christmas with tha littles!

This year, we had the littles for their second week of Christmas Break which means another Christmas day in our family! We picked them up on Saturday and had a wonderful "Christmas Eve" at Six Flags, which meant our second big day was on Sunday. :) We woke up very early in the morning and opened presents, which is always so fun with our sweet Sub-4-Foot-ers. Meggie was so darling and passed out each and every present while her very tired parent and step-parent drank their morning elixirs of coffee and tea. :)

Warning: there are many pictures! I know it may be a bit gratuitous to post as many "presents!" pictures as I do, but I just look forward to the days when they're old enough to look back through the blog and say, "Oh yeah, I remember that!" Although, head's up: Sadie isn't in any of the "morning" pictures posted because she's still in her "I don't want to wear clothes while I'm at home!" phase. (Can't wait til she looks back through the blog when she's older! We have plenty of nudie pictures of you, Future Sadie, they're just not "published" on the blog because we love you.)

Emmy, who made this face for everything.

I told you! (plus R3's new Halo game and Em's new pogo-stick)

Some of Sadie's spoils...

(That's Emmy behind R playing the roll of the creeping Creeper...)

And Emmy's new slippers!

The best Family Present I could ever spend money on. Now we have 3 total gaming controllers, meaning the littles don't have to rotate time-sensitive turns to play Minecraft. BEST FAMILY PRESENT EVER. Kinda high-fived myself over that one.

Emmy's "big" this year was a Monster High high school for all her dolls. She fell to the floor!

... but I managed to pull a "real, not hammy!" smile from her afterwards. :)

R3's big were lots of Legos, but he still freaked out over this Cabela's video game we got as a Family Gift. :)

Emmy, getting straight to work with her Legos!

Sadie's "big" this year was her very own pair of roller skates! She's been wanting a pair forever, and she was so excited she actually put on clothes immediately (!) to try them on. Girlfriend was so ready!

Em playing with her Monster High high school...

R and R3 playing "Trouble!"

After the little dumplings got some good play-time in, we all got dressed up in our Second Christmas Best and went over to hang out with Granners and Jack. 

Look, it's all my favorite people!

Tried to get a good shot with Sadie, but she wasn't too smiley that afternoon...

But Emmy was much more willing to oblige. You win some, you loose some!

Trying to get a good shot of my boys. :)

And there you go! Richard thinks R3 kinda looks like his ventriloquist dummy. ;P

After Granners, the family went to hang with their Mema for a few hours which means they came home with even more toys afterwards. These kids always clean up so nicely! We were bummed to not have our littles the day of Christmas, but the silver-lining means it's Christmas for just that much longer. :) You were definitely a great one this year, Second Christmas!

our newest holiday tradition

Remember last year when we went to Six Flags with the Hafeles on Christmas Eve? Well, we all decided that was so much fun we'd do it again this year! Debbie secured tickets from work again, and we had a really righteous park crew that included both our families plus Darrah and Ryan. Like last year, we had to wait until I got off work on Saturday (sorry!), but when there's a million people around and you have free tickets anything you end up getting is just gravy. :)

Here are just a few pictures from our sweet little evening that just so happened to be on our Second Christmas Eve (ie, the day we picked up the littles for our half of their school break). Immediately after getting into the park, Aaron took all the boys and teenage girls to ride The Texas Giant (R3's first roller coaster!) so the rest of us walked around finding rides for Sadie and Emily. :)

This ride was ridiculous to get pictures of (thanks, rotating bouncy boots!), but I did manage to snap of few of their darling excited faces (as well as perfectly focused pictures of tons of riders I didn't know, of course).

I'm a sucker for fuzzy twinkly light pictures, what can I say?

Darrah and the girls!

Not pictured (but completely worth remembering) are... 

| the looong lines... it was crazy! they just never stop letting people in!

| Emmy's adorable  Batman cape she scored and her and Aunt D holding hands through the Yosemite Sam ride. :)

| all the beloved fire-pits throughout the park (it was so cold!)

| the Texas Skyscreamer which is a 400-foot tall version of the rotating swings (Veronica and I just had to go on it! It wasn't the best time to try it out with the freezing temps, but it was still awesome!)

| and R3's face in his hands while he was on the Rodeo and watching Meghan carry him off the platform -- the sweet boy rode two roller-coasters that night, but that was just not his thing.

| the fact that both Meg and I passed the hell out after we got home, leaving Richard to set-up Second Christmas all by himself... whoops! We're still so sorry about that, sweet angel!

christmas day!

As far as Christmases go, our Christmas Day this year was amazing! We spent Christmas Eve's at mumsie's (meaning lots of snackies and adult beverages of choice) and opened all our prezzies there on the big fat morning. Meghan cleaned up decently this year, with lots of new archery equipment (that target looked so impressive all wrapped up!), hair dye, and an iPhone among other things. Richard got his obligatory toy (so help me, that's always stressful to pick out--and I forgot batteries!) and I just got spoiled to put it simply. :)

Afterwards, the 4 of us went to the hill to hang out with the family. After the Secret Santa rounds and sugar cookie decorations, a few of us went outside to play in the backyard. Turns out Stephen is a certified archery instructor, so we had to get him and Meghan together! 

