times I had to send kids to the office last year and I’m pretty sure I more than doubled that number this week alone.  Cheating, ridiculously disrespectful comments, straight up defiance, students leaving my room even after I’d directly told them to stay…oh man, it was a fun one. Let’s just say Friday could not come quickly enough this week! Last year I rocked my elf shoes and ugly sweater on the day before break (my favorite tradition – see below), but swollen pregnant feet mean this year all I’m rocking is a big, red and gold, bedazzled Christmas sweater and some comfy boots. I’ll take it.

Elf Shoes

5) Children’s Books

I started reading through the Jesus Storybook Bible after we ordered a copy for my niece for Christmas.  Holy moly, y’all, it is so stinking good.  After writing my post on Monday about how Christmas is changing my view of motherhood, I decided to reread both the creation narrative and the story of Christmas itself, and Sally Lloyd-Jones’ beautiful words had me tearing up.  I don’t care how old you are or whether or not you have kids…you have GOT to check this book out! So many beautiful illustrations and sweet, simple truths told in poignant ways.  I love it and I have a feeling you will too!

Source: The Jesus Storybook Bible

Source: The Jesus Storybook Bible

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and enjoy the start to a fun few weeks of holiday celebrations and joy! Merry Christmas, my friend. I’m grateful for you!

PS: I’ve loved seeing the Facebook community around this blog grow.  If you haven’t already, I’d love for you to like/follow the page to stay connected and get updates on new posts and other fun articles, recipes, and pretties!

True confession: It was a ROUGH week (for a few reasons I share in this post), even with some fun moments. But we made…

Posted by Sobremesa Stories on Friday, December 18, 2015

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Comments

  1. I love when all of the black friday/cyber monday packages come in! I had maaaaybe forgotten about a few things I ordered hahaha

  3. Children’s books are my favorites. We(not surprisingly ) have hundreds and we read them every night. I’ll have to look into getting them that bible…the Princess has four bibles and asks for a new one all the time so she can “have a bunch like mama”!

    I hope vacation brings relaxation and rest-I know that’s what my mom is hoping for.;)
    Lauren Jane recently posted…Five For Friday: Foster CareMy Profile

  6. That Mexican dish looks delicious! Sorry that you’ve had a rough week at school- it will be nice to have a break for sure. My friend Michelle totally gives the Jesus Storybook Bible in like every Christmas Gift exchange ever- she just gave it on Wednesday for our YoungLife party ha! Such a good book. Can’t wait to hang soon!
    Kelsie recently posted…Five on Friday: Caps, Candles, and Christmas VacationMy Profile

  10. I love the Jesus Storybook Bible, too! I read it to my preschool kids all last year at our Christian school. Shameless confession: that was my personal copy that I had bought for myself! I agree that it’s beautifully written for both kids and adults.
    Enjoy Christmas break! 🙂

  11. I am so sorry to hear of the tough week at school! Sometimes those weeks before the holidays could be the most difficult!! I LOVED reading about the “affordable Christmas” that your church offered this year. What a BEAUTIFUL idea. As a lady whose family is not able to exchange Christmas presents this year due to finances this would be a beautiful idea!!

    Happy Friday lady!!
    Merry Christmas!
    🙂 Rebecca
    Rebecca recently posted…A Response to that RHOBH EpisodeMy Profile

    • Ha I agree, I think the kids go a little stir-crazy when they know a break is coming up. It’s one of my favorite things my church does and the heart behind it is so beautiful. Thanks for reading and commenting, Rebecca!
      Lauren recently posted…Seven Month Pregnancy UpdateMy Profile