It's starting to feel a bit like Christmas...

I drove down today and picked up our boy.  He actually finished his two finals last week, so he doesn't even need to stay for finals week.  He has two essay's he needs to write, including an Anthropology essay on Phone Sex!   Ultimate frisbee class and final essay on Phone Sex... our tuition dollars at work.   Luckily he can submit the essays online, so he can just as easily do them at home as at school Yeah for us!  Brenna should be home next weekend, then we will be ready to celebrate!

Christmas in pictures

Christmas kinda snuck up on me this year.  I think getting the tree late and not decorating until even later made it feel like suddenly Christmas was just here..bam!  I also didn't get the last gifts until 2 days ago and got them wrapped at the last minute.  Anyway...was suddenly Christmas!  It was nice, John and I woke up about 7am and got up, I got breakfast in the oven, we had some coffee and the kids wandered down about 8am.

Traditional new pajama picture.

Santa didn't forget, brought plenty of loot.

The break between stockings and presents.  Zoey is worn out by all the excitement.

Sign for the Man Cabin

Big girl gifts for Brenna this year.  She got pots and pans and bath mats for her bathroom.  Of course, her real gift is her trip to Costa Rica in 2 days.

Zack got big boy clothes, running shoes, a new watch and a new wallet.  Big Boy gifts as well.

Man movies for the Man Cabin

Course it wouldn't be a Brenna celebration without some reference to bats and wine!

Really great haul for me... new running shoes, Star Trek salt and pepper shakers, a rowing t-shirt and a 2lb Rice Krispy treat that I am doing my damnedest to finish before the end of the day!

Even the pups got stockings!

Traditional Mt Burnside Feast.  Amazing food!

All in all, a very nice day.  Quiet and relaxing with good food, friends and wine to finish it off!  Couldn't ask for more!

Christmas Tree Hunt 2015

For the first time ever... we went hunting for our tree without our Brenna girl.  She's not coming home until Dec 19th and we just thought that was too late to wait to get the tree.

She may not be with us in body, but she's with us in spirit!

What do you think about this one Brenna?

Brenna holding our first choice tree, while we double check all out options.

This is it... the one... for 2015

Picking out the poinsettias

A sleigh ride together

We put the tree up, but will wait until Brenna gets home to decorate it.  She's in charge of lights and no one wants to do lights, so we have to wait for her anyway.  It's a good tree, nice and fat this year!

Things that make me happy - Dec version

A Pinterest craft - SUCCESS!

This makes me smile everyday at work!  Even Zombies like Christmas

An unexpected gift from a friend, so touching when they know you so well.

I completed a virtual 26.2 - Escape from the Shire race and got this amazeballs medal and the "one ring!"

An impulse buy that makes me smile everyday

Ugly sweaters at school!

Can't wait for winter break and Brenna to come home and for the relaxing and celebrating to begin!

The night the lights went out

       Ever since the kids have been old enough we've had a definite division of labor when it comes to putting up our Christmas tree.  We all go out together to the local nursery on the corner - find a tree, hopefully in 15 mins or less and get home before anyone can cry, get mad, get bored or pinch someone!  Once we get home, John and Zack unload the tree and get it into the stand, Brenna is in charge of lights and I generally make the emergency light trip to Target to replace the lights that WORKED when we packed them away, but at the whim of the almighty Light Gods, refuse to work now.  Brenna and Zack divide up the ornaments so that each can hang their favorite ones until they get bored or the lure of their electronics call to them and they wander off. I stand by and hang the Island of Misfit ornaments that no one wants to hang but still deserve to be on the tree.  Finally, I bribe the kids to please come down and help me hang the beads.  Usually, only Brenna feels guilty enough to help; Zack sometimes wanders through the living room and will toss a bead strand or two on the tree if I beg.  It's our system and it works for us.  At the end, we all gather to admire our beautiful tree.
        When it's time to take the tree down, everyone gathers together and we work like a well-oiled machine and get that tree taken down in a flash, there might even be singing....NOT! When it's time to take down the tree, it's like a ghost town in our house. But in all honesty, I don't really mind taking the tree down and putting everything away.  There's organizing and tidying and often throwing out of things, all of which make my soul happy.  Except for one thing....THE LIGHTS!  Oh the FREAKING LIGHTS!  I don't know what kind of messed up logic Brenna uses when she puts those lights on the tree and I don't know if she is consciously or unconsciously fucking with me, but those lights could not be any more tangled if she was winning a money prize!!  There is NO WAY to get those lights out of the tree without using an axe, scissors or a hacksaw.  I'm just so thankful that I no longer have little ears listening around corners!  I also think it is very interesting that Brenna always seems to disappear, this time she jetted off to Brazil, so I can't even text her to complain!  Smart Girl! :o)

Christmas 2013

Christmas came and went and it was very nice.  I still don't have my gifts to the family mailed yet, nor do I have our "christmas" letter written, but we enjoyed our family Christmas.  John and I were up at 615am, sitting around waiting for the kids to come down.  My how times have changed.  They did end up getting up about 715am, so we didn't have to wait to long for them.
We did all our traditional things, stockings first - then yummy breakfast pizza and finally the presents under the tree.  I think everyone enjoyed most of their presents.