After a few instructions, Stephen upped the ante by taping a $5 bill to the target. "If you can hit it, you can keep it!" And then Meghan gave Lincoln a tracheotomy. Pretty epic, if you ask me. ;P And then Uncle Danny got in there... I just love discovering all the secret talents of our family!

Then we played with the potato launcher. A potato launcher. That Stephen made. HE MADE IT. I was freaking out, it was just the coolest thing ever! I couldn't get any pictures of it in action because I was so "!!!" the entire time.  Son-in-law of the year? Yes. 

After a very hard farewell (why isn't Christmas day 72 hours long? that would help so much!), we went over to Darrah's for Christmas dinner. We had such a lovely time there--D made the most beautiful decorations and we watched stupid teenager comedies while the cooks were making our wonderful meal (steaks and salmon!). She got us the most thoughtful gifts (a Keurig for Richard and a reusable Keurig cup for me... girl's got smarts) and looked so beautiful. I'm just sad I wore out by the time we got there (thanks, retail job!) or I would have taken more pictures. But that's what this here blog's for, right? I can do words and stuff, too! 

Like I said, super amazing Christmas Day. We're so fortunate to have the most precious of families who are so fun and silly and crazy and warm and inviting and fun and silly. They totally make all the driving and early mornings throughout December worth while (and then some!).

grandpa jim's 90th (!) birthday party

Our sweet, adorable, amazing Grandpa Jim turns 90 this year! Fortunately, most of our family was in town for the holidays so we all got together for dinner and cake and presents and hugs and laughs. :) Note: the table-cloth was very festive and red, so I found black/white pictures to be most appealing to the eye.

The birthday boy sporting kisses from me and mumsie on each cheek!

The feast! (And my vegan soup in the bottom-right corner. ;P)

After cake (carrot annnd red-velvet, thankyouverymuch), we brought out the presents, which included a Jim-sized magnifying glass and a laser-projected keyboard that can be connected to your computer and phone!

Probably the greatest picture of the night!

Looking at his phone while Kenzie types on the keyboard on the other side of the table (miraculous!).

Kenzie, helping Grandpa Jim practice on his new keyboard (which you can't really see in this photo, but it's there!).

hilary's graduation party

My bestie-soulmate, Hilary, had a party this weekend to celebrate getting her BA! While Meggie and Nick played Babysitter, went to her home town (Fort Worth) and got to hang out with all of her family and friends who are, quite matter-of-factly, The Most Precious People Ever. After a super savory meal at Taverna, the kiddos (us) went around to a few bars in downtown Fort Worth, including one that reeeally reminded me of The Snakehole Lounge. ;P It was such a wonderful time! It's always so lovely to see Hilary's family (the family all families should aspire to) and it was great to finally meet her friends from College Station/Houston that I had heard about for so long. Plus, Hilary and I so rarely get to dress-up together, so it was definitely fun to show off our ensembles as a team. ;)

Fun side-story: At dinner, Richard asked the waiter to serve a glass of whiskey to Hilary's dad, James, only the waiter mis-read R's directions and gave the drink to Hilary's so-not-legal younger sister. Whoops! After clarification, it was simultaneously hilarious, legendary, and awkward. ;P

And to inadvertently solidify Richard's standing in Hilary's Family Lore, he told all the kiddos after dinner that he'd buy us all a drink if we saw a total of "10 slutty Santas" while at the bars. (We only saw 5! Ugh!) I'd always knew all of them would get along so well. ;)

Sorry I'm not sorry for a million different photos of two of my favorite people together. ;)

And sorry I'm not sorry for this picture after the "read more" jump, mom.

the ice-pocalypse!

I can't believe the weekend we had recently! On Thursday, there was a pretty solid prediction that an ice storm was coming, and lawd what a storm! Inches of ice seemed to blanket everything... the roads, the trees, everyone's windsheilds... it was crazy! You would have thought the sky was falling on Thursday--grocery stores were obliterated. Come 5am Friday, we were one of the 230,000 (!) people who lost power in the morning, which is the last thing you want when it's 20-degrees outside. Richard still went to work (of course!), but he told me I was not allowed to drive, thank goodness. And thank goodness for wireless router batteries and Facebook, because I at least was able to learn that my work was closed anyway since they didn't have power either. Meggie and I were stuck at home trying to figure out what to do with ourselves!

Fortunately, we heard that Patsy-poo still had power, and since she only lives a few blocks away from us we decided it was totally worth the cold fingies and red noses to trek over to her place. It's one thing to not have power, but it's another thing to not have power and learn your friends still have power! 

Ice on everything! It was so beautiful (and crazy dangerous to drive in).

