Have you guys heard of Christmas Crack? It’s a toffee-like treat made with saltines and oh my gosh it is so good and so addicting! I followed a recipe I found on Erin’s blog (via Pinterest, of course) and made two batches (one with white chocolate chips and one with semisweet chips). Ryan and I both preferred the white chocolate (I also used slightly less chocolate than the recipe called for, as I wanted a more toffee-like flavor) and I seriously could not keep my hands away from it once it was done cooling in our fridge. Make this recipe with caution, my friends!
Saturday
Saturday morning began bright and early! Ryan was up to say goodbye to Ben who left at 6 a.m. and then headed off to the gym around 6:30 a.m. When Chase started to stir just before 7 a.m., I was up for the day as well. We went through our usual morning routine (pumpkin muffins and milk followed by books and playtime) and Ryan joined in on the fun when he arrived home around 7:45 a.m. (I opted out of a workout both days this weekend so my mornings felt nice and relaxed!) Once Ryan was home, I made us eggs and waffles for breakfast.
After breakfast, Ryan grabbed a quick shower and the three of us said goodbye to Sadie before driving to Clean Juice for mid-morning smoothies.
We then drove to Discovery Place KIDS (DPK) in Huntersville where we spent the remainder of the morning exploring and watching Chase’s curiosity lead him all over the place.
If we thought Chase loved DPK before, now that he can walk, he’s like a kid in a candy store. So much to see and touch!
In case you were wondering who had more fun in the fort you see above that Ryan built – Ryan or Chase – the answer would most definitely be Ryan. Chase thought the fort was cool for 2.5 seconds until he saw a big plastic ball and then it was game over. He is all about balls, books and cars right now. (And dogs… always dogs.)
We spent just over an hour at DPK before it was time to head home for Chase’s nap. I used the entire duration of Chase’s nap to work on a big Christmas present project that is taking me FOVEVER but I’m finally beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel. It is the project that never ends, I’m tellin’ ya.
Once Chase was up, we ate some chili together before it was time for us to head back out to Alexis and Dan’s cookie exchange party!
Alexis had little post-it notes out for people to write down the name of their holiday treats (as well as their own name just in case anyone wanted to seek out the recipe) and we all filled up plates and tupperware with enough cookies to last us through the holiday season and then some!
There was a large assortment of sweet treats (the party wasn’t limited to just cookies) and we left with everything from snowman sugar cookies and rum balls to homemade fudge and peanut butter bars. It was a sugar overload in the best possible way!
Aside from the sweets, a big party highlight for this hot cocoa-lovin’ girl was the hot chocolate bar outfitted with marshmallows, peppermint sticks, chocolate chips and a variety of alcoholic mix-ins. It took me back to our trip to Ireland when I fell in love with hot chocolate and Bailey’s at a random pub in Kinsale. Warm and creamy with a lil’ kick!
Without a doubt the most memorable part of the cookie party came when Alexis’ husband disappeared and returned dressed as Santa, complete with a sack full of small gifts for every kid in attendance. Talk about amazing, right!?
Everyone thought having Santa show up at the party for the kids was the coolest surprise…
Everyone BUT Chase, that is…
THE HORROR!!!
I think that picture says it all but Chase was NOT a fan of Santa AT ALL.
Santa won him over for a hot second when he gave him a puzzle that served as a brief distraction, but I think it’s safe to say Chase and Santa are not going to be BFFs anytime soon.
My sweet little boy! Seeing him freak out obviously made us feel so bad for him but his reaction was just so over-the-top that it was impossible not to see the humor in the scary Santa situation. Poor little guy! I’m hoping that once he understands the magic of Santa, we’ll have a more positive experience in the years to come.
We spent the next few hours chatting away with friends (Chase thankfully recovered from the Santa scare very quickly) and had a great time eating, drinking and watching all the little ones play.
Eventually it was time to thank Alexis and Dan and head home to put Chase to bed for the night. We spent the rest of the night hanging out on the couch, curled up in comfy pajamas. Not too shabby!
