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Catching Up With The Kelnhofers-143

Jan 12, 2023 · Leave a Comment

What a busy month December was! All the holiday things are so magical with young kids, it made the season extra special. Here’s a glimpse into our family life from the past month in this edition of Catching Up With The Kelnhofers.

Toddler with fall leaves in the background this image

Downtown lights – we went downtown to look at the beautiful Christmas lights they had set up in the parks. It was a super fun evening but so so cold we ended up leaving after looking at one park.

Downtown lights

Star student – Ben got star student and got a stuffed Pete the Cat he got to keep at home for the week and a cute poster all about him he filled out.

Ben with Pete the Cat

Frankie ballet recital – at first Frankie did not want to participate, because the costume was BLUE and not ALL PINK lol, she literally made me put her pink coat on over the costume during dress rehearsal.  Thankfully the day of the recital she got on stage and it was super cute to watch.

Frankie ballet

Grocery store shopping – with all cooking we did over winter break (and all the cookie making) we went to the grocery store seemingly every other day. We became pros at navigating the stores with 4 kids. One time the kids ASKED me to take their picture on a bench, it was so sweet I of course was happy to indulge.

Grocery shopping with 4 kids

Baking and cooking– we spent so much time baking cookies for our cookie plates. This year the cornflake clusters were a huge hit and the kids made them. We also made this freezer enchilada casserole and this sheet pan meal several times!

Baking and cooking

Christmas tree artwork – for all the teacher gifts (there’s a lot of teachers and helpers to thank with 4 kids!) we had a card making party where the kids all decorate Christmas trees we’d drawn on blank kraft paper cards. We even had some friends in town who came over for pizza and helped. Some of the ones Ben made were just stunning!

Christmas tree artwork

Christmas tree magic – it was truly magical to see the kids opening their presents Santa had brought. They all loved crayola scribble scrubbies Santa brought them and spent hours drawing and giving them baths. Unexpected loved present by all!

Kids, Christmas tree and gifts

Nature center walk – after Christmas we bundled everyone up and went on a walk at a nature center. It was great to get outside and get some fresh air!

Family walking outside in winter

Ghostbusters orchestra – we happened to be driving downtown and Ben spotted a billboard with a picture of Ghostbusters on it. I googled and found out the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra was having a special performance of the orchestra playing Ghostbusters music while the movie played. Nick and I took Ben (who loves ghostbusters so so much) and it was such a nice outing.

Ghostbusters orchesta

Phi and Nick date day – randomly all the kids were in daycare/with nana and Nick and I had a morning to ourselves so we went on a day-date downtown which included brunch at Honeypie cafe, shopping the seconds coolers at Usingers (omg the “seconds” meat prices are so low!), walking around the Third Ward and a fun little fortune teller fish (here‘s a pack of 72 as party favors). I posted a little video/reel of our day here.

Phi and Nick day date

Serbian Christmas – we also celebrated Serbian Christmas with Nicks’ family. On Serbian Christmas eve there’s a bread called pogacha and a coin is baked in, and whomever gets the coin gets luck for the year. Freddie got the coin and stood up on his chair and did this little dance, it was the cutest thing ever. I put the coin with others that I have in a picture frame from over the years-lots of luck in our family 😉

Celebrating Serbian Christmas

Decorations down – lastly, we took down our decoration. Ben helped and was so fast and efficient. We got all the decorations and the tree down in a weekend, it was impressive.

Christmas tree with decorations down

Hope you’ve enjoyed seeing our very busy month. How was yours? Let me know in the comments below!!

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