may your days be {merry} and bright

{insert witty christmas title here}

trusting everyone had a wonderful and restful holiday season.  restful and holiday.  that almost made me giggle.  we are still in the holiday season here.  that sounds better than saying recovery, right? taking it slow.  as possible.  enjoying the christmas lights.  still.  easing into routine.

our festivities looked a lil' bit like this...

cookies {oatmeal chocolate chip, to be exact} were made for christmas-light-ridin' and santa. 

it's all fun and games till gracie takes a pic of mom, playing with the new lens.  50mm.  lovin' it!  the lens, not the pic.  no make-up and a 3 second bun are musts for cooking, yes? ...yes?

keepin' it real.  you're welcome. 

the important thing is that they were proud of their creations.

santa realized santa wouldn't be able to unload someone's christmas present and have it wrapped under the tree before picking up a certain someone from the airport.  who could?  i mean... when two muscle men had to grunt while loading it in the sleigh.  wowzers.

a certain someone was texted {that's a word, right?} to say merry christmas... and hoped a certain someone and their boss didn't have much luggage to add to the vehicle.

he loved the toolbox!  yay.  now it's time to finish organizing that garage.  fun... sarcasm.  check.

a sibling christmas eve gift exchange is a much anticipated tradition.  nator received the 3 in 1 cabin legos.  gracie, a stuffed pinkie pie... which resulted in a happy-hug-tackle. chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast may need to become a yearly tradition.

the girls gasped with excitement at their much coveted {and retired} american girl dolls.  nator received samantha and kirsten {thanks to mama finding a few great deals on ebay over the summer}, and gracie received felicity and elizabeth.



we cleared away {most of} the mess and started our road-trip.
arriving at granny's, just in time to share christmas evening with 19 total.  roger that.  then we met the rest of the fam further down the bayou.

a little time with family...

distance makes it a challenge to stay close.  sometimes, i really don't like that part... but the kiddos warmed up to each other again, just fine.

before we left louisiana, we watched brees set a new record.  woot.  {if you can't beat 'em, join 'em, right?  i'm starting to get into this football thing.  maybe.}  gracie's favorite part was watching granny get excited, raising her voice {kicking a leg or two} at the action on tv.  granny loves football.  just a little. ;)

i'm signing out of this novel now.  maybe by the time february rolls around, i'll have you up to date with january.  and christmas decorations will be down.  one can hope.

merry christmas and happy new year, y'all

praying you and your family have a wonderful holiday season.  share lots of laughter, eat happy food, and make priceless memories with the ones you love.

and try not to have a...

because we'll...

december {so far}

hi.  remember us?  we've been just a tad busy.  
but i'm sure we're not the only ones. ;)

things to remember...

decorating cute lil' houses with our homeschool group.

we decided to let this take the place of our annual gingerbread house decorating at home... this year.

fun with the lego advent calendar.

shining moments on stage.  these girlies have grown leaps and bounds.  so proud of them!  not bias at all.  nope.

we met prince charming.  he really can be found at a grocery store.  and he's a nut... cracker, that is.

snuggles with jazzy.  this dog cracks me up.  she and gracie are two peas in a pod.  really.

girlies trying to figure out which number belongs to them {we numbered the gifts instead of naming them this year}. 

my birthday.  but not much time for celebrating this year.  

life calls.

mama wore her #1 MOM pin.  she may have forgotten it was there... and wondered why the moms at theater were calling her #1 mom.  *blush*

making {lots of} caramel popcorn for gifts.
gracie sewing lil' pillows for barbies.



busy hands.
full hearts.
curriculum on pause.
tired... all over.



daddy's grillin'.
checkin' the naughty/nice meter.
wooden doll crafts.
playing with rhinestones and iphone apps {photofunia}.
trampoline fun... while waiting for cold weather.

16 dance classes. 

3 theater practices. 

6 theater performances.

1 dance competition team performance.

2 dance christmas parties.

4 piano lessons.

1 piano christmas recital.

1 spontaneous family-photo-shoot.