Patsy's pretty much the ideal person to still have power during this situation because you're greeted with warm hugs, a puppy dog named Daisy, hot tea and the biggest marshmallows you've ever seen in your life (I mean, really, isn't that marshmallow hysterical?). We're so lucky to have such a sweet friend so close by. :)

Checking Facebook constantly and straightening my hair (yes, I brought my straightener--priorities, ya'll) could only pass so much time, so Meggie and I went to the game room to play on the AMAZING old-school pinball machine Patsy has. It was so much fun! I want one! Oh, and PS, I managed to get the highest score during our play time. ;)

Then we played 9-Ball (we're girls). It was pretty much a suck-fest (we're girls), but it turned into a giggle-fest real quick. I just love goofing around with my Meggie. :)

By the time Richard got off work, he was determined to knock out our Christmas shopping. Why? Because power outages and icey roads equals the perfect time to beat the crowds! I have to admit, I was kinda skeptical ("Can't we just sit and eat Cheetos and worry about the power coming back on?!"), but it was so nice! I swear, between 2pm-8pm we had knocked out 90% of our Christmas shopping for this year. I think that's a record! Plus, our power was finally back on by the time we came back from our last run, which I'm pretty sure was divine guidance. 

On Saturday, anything that slushed up on the roads re-froze in the worst kinda way, which equaled another day off for me! I tried my best to enjoy it (ie, Cheetos), but I'm always super manic when I call out of work (ie, the worst). Regardless, we all took lots of naps, watched lots of movies (can you believe it was a Free HBO weekend? What are the odds!), made lots of fires, and just thanked our lucky stars for the power being back on. 

Sunday finally started slushing up again, and the 3 of us had cabin fever pretty bad so Richard drove us to the mall to walk around. Even Nordy's still was without power, but that didn't stop them from being open! So if you're really into buying Louboutins in the dark, Nordy's on Sunday was the place to be. The rest of Northpark was at capacity, and it was great because there was no "mall pressure" since we had gotten so much Christmas shopping done; so we just leisurely looked around, smelled perfumes, look at Tom Ford suits, and bought a few additional gifts here and there. All with my favorite people. :)

Whew! I told you it was a crazy weekend, right?! I'm just so grateful I get to spend crazy weekends with my loves who are so helpful and hilarious (two very important qualities) and who know how not to feed my manic anxiety over power outages and call-out shifts (another very important quality). At dinner on Friday, I was really freaking out about the power possibly being off all night (the food! the fish tank!), and Meggie would just casually say things like, "Well, you can show me those pictures on the computer when we get home and the power is back on." Um, thanks, girl. I really appreciated it. I was actually really grateful to be back at work on Monday (predictability! normalcy!), but I hope I never forget all the special little moments that happened this weekend... like snuggling in bed with Meggie watching "What Not To Wear," reading Vogue by the fireplace, and being so smitten that R watched "Bring It On" with his girls because he likes it, too. :) Blessings!

happy list

(Because it's been a while!)

1. Long, relaxing baths that are hotter than the dickens.

2. My new boots and Kate Spade necklace.

3. Orchestrating an outfit for Hilary's graduation party.

4. Getting a new iPod nano for car-rides and buying lots of music for it.

5. Keeping the house tidy (we're doing pretty well for some reason!).

6. Getting into the groove at work.

7. Wearing R's plaid pajama bottoms.

8. Not looking at my iPhone so much.

9. Jimi Hendrick's singing voice (I mean, really).

10. All the gorgeous, stunning, breath-taking visuals in "The Tree of Life."

11. Sunday mornings with family. :)

12. This Twitter sequence.

13. My Lady Gaga Pandora station to get me through obnoxious chores.

14. Jessica Chastain in Vogue.

15. Calculating the most perfect time-saving route home from work, however sinuous.

mike & ron

If you've read this blog or my Twitter for more than 2 seconds, it's pretty obvious that R and I are super into "Parks and Rec" and "Breaking Bad." Rightfully so! I mean, I consider myself more of a movie gal, but TV's kinda killing it these days!

I love both these shows for oceans of reasons, but entertainment takes on a special value when favorite things remind you of people you love, and admittedly I get really insufferably happy that two of my favorite characters remind me of my honey. So, if you've never watched those shows, Mike and Ron are like Richard. And if you've never met Richard, he's like Mike and Ron. Ron has die-hard proclivities towards red meat, scotch, and simplicity, and Mike's a "cleaner/fixer" who looks super adorable playing games with a 10-year-old girl. IT'S SO AWESOME.

Honestly, R is like a surreal hyper-conglomeration of lots of boys that I mildly obsess over (Bogie! Jay-Z! Rhett Butler! Rex Harrison! Atticus Finch!), so it's pretty safe to say we're not breaking up any time soon.

a few photos from thanksgiving

This year we had our Thanksgiving celebration at Darrah's. Food was plentiful, the littles were with us, and the Cowboys won---can't ask for more than that! 

Darrah had these little turkey crafts waiting for the kittens ("YOLO" means Ryan got in there, too. ;P)

Meggie and her DIY headdress. :)

Ryan and Sadie.

Em and R3 playing chess.

 We tried to get a good singular photo of all the kittens, and, well, between these two I think we got it. ;P