Sunday
Our Sunday morning began much like our Saturday! We hung out close to home for the first hour of the day or so before driving to Starbucks for breakfast on the way to church. We tried out a new-to-us church on Sunday and loved the experience. Chase seemed to have a good time in the childcare and Ryan and I loved the message of the service. We’ll be back!
We spent the rest of our Sunday relatively close to home. We ran a couple of errands but spent the large part of Sunday afternoon at home in our pajamas away from the cold! Our weekend concluded with meal planning, grocery shopping and pizza!
I hope you guys had a great weekend and I’ll see ya tomorrow!
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I have pictures of me as a baby SOBBING when I met Santa. Maybe its the giant white beard? Who knows! But I hope Chase’s experiences with Santa are less scary in the future!
I have no idea what it is, but MAN he was a scary dude to our little one! Crossing my fingers for a better experience with more smiles next year!
Awwww LOL poor Chase!!! I couldn’t help but laugh at those pictures, though!! 🙂 My 3-year-old is still terrified. She’s actually afraid of all people dressed up as animals (Chick Fil A cow, for example) and also talking stuffed animals. Too funny!
I am totally making Christmas Crack this week!! Thanks for sharing where you got your recipe!
Hope you have a wonderful day, Julie!!
-Sarah http://www.thefrugalmillionaireblog.com
Aw poor Chase! But I think every child needs some crying Santa pictures to laugh at when they’re older! And I love the idea of a cookie exchange party. I’ve never been to one, so maybe I should host one next year 😉
awwww haha those pictures are so precious! I remember seeing pictures of myself around that age crying in Santa’s lap and now I think they are hilarious! He will be laughing at those pictures in a few years!
Me too!! I hope he’ll get a kick out of them one day!
Haha omg Chase is so cute! My photos as a baby looked so similar, I was terrified! He’ll definitely look back at those photos and laugh 🙂
The picture needs to be submitted to Ellen. I started cracking up when I saw Chase’s reaction. Classic!
Aww, poor Chase haha. He will definitely have a good laugh at those pictures someday.
I love the idea of a cookie swap party. Might need to plan one of those for family & friends next year!
That picture is priceless!!! He might like him next year… maybe.
Awww poor Chase! (Also, that snowman cookie/treat looks SO CUTE!)
I’ll definitely want to try that hot chocolate bar one of these days, I hadn’t thought about serving it up in a slow cooker!
My niece had the same reaction as Chase when she met Santa this year! I was cracking up. How could someone giving presents be so scary?? 🙂
Poor chase haha my little guy had a similar reaction to santa this year. Maybe next year will be better!
Looks like such a fun weekend! Those pictures with Santa are amazing! Definitely ones to keep around for the future. 🙂
LOVE Christmas Crack, too! Maybe it’s a Palatine thing, because we still make it all the time – SO stinkin’ delicious!
This year, I’m going to our blogger Christmas party with a build-you-own-biscotti bar. I’ll let you know how it goes, but I think they’ll be delicious!
Hope you have a great Monday!
XO, Jessica
http://www.semisweettooth.com
Poor little guy. Too sweet and cute.
I love your scarf! How do you get it to stay wrapped like that?
Thank you! It’s the “classic drape” tie seen here: https://stylishpetite.com/2015/09/6-ways-to-wear-blanket-scarf.html 🙂
Chase definitely didn’t look like he was happy with Santa, poor little guy. It won’t be long before he’ll be excited to see Santa.
I know this is so wrong – But I think pictures of babies/kids crying with Santa are just the cutest! My little guy will be 6 months old next Christmas (wow… just thought about that) and I hope we get some type of reaction out of him!
The Christmas crack looks dangerous. Puppy Chow is my enemy around this time of year!
Awwww ~ Chase. It does make for adorable photos though.
My son had a very similar reaction to Santa this weekend! So sweet and funny but so sad that they get so scared! THANK YOU for being such an awesome blogger Julie- I always look forward to your posts!
