Gingerbread Ring, Festive Coloring, Christmas Vinyls, and Goodbyes.

Today was a laid back day for us here at the TWRC household. It mostly consisted of relaxing in bed while watching some movies, playing a few games together, learning about the human body (science for my padawan's homeschooling), and a few Christmas "events". 

My son and I had gone on a bookstore adventure prior to today, where I learned that the infamous Johanna Basford - who was the main influencer (in my opinion) in the adult coloring world - created a Christmas coloring book! I can't even begin to tell you how excited I was to find this beauty on the shelf, beautifully begging me to purchase it and fill it's pages with wondrous color. My padawan was also very excited and wanted to take part of the Christmas fun. Seeing as how it would give us something else to do while "relaxing", I purchased my newest book and proceeded to think of all the wondrous things I could create. 

Upon looking through it briefly at Barnes and Nobles, I fell in love with the detail (much like her other books, which you can see my post about it HERE) that she infused on each page. I gotta say, regardless of the theme, Johanna Basford is very creative in her designs. I love how she has "messy" pages, where there are items in a shape of some sort, but she also has specified themed pages that have intricate lines all around waiting to be filled. I also adore how when we are coloring - my padawan and I - we set aside some time to really focus on what we are doing. It's not for multitasking, unless of course you WANT to go outside the lines. Then by all means, multitask away. 

For us personally, we are focused when coloring, which I think helps with my son's concentration as well. He tends to slow down and take his time when completing a section as best he can, which teaches him patience. Of course he doesn't know that, but I've already noticed how he's becoming careful and particular about trying to do his best, which entails him to slow down while doing a project. That's not something easy to teach a 5 year old, but these fine lined coloring books are definitely doing the trick!

While we were coloring, we put on some Christmas vinyls, to help set the mood. The only two vinyls I own - so far - are "Christmas Hymns" and "Jingle Bells", both of which were found at Goodwill (see HERE for that post).

Both were only $2 and I do plan on stopping by our local Goodwill within the next few days, per my mother's suggestion of checking out their vinyl collection now that it's officially Christmas time. 

I also just recently found out that Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby, both have their own Christmas vinyls. They are two of my all-time favorite singers, so owning their vinyls practically dedicated to my favorite holiday, is now going to be a personal goal of mine. I was just told that their is actually a record store close by to where I reside, so once our weather perks up - we're expecting a decent storm soon - my padawan and I may just have to take a stroll in to check it out! 

After we were done coloring, my padawan went ahead and started watching a show, while I whipped up a new food ring for Christmas. I shared a little sneak peak on Instagram earlier today, but I couldn't let my readers out of the loop! 

I'm going to be attempting to make a plate of gingerbread cookies with a glass of milk and a Santa list. Something festive for the holiday season. 

I'm not exactly sure how it will turn out in the end, but of course I will share the end result with you all! 

The end of the night ended up being a little rough, but nothing we can't handle. Thankfully we are blessed in many areas and our issue isn't something we can't overcome. 

Found on Google

Also, I'd like to take a second and express my condolences to Alan Thicke's family. He was the star of "Growing Pains" and recently guest starred in "Fuller House" season 2. He passed away today from a heart attack and the news of his passing came while I was actually typing this blog post. He was a very beloved actor and I myself really loved him. I grew up watching his show as well, so seeing his death was a little hard on me. 

It definitely reminded me that our issues are minuscule compared to others. It's Christmas time and a family has just lost someone dear to them. Let's all take a moment of silence for Alan Thicke and hug our loved ones a little tighter. I know I'm cuddling my padawan tonight, knowing that even though we have tough times, we have eachother. And that's what really matters.