waaaaaaaay back in 2015, we celebrated some holidays. it's my favorite time of the year, and i used to let it get the best of me (remember 'christmas neck', longtime readers?) but i must say, the older i get, the better i manage it. just don't talk to me that last week of school before christmas break when i am balancing work, my checking account, what feels like ten christmas parties a day, teacher gifts and class funds.
i just love the traditions, the pomp, the food, family time, the decorations, and even the presents.
here's my holiday photo dump.
1) because i am neurotic and absolutely must buy a tree the weekend following thanksgiving, we bought another home depot tree this year since the rain thwarted our hopes of a trip to the tree farm. the boys were stoked, can't you tell? nobody's going to ruin my christmas spirit, dammit!
2) ben used to be my little christmas elf. but now at age seven-going-on-thirteen, he helps me decorate for short perionds of time, taking breaks to play on his ipad, eat snacks, and complain of being bored.
now this little dude is my elf. and somehow we have gone all these years without breaking more than a couple of ornaments. this year, however, crosby broke four. all by "accident".
bless his cute little heart.
2) dallas has really stepped up it's holiday game the past couple of years by hosting free concerts and tree lightings downtown. last year we saw the los lobos. this year, we saw polyphonic spree and ran into friends just in time for the fireworks show.
3) santa. neimans. downtown. best-ever.
we had to have the talk this year about how santa needs a lot of helpers to be in all of these places at the same time.
we have somehow avoided the "big" santa talk for another year. makes me want to cry.
4) the bonner/martin/knight/houze ladies lunched again as we do every year.
we spray perfume.
we pose for pictures.
we day-drink with our grandma. whatever.
it just might be my favorite holiday tradition.
don't tell the boys.
5) marcy is still inviting all of the miniture people over to destroy her house, decorate cookies and have dance parties on her bed.
we love her for it.
our group keeps growing, in numbers and in height.
6) we don't get to see chris' family as often as we would like to, but since they've retired and moved to georgia, they live a lot closer! they made a road trip to texas for christmas. and in return, texas welcomed them with bi-polar winter weather (aka 80 degree temps and tornado warnings).
.
nothing says family fun time like all piling into your closet during the tornado sirens.
while they were here, we were able to visit with chris' brother and his family.
our sister-in-law is an amazing cook and roasted a prime rib while matt frightened us all with knives. just kidding.
all i wanted was a cousin picture, but all i got were more photos of crosby with a finger in his nose.
i have plenty of those already.
7) look! a family picture! on christmas eve! it's a christmas miracle!
oh man, that food.
8) santa came! we even got santa his own tree this year, since the big tree is in an entirely different room than the fireplace. i feel like santa appreciated this thoughtfulness. he's a busy man and has no spare time to waste walking across a house to find a christmas tree.
9) pawpaw gave me some of my grandmother's christmas dishes after christmas last year, so i got to use them for the first time this christmas and it made my nerdy little christmas heart flitter-flutter. it's the simple things, people.
9) we rounded up our year with our normal new years eve tradition of spaghetti carbonara, wine and s'mores. i basically write this exact same post year after year, with the only difference being my children keep getting older. thanks for still reading anyway :)
10) and somewhere in that holiday mix, my dudes went to see star wars. twice. and it is all they have talked about since.
how are you? what have you been up to these days?
i am looking forward to going on a date tonight with my husband and eating delicious food at a new-to-us restaurant.
i would love to hear what you are looking forward to! thanks for reading.
love,
coco