1 homeschool christmas party.

a scrooge production, starring one of our best friends. 

a christmas production, at our local collage.

a hubby's company christmas party {on the same night as dance and theater performances}.

hubby out of town two weeks in a row.

this week, we are in recovery mode.

watching a lot of christmas shows, while mass-producing hats.

all before we do more last minute shopping...

after we pick up hubs from the airport.

holiday crowds make me sweaty.

christmas-day-countdown is in FULL. swing. here at the family team.

you?

remembering {the alamo}

{finally} the end of our thanksgiving vacation.  you know... so we can blog about reality our current life.

one cannot go to san antonio without walking through this piece of history.



we opted to make a day of it.  
our traditional walk through the alamo itself.  no pictures allowed inside.

a trip to the disney store.



a ride through the riverwalk.
riverwalk + christmas lights = a great way to ring in the christmas season. 

end of the day celebrated at the hard rock cafe'.



this year, we threw in a little education torture.
we made our way through the wax museum and...

ripley's believe it or not.  i guarantee that's a stop our girls will remember for years to come.  the girls were mostly eager to find the exit sign.  i don't blame them.  they really should post signs for parents of what's around the corner. ;)

my favorite room was dedicated to the titanic.  the picture below shows a demonstration of the leak that took the titanic down.  unbelievable. 

we rewarded the girls with a lil' ice cream.  we're cool like that.



after we said goodbye to our room, it was time to make a mad-dash home.  just in time for theater rehearsal.  that's how we've been rolling lately.

i wanted to remember these circles in the carpet.  gracie walked on these {only} getting to and from our room.  seeing life through a spunky 9 year old is always exciting.



souvineers in hand, we had to say good-bye.
or see you later.  back to reality.

until next time...

a moderate ride {day 3}

if your children are not the ride-ridin' type, an amusement park is a must-stop when you go on a lil' family vacay.  make sense, no?



at least there's the water-gun-shootin'-game-thingy. winners and non-winners win a cape.  super powers might be attached.  it's a win-win.  

there's the car that runs on a track.  employees still have to check for fastened seat-belts when these lil' minors are driving.  safety first.



and these famous looney tunes.   gracie's favorite part.   gracie gave bugs bunny the 'call-me' hand signal.  he returned the signal to her... then gave me the 'call-me' hand signal.  

and that was the day hubs almost knocked bugs bunny out.  we kid.  maybe.



nator drove her first car.  no guidance from a track.  just railings.  of which she only bumped into once, while looking up for me.  not bad for a first drive, right?  gracie was happy riding as daddy's co-pilot. 



nator wanted to upgrade from the beloved 'shamu express' at sea world and try a moderate ride at fiesta texas.  she chose the large rocking boat.  during which, she vowed not to ever try again and determined rides were not in her dna.

i seem to be the only willing-coaster-rider {well, so long as it doesn't spin side-ways} in my family, yet i don't have a riding partner.  truthfully, the older i get, the less attractive they look.  the rockin' boat almost did me in when i looked sideways at hubs and gracie below.

the ferris wheel,  the one ride the girlies will ride, is about our speed.  so long as the girls don't look down.



okay.  secret's out.  i married a pirate and gave birth to a neon-colored-wanna-be hippie. 

gift shops... and the traditional lighting of christmas tree, being ushered in by carolers {who are not afraid to sing about jesus}, fireworks, and looney tunes?  those are always welcome.  and fun.  

but a night-cap at the macaroni grill?  yum. mo.

i suggested skipping the amusement park next time since we don't do rides.  gracie said, "but moooom, the looney tunes show!"

so... is coaster-riding in your dna? ;)

a traditional {thanks}giving

if you follow my instagram, you already know we didn't have a "traditional" thanksgiving.

it seems we've developed a different tradition 'round here.
thanksgiving = shamu.

we bought passes to sea world and fiesta texas last year that were to expire the weekend of our trip.  that, combined with hubby's hotel points made it a fairly budget-friendly family vacation this year.



our room{s} were quite posh.  yes, plural.  hubs booked the girls a room {with 2 double beds} that adjoined to ours, via a sitting room.  i told you it was posh.  down-right swanky, if you will.  i mean, i finally got to try a 'rain shower'.  in 3.5 seconds, i realized it wouldn't be at the top my list in dream home necessities.  kinda like showering under a waterfall? {not that i've ever done that} but i like to breathe. 



our first day was spent driving to our destination, then getting re-acquainted with sea world for a few hours.  we {heart} sea world.



day two, thanksgiving day, was spent watching some of the macy's day parade in our rooms, then we headed out to black-eyed pea for their thanksgiving menu... with all of the other families who didn't cook. ;)  the only down side is that you can't snack on leftovers later.

we did our go-'round-the-table-and-tell-us-what-you're-thankful-for tradition.  basically, everyone is thankful for everything.  gracie made sure to let us know that she was least thankful for... having to eat a few bites of turkey. we're such mean parents. ;) 



we spent the rest of the day at sea world.  again.
gracie trying to eat over-sized candy canes. 
seeing faces in trees.  do you see it?
meeting mistletoe-man.
waiting for shamu, while enjoying christmas tunes via saxophone... played by tobey mcguire. at least that's what i thought about him.  who doesn't love a good saxophone?  *sigh*



we had to visit our friend from last year.  the king penguin.  i love their waddle.  and bad hair days {you know, when they lose their feathers} *giggle*  nator has a thing for penguins.  all birds, really.  i have a thing for her.  she's a cutie.  and oh so smart.