Christmas Eve - traditional pajama presents

Waiting patiently for the kids to get up

This was the year of clothes for Zack.  Who would have thought that a 15 year old boy number one gift request would be clothes.  The boy has turned into quite the fashionista, he's very much into the swathers with button-down shirts under them.  Khaki flat front pants in different colors.  Even Brenna asked where he got his fashion style.. implying that I couldn't give him that ability?  Whatever… :o)  Truth be told, he is his own fashion man…  

Christmasy Cooper

Best Christmas present ever… Mr. Spock Bobble-head!  Because nothing says Merry Christmas like Mr. Spock!  Now he is sitting on my desk watching over my calendar and To Do list with all his Star Trek logic!

Christmas can wear a boy out!

Christmas can wear a Dad out!

We ended the day with our traditional Cul-de-sac Christmas.  I think this is the 3rd year at least that we've done Cul-de-sac Christmas.  This year we brought Honey Baked Ham, cornbread stuffing, glazed carrots and bite-sized apple pies.  There was so much food it was almost embarrassing.  The Prices made 2 turkeys.  We also had mashed potatoes, salad, zucchini casserole, sweet potatoes, pumpkin pie, chocolate pie, christmas cookies and it goes on and on and on!  I swear I was carrying around a 9lb food baby!   The kids including the big boys were running around like chickens with their heads cut off. The grownups hung out in the kitchen eating and laughing and gabbling.  It was a great way to end the night.   I'm just so thankful for our neighbors.  We were able to celebrate a "family" Christmas when none of us could be with our families.

Nothing says Christmas like an Ugly Sweater

On the last day of school they had an Ugly Sweater competition and while neither Zack or I won, it was great fun and I was pretty excited that Zack wanted to do it with me.  I ended up borrowing my sweater from the Tatums, but Zack and Brenna created his.  It was like a mini episode of Project Runway, but without any talented designers….

A work in progress

Somehow Zack missed out on the embarrassment gene, and just does whatever he wants and doesn't worry about it.  I love that about him.  I also love that he doesn't mind if I tag along or do something equally crazy.  

It's finally starting to look a bit like Christmas...

Last week I sadly had to send out this email to all our family….

Good Morning,
Just a quick note to let everyone know that not only will I most likely be sending out a MLK day letter instead of my annual Christmas letter, but the chances of any of you getting your Christmas gifts in time for Christmas are about the same as a snowball's chance in hell.   I actually have most of them down in the basement, but somehow my time keeps slipping away from me.   Let's just look at it this way... I am helping to extend the fun and excitement of Christmas just a little beyond the traditional time frame!  Yeah me!!

Know that we love you all and miss you all... and will eventually lift our heads out of the craziness that has become our lives and get to the post office!

Merry Christmas!
Julie

This is the first year that I've absolutely been so far behind the ball that I actually didn't get things done on time.  I always complain that I'm behind, but I've always found a way to make it all work.  This year, frankly I just gave up.  Between my new copy girl job and going to Crew practice everyday from 4-6pm, I just couldn't get it all done and I'm finally okay with it.

We did get the tree decorated, although it spent it's first week naked with only lights on it.  And actually I sorta liked it that way.  I think everyone has been so freaking worn out,  Brenna with finals and school, Zack with school and winter conditioning, me with work, winter conditioning, and house stuff and John with work - that none of us could summon the energy to get anything done.   We ended up doing a family vote - #1 - leave the tree naked with lights. #2 - naked with lights and add the beads, #3 - each pick out a few of our favorite ornaments and do minimal decorating.  #3 won and the tree looks just great.

The winner

Decorating the tree skirt

Zack - so excited about decorating

More decorating?

Finally…

Despite much lollygagging, and foot dragging we got the tree decorated and it looks beautiful.  I actually just finished wrapping all the gifts today, and I'm hoping to get some chocolate bark gifts made tomorrow and then  I'll be done.  We're doing Cul-De-Sac Christmas so all I need to make is stuffing, carrots and warm up the honey baked ham, piece of cake.  I have managed to work in some runs, but I'm ready for Christmas to be here and to be able to relax.  And I guess at some point work on my Martin Luther King Letter! :o)