a loaded box

Somehow, between the crafting and the card addressing and the cookie baking and the shopping (and more shopping and more shopping) .... I fell behind on Christmas blogging.  Not that I think anyone noticed, but I noticed, and my blog book will notice when there's nada on Christmas 2012 to be read if I don't get it together and do a massive Christmas post.  So, my Christmas catch-up, before the year is through.  (Loaded box = a gift box my mom crams like five gifts into because the gift piles would otherwise be uneven.  One box = one gift!  We love a loaded box.)

Let's just start with this golden nugget, shall we?

all three looking, zero crying, nobody blinking.
a christmas miracle!

Now, back to the beginning.  The weekend after Thanksgiving, as is tradition, we decorated.  More lights, I exclaimed, all the livelong day, between cranking Pandora's Britney Spears Christmas Song station and chugging peppermind mochas.  J was a good sport about it all, though.  See?

j brings my christmas porch vision to real life.
feigns excitement.

chester wants attention.

With my parents, we did the Polar Express.  It was so. much. fun.  Damn near magical.

this is an awful picture, lighting-wise.
whatever.
cute babies!

lovey wasn't allowed in the picture.
utter devastation.
#viviproblems

fine have your freakin' lovey, i'll just crop it out!

oh, my.
precious, no?

ready to board!

bug, grandpa & mommo

a train omg it's a traiiiiiiiiiin!

The Christmas card display.  A work of art, if you ask me.  A stupid stick on the stupid wall, if you ask J.  Whatever, J.

this thing was massive by christmas.
a big, massive, display of awesomeness.

Then, the neighborhood Christmas party.  Somehow, despite being neighborhood residents a collective four months, my friend Emily and I ended up in charge of planning and hosting the neighborhood children's Christmas party.  Meaning, we went to a volunteer meeting after polishing a bottle of wine off at my house.  And woke up the next morning like "OMG SO WE DID WHAT, NOW?!?"  And then, we suckered our other friend Jamie into hosting the thing at her house, because her house is a Christmas wonderland and she's a really good sport.

faketwins, ready to party.
mabel needs to learn to stand so she can participate in front porch photos.

so fortunate to find good friends everywhere we go.
jamie, yours truly, emily

homeboy's wondering how much santa knows about his recent behavior.

just before she spiked a fever and went home in tears.
fah la la la la!

There was yet another party I volunteered to help with, and no wine to blame for this one.  The preschool Christmas party needed a helper, and I don't do "no" real well.  And it was so fun.  I mean, hello cuties?

yeah, i made that snowman/snowball game.
i just didn't sleep last month, like, ever.

I brought these asshole reindeer cookies along.  I don't care WHAT Pinterest tries to tell you, there's nothing simple and easy about prying apart Nutter Butters and spreading more peanut butter inside and dipping the whole thing (EVENLY) in chocolate and sticking a stick up the rear to make it a cookie pop, and that's all before you even decorate its' stupid reindeer face and attach some stupid pretzel antlers.

next year, i bring a freaking veggie tray.

Right about here is where I'd put some pictures of Anderson being all kinds of Christianly adorable as a donkey in the preschool Christmas play .... but he barfed.  Like, just as the in laws and I were about to load up in the car to meet J and my parents at the program, the preschool called and was all "RED ALERT!  WE'VE GOT BARF HERE!  COME GET YOUR BARFER!"  Womp, womp.

The week of Christmas, Mimi and Papaw came.  (AKA, the aforementioned in laws.)  Such a good time.  Can we talk about how cute they are, being good sports while we froze their Texan bones with a ranch tour by gator?  VERY good sports.  Cute sports, too.

We also made it to the mall.  See photo 1: Mall Santa.  If you're still with me.  HELLO, ANYBODY?  On the way into the mall, we ran into a bell ringer who looked pretty gosh darned familiar.  Only my father in law, I tell you, would ask for an apron and spend some time outside ringing a bell (in a fancy battery operated hat he ran down to Hallmark to buy), just on a whim.

vivi has no idea why i'm taking her picture with the bell ringer.
not even kidding.
NO IDEA WHO IT IS.
(oh, v.)

Inside, Mabel was pretty curious about this whole Santa setup.

Christmas Eve.  We went to the ranch.  Family, food, gifts, sledding, and a game of Monopoly where nobody ended up in tears.  I took zero pictures, pretty much.  Oh, except this one on my iPhone of me drinking wine in my fabulous moose mug.

Christmas morning.  It all happened too fast to set my camera properly and get good pictures, but hey, I was more concerned with enjoying the moment than properly playing the role of historian.  And enjoy it, I did.  So much joy.

Christmas afternoon brought a sleigh ride.  A new tradition, I hope, because it was so fun and scenic and oh-so-Colorado.

horse butt photo bomb.

Phew!  That about does it, I think.  And now, we're on to making things new as the new year looms.  A living room makeover we wrapped up today (paint drying as I type), a contractor coming this week to bust out our hall closet and create a more attractive entry, and new storage solutions to neaten up the house.  (Likesuchas the new crates I painted for V's room, because she's a sparkle hoarder whose sparkly things were EVVVVVERYWHERE.)

Tomorrow, 2012 in review.  Then hello to 2013!  Unbelievable.  It's been a wild year, 2012 has, and that's putting it lightly.