then there were the sea lion pups.  oh. so. adorable.

we watched a handful of shows.  shamu being my fave, as always.  thus we watched it twice. {i love when the animals decide they want to play in the big tanks near the audience... instead of rotating to the back pens during the show.  it's a show-stopper. literally. cute. well, when the babies do it, that is.} 

drank hot chocolate late in the evening when it cooled off. listened to christmas music.

gracie's faaaaavorite was feeding and especially petting a dolphin.  you would have thought she had met justin beiber in person.  her dolphin's name was nikki.  full of adorable personality.

now she wants a dolphin.
we told her we'd put it right next to that horse she wants.

it would be easier for them to {one day} work at sea world.
that's always something they dream of when we visit.



who knows... when my day-job changes, i may send a resume' to sea world myself. i'm used to working with animals, you know?

day 3 of our trip to come...
see.  traditional, right?

counting blessings

our most recent weekend was not the family-fun-errand-outing-weekend we're used to upon hub's return home from... where did you go again this time, hun?  indianapolis?  i think that's it. 

gracie's symptoms hit her harder thursday night.  an early flu?  nothing a little knowledge and run to the vitamin store couldn't tackle.  friday morning, we retrieved hubs from the airport.  needless to say, friday and saturday were good times.  did i mention hubs was sick, too?  yeah.  poor guy.  no grillin' goin' on in our hizz-ay over the weekend. 

my poor momma and wifey heart.

thankfully, nator was well... and eager to help.  she's a handy girlie to have around.  nurturing seems an innate quality in this little bundle of joy.  she's gonna make a wonderful wifey and mother... one day. 

sunday, theater called a 4 hour rehearsal.  we tucked dad in at home, while nator and i tucked gracie in at the theater.  she was feeling well enough to watch and say a few lines.

we also got word from a dear family member that their health is potentially more serious than your momentary flu.  sometimes, life just seems unfair.  it's hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel in those moments.

i have to be reminded that they are just that.  moments.  

it's up to me as to how i react.  i know that.  but sometimes... well, i honestly want to throw a good two-or-three-year-old-tantrum.  our hearts are tempted to become anxious.



then... i'm reminded of his goodness.  god's goodness.  and all that he's done for us already.  for starters, the gift of his son.  it's all perspective, really.

light is to darkness, as thankfulness is to complaint.


so this holiday season, while we are working on a stuff-mart list of wanted-fun-items under the tree, we also remember what's important.  the needed things that can never be wrapped...


pure love.  cherished family memories.  hugs till you can't breath.  laughter till your tummy hurts.  health.  wellsprings of patience.  trust.  kindness.  honesty.  true beauty.  perseverance.  close friendship.  seeing the goodness in others... and yourself.  hope for what is to come.  child-like faith.  compassion.  loyalty.  and joy... unspeakable joy.

and may you have it all.  pressed down, shaken together, and running over.  completely full. 

counting blessings.  as numerous as the stars.  

or christmas lights.

we three {trees}

it twas a weekend of christmas-decoration-bliss.  for our trees, anyway.  dusting off bags and containers taking residence in the attic.  yay for husbands who are home to help pull those down! ;)

we played christmas music.  one lil' girl wanted to play something else, but she was out-voted.  i mean... how can one decorate for christmas without christmas music?



mom adorned the tree with its usual bows, ribbon, and large snowflakes.  it was up to the girls to do the rest.  they were more than ready.  mom was relieved when help was needed to hang one ornament on top.  when did they get so tall?  and learn to not put all the ornaments on one branch?

children just put a little something extra in the holidays.  i love looking at everything... life, in general, through their eyes.  such excitement. 

frosty, mickey and minnie are waiting in great anticipation to see what will be under the tree this year...

and not to be outdone, the girls have their own trees.  one little gracie is hoping santa will remember them all...

that $-tree in the backyard better start producing.  and quick.  otherwise, santa will be visiting just one tree. as he does every year. ;)

 {doncha just looove pinterest?!}

so thankful to be in stage #1. what?  which stage did you think i was in?  rhetorical question, of course.

next... 'the pretty tree', as the girls call it.  but if you've seen last year's decorations, you've already seen it.  really, it looks the same.  

creature of habit... or budget.