Hellobee

My 5 favorite things were kind of tricky to come up with at first. We don’t buy much outside of essentials like groceries and stuff for my health. One thing I really do love, though, is the Christmas season: it’s one of the main reasons I chose to be Mrs. Snowflake. Many of these favorites are Christmas-centric: I do acknowledge that many other holidays are also celebrated during the fall and winter, and we are also working on teaching Snowy about other cultures as well.

1. The new The Grinch movie.

The day the movie came out, which was also the first day of snow here in northern Ohio, we all happened to have the day off work and school, so my amazing mother-in-law, my husband, Snowy and all made it to the cheap theater near us ($3 matinees!). I wasn’t sure what to expect with this movie. My favorite Christmas movies I watch every year are The Star (starting last year) and Rudolph. I’m not a fan of the Jim Carrey Grinch at all, and could take or leave the original animated Grinch. But I found this version charming, emotionally deep, and fun to watch. I loved the soundtrack and especially the character development. My two favorite parts of this movie are the gradual transformation and characterization of the Grinch, and Cindy Lou Who’s relationship with her mom. The relationships in the movie were very developed, and it was a very sweet movie to watch as a mom of one child. I see a lot of this Cindy Lou in my daughter.

2. Our gingerbread house.

The holidays can be hard as a chronically ill person. I have to prioritize what I absolutely want to do, because with my body, I have lots of limitations, especially a limited energy reserve. So I carefully choose what traditions are must-dos and which are optional. I have two must-do traditions each year, and the first of them is building a gingerbread house. We’ve done it the last 3 years and our house gets more elaborate and the process even more fun each year. We start every year with a premade kit: we used this one this year. And we added embellishments found at the Dollar Tree, like a gummy Santa and peppermint trees. We built it a few weeks ago, and it still looks great on our dining room table. (But I hope no one tries to eat it!)

Winter is definitely here in Northern Ohio, and early this year. I couldn’t be more pleased, because winter is my absolute favorite time of year, despite the number it does on my joints and immune system. It’s been snowing here since early November, and every day we get snow makes me get a big goofy smile on my face. I take every opportunity to play outside in it with Snowy, too.

4. The Toledo Zoo Lights Before Christmas.

We are a zoo loving family. Back when we lived near Columbus, we got a membership every year starting when I was pregnant. We go to lots of special events each year. Now that we are in Toledo, we have a zoo membership here too, and seeing the lights was my #1 Christmas season priority: we saw them the 1st weekend they were up.

I am a part-time wheelchair user, and usually use my wheelchair at the zoo. In addition to the lights being beautiful, the zoo is extremely accessible for my wheelchair: and not all zoos are! The entrances are easy to get in and the sidewalks are well paved. Snowy also got to meet Santa, which she hasn’t done since she was a baby, and it was awesome. He was a great Santa, and Snowy thought he was the absolute best. She’s actually been doubting Santa lately, but now that she’s met him she is super convinced he’s real and is very excited to leave out cookies, milk, and carrots for his reindeer that he asked her for.

5. Nature/animal documentaries

I’m working on a full post on this, but watching nature documentaries on Netflix, especially by BBC Earth, has really become an escape for me on my sick days. I can’t really travel much these days, so the documentaries help take me to other places, and they are also very soothing. In addition to the documentaries on Netflix, I’m also working through a series on the National Parks on Hulu.

So there you have it: my five favorite things in this wintry season as a Christmas celebrator. What are you loving right now?