Obligatory Christmas Recap

The day after Thanksgiving I sink into a deep obsession with very specific Christmas music - about 5% A Very She and Him Christmas, about 5% old Happy Christmas albums, and about 90% Transiberian Orchestra. I wrote about this problem last year.

The poor hubs doesn't complain too much since he knows it's completely temporary (I stop cold turkey the day after Christmas) but I also know he's relieved that it's over now.

So anyway, here's my Christmas recap! It was simply a grand ol' time, I'll let the pictures from various jolly celebrations speak for themselves. Enjoy! It may be the last pleasant thing you experience before we are thrown head first into the very worst part of the year - the bitter cold desolation of never ending misery, also known as the months of January and February. Was that too dramatic? I'm just saying my feelings, as the weather is forecast to be less than 0 degrees this week.

You should probably send help.

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I have no idea where I'm at with these 52 pictures lately or what week is what, but here's another one! Carry on, carry on. More Christmas photos coming soon, because I'm sure that nobody has seen enough holiday pictures yet. My mum made this lovely, classic dress for my baby girl!

Pastel Giraffe - Recent Work

I haven't posted any of my recent projects lately - here's one of them! If you'd like to stare into this guy's sweet droopy eyes forever, he's available as a print or a note card in my shop.

Hope the holiday plans and to-do lists aren't putting you over the edge! I'm determined to survive! I even finished all my Christmas shopping yesterday, which is a milestone event for me because usually I'm a save everything until the last minute - panic - not get things there on time - panic some more - shop on Christmas Eve while panicking kinda gal.

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I've found an excellent way to combat these cold winter days and I absolutely need to tell you about it. If you follow these simple steps, stepping out into the frozen Minnesota tundra will not be as bad as you remember it being before you had children. First when you are getting ready to go somewhere, you wrestle your toddler into all of her winter gear. Try not to lose your cool when she takes off her boots for the fourth time. Then you put on all of YOUR winter gear, but realize you don't know where your keys are. Then you frantically search the entire house as fast as you can (make sure you are running late at this point - it makes you sweat more), getting more and more frustrated for the next 5-10 minutes. Then, realize that the keys have been in your sweatshirt pocket all along, bite back the colorful language threatening to spill from your mouth, put your toddler back in to all of the winter clothes that she's long since taken off, and by the time you run out the door you will be so hot and flustered that the chilling cold air will be a welcome, refreshing breeze on your face.

There. You're welcome.

...If you don't have a toddler at home, putting on all your winter gear and then losing your keys when you are already running late should be enough to work up a sweat on it's own.

Thanksgiving and Christmas and also Sledding

I wanted to share some pictures from our Thanksgiving/early Christmas celebration with the hubs' family. Because two weeks later is better than nothing! Is what I always say. And when I say always I mean not usually.

There was of course lots of driving. My favorite parts of the the driving were Brian reading Hop on Pop in Arnold Schwartzenneger's voice and also when we had been singing Old MacDonald for so long (Paisley cried every time we tried to stop) that we ran out of normal animals and started including electric eels, Minnesotan tourists, and Octopi. Making electric eel noises with your husband - it doesn't get more romantic than that.

My least favorite parts of all the driving were the icy roads and the part where the toddler puked. Gross.

And there was of course lots of delicious food! And there were games to be played and kitties to be snuggled and presents to be opened and snow pants to be laboriously pulled on. Paisley discovered that she really really really loves sledding. And swinging. But she already knew the part about the swinging. The only thing that could end her heartbreak after being lifted off of the orange car swing that Grandpa put up for her was to be sent down the driveway in the sled.

I took lots of sledding pictures. I also took at least fifty pictures of chickadees but I decided to only post one so that you will still be my friend.

Turkey turkey gobble gobble! 

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I'll just say it, I'll just say it. I'm incredibly behind on blogging. Here's last week's pic of Paisley - this was her posing as a marshmallow over at Brian's parent's house during Thanksgiving week, out in the grand depths of Wisconsin. Before the weather took such an incredibly bitter turn for the worst.

I promise to write more this week! Since we've talked there's been traveling, sledding, horrible stomach bugs, snow storms, colds (and so the inevitable booger battles), new pastel pieces, ice cream, Christmas decorating, and countless partially watched episodes of Community. And more things that aren't coming into my head right now.

Ok talk soon!