Trish
https://optimisticduke.blogspot.com/
Aw, poor Chase! I feel terrible for them, but it does make me laugh so hard. My niece & nephew visited Santa this weekend, my niece is 3 & was sitting sweetly & smiling & my nephew is a 20 months & was bawling & reacting for mama. So funny what a few years difference can do!
Ohhh my goodness, that look of terror—- how can that be so adorable at the same time?! so priceless! That Christmas crack looks ridiculously addictive too. Yums- & the hot chocolate bar is such a darling and easy idea.
Aww, poor Chase! That’s a cute picture, though. So jealous of all those Christmas cookies to choose from!
Poor little dude! Give it another year and he’ll be loving Santa!
Aww poor Chase but those pics are too funny and cute!! I love lazy weekends close to home!
I’m beyond amused by the “crying” at Santa pictures – and Chase has the most VIVID expressions! Too funny!
Those photos are the absolute best! That’s one for the 21st birthday for sure.
So glad you found a great church! It’s hard finding a new church with kids, but so glad you have found a good one.
I agree with you on the Chirstmas crack…it’s literally crack!! So good 🙂
Sounds like a fun weekend! We’re taking my one year old to see Santa on Friday. Last year he was chill and could not care less. Judging by his reaction when I leave him at daycare every day with people he knows well, I have a feeling his reaction will be similar to Chase’s. And yes, it’ll be hard not to laugh. 🙂
The Chase pics with Santa are AWESOME! So hilarious and perfect. My son did the same at age 1 and 2, so anxious to see how next weekend goes. Love building these Christmas memories. 🙂
We took Adeline to see Santa over the weekend too and it was a DISASTER!!!!! Stranger danger X’s 1,000!!!! Hahaha it was hilarious but still pretty cute 😉
chase’s sad/horrified face is kind of adorable!
The idea of a cookie exchange sounds like the way to go. An evening full of sugar, friends, AND boozy hot chocolate? Yes indeed. Also, I FLIPPED OUT when I read your Kinsale reference! I was there in October and know JUST the restaurant you mentioned in your post! I LOVED KINSALE! So magical!
http://www.poweredbysass.com
The pics of Chase’s reaction to Santa are PRECIOUS!!! And SO hilarious! <3 One of my all-time fave pics of my daughter was a similar one when she was Chase's age (she's 17 now).
Awe sweet Chase! We have similar photos of my toddler during her first AND second trip to see Santa. She is almost 2 now and she talks about Santa all the time, but the stage fright sets in when she comes face-to-face with him.
omg those santa photos are so funny–they are keepers for sure! He’ll love those when he’s older haha! Sounds like a great weekend of fun and relaxation mixed in!
This post was so fun – can’t help but lol on Chase’s reaction to Santa (must be the beard, right? Kids are always awed or repelled by a beard!) Such a happy looking Santa, btw, your friend did a great job! And I love the cookie exchange party with hot chocolate bar – it looks like such a FUN, big, celebratory crowd! My kind of party, fo sho!
lol on Ryan being more into the fort than Chase. lol You did an amazing job capturing that 2.5 seconds before Chase saw the ball! One day, Chase will be ALL ABOUT the forts! (I’m an adult and I’m STILL thinking forts are kind of cool….I’m with Ryan. lol)
And as always, thanks for inspiring me with your meals – whether they be eggs and waffles or cookies! I’m an equal opportunity eater! 🙂 Thanks!
I’ve got 3 boys now ( just gave birth in August to the 3rd one) and they all love Santa. I was kind of scared with the baby but he didn’t cry…he just looked puzzled like those babies in the picture above (sort of like: “who’s that big man with the white hair all over the place” kind of look). I can totally relate to Daddies having more fun. Everytime we go to Legoland I see all the husbands building away and even racing their lego cars with the kids, my husband included. When we went to the Orlando Science Museum my husband also built a fort with the boys but they played in it for a few minutes before running up the treehouse with the other kids.
Oh my gosh, Chase’s face when he saw santa is priceless!! Poor little guy, but oh those pictures are going to be a great memory to have!
LOL, poor Chase! His expression made me smile 🙂