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Christmas break is officially over and I’m vacillating between all the stages of grief. It felt like two weeks absolutely flew by and, although I really do feel like we took full advantage of the break, it still doesn’t feel like it was long enough. I would like one or six more weeks of staying up late watching Parenthood and sleeping until sometime that is significantly later than 7 a.m.

But I realize you can’t live in vacation mode forever. Mainly because I’ve now made three batches of homemade Chex Mix and I’m not sure my digestive system can take much more of my holiday food groups which consist of sugar, butter, and a side of sugar. Although I did make some banana pudding just a little while ago in what I believe to be a culinary swan song to Christmas vacation. Plus it felt like the right thing to do in light of Downton Abbey starting again. You know Mrs. Patmore can probably make a mean banana pudding even though I’m not sure she had access to many bananas. Food history isn’t really my forte.

We had a fun New Year’s Eve at Gulley’s house. Our friend Jamie and her family came in from Dallas and Gulley picked up Mexican food and we all just hung out, watched football and let the kids set off some fireworks that are probably not legal in the city limits. Speaking of football, the Aggies…nevermind. Let us not speak of any more football for the time being.

None of us made it until midnight because we are at a point in life where we realize there’s no shame in welcoming the new year at 10:00 a.m. the next morning. Which is pretty much what we did. Jamie and her crew got to our house on New Year’s morning and P cooked us all breakfast tacos before we packed up and headed to the ranch for the day. Gulley and her guys had other plans, but Caroline was more than happy to show Jamie’s city boys the ropes down south.

It was a cold, rainy day so we spent a lot of time hanging at the house and shooting at targets from the front porch. And taking pictures.

We did drive around a little bit and saw a few deer, some rabbits, and a bunch of cattle. And then as soon as it got dark, we broke out the fireworks that Trevor and P had bought earlier that day.

It was decidedly not safe. There were fireworks going off everywhere and, long story short, P set off something called Air Force Attack that I have no doubt got that name because sparks fly everywhere and you literally feel that you might be under attack. And then we wrapped the whole show up with the grand finale firework called Lord Of War. Because that sounds harmless.

Of course the kids thought it was awesome. And Jamie and I mostly enjoyed watching them have fun with the exception of the sound of 100 shot Saturn Missiles that I will continue to hear in my head through the remainder of 2016. We did our best to take a quick group selfie (a groupie?) before we headed back to San Antonio.

Don’t be jealous of my sweet hat.

Saturday was cold and rainy all day long. We slept in (Actually, Caroline and I slept in. P got up to go to a gun show. As you do.) and then I was ambitious enough to do two loads of laundry before I decided to shower, put on a clean pair of pjs, and sit by the fire watching football the rest of the day. Don’t worry, I made sure to stretch and stay hydrated.

We stayed up to watch TCU make one of the greatest bowl comebacks ever later that night and then it was a rude awakening when P woke me up at 7:45 a.m. Sunday morning to get ready for church. And even ruder when he mentioned that Monday morning was going to feel even worse.

But I thoroughly enjoyed church once I had a gallon of coffee and was at least 65% functional and then we had a lazy afternoon that was made even better knowing that I had Pioneer Woman’s slow cooker chicken tortilla soup in the crockpot.

I have kind of sworn off crockpot recipes over the last few months because I’ve decided they all start to taste and smell the same and sometimes the meat seems weird. But, listen, this could just be me. I also believe they were eating a lot of banana pudding at Downton Abbey and the truth is I just make this stuff up in my head as I go along. Maybe they also ordered Pizza Hut delivery on the nights Mrs. Patmore wasn’t up to cooking. BLASPHEMY!

Anyway, crock pot. I love the idea but just not always the execution. I think I like a dutch oven in the oven better. All that being said, the chicken tortilla soup was a winner, mainly because you don’t have to actually touch the raw chicken. In fact, I just made up a new phrase to describe it “WINNER WINNER CHICKEN DINNER”.

Except I didn’t make that up.

And I don’t know anything about the history of banana pudding.

And I’m also thinking it’s more likely that Mrs. Patmore made figgy pudding. Although I’m basing that solely on the lyrics from We Wish You a Merry Christmas.

Basically, what I’m trying to say is the new Miss Universe is Miss Colombia.

We had ourselves a nice little Christmas over here and I decided I better write about it before it’s 2016 and all a distant memory. And considering that most days where I put my car keys five minutes earlier counts as a distant memory, I’m sure I’ve already forgotten a few things.

The weekend before Christmas we went to Bryan to visit Honey and Big and go to an Aggie basketball game. We had a great time and got home early Monday afternoon and I immediately made a big grocery store list since we were out of all of our normal stuff along with needing things required for Christmas such as massive amounts of butter and sugar. In fact, by the time I was almost finished at HEB, my cart was so full that it qualified as a menace to fellow shoppers. I could barely navigate it and had various things falling out at every turn.

On Monday evening, Mimi and Bops took Caroline and my niece, Sarah, to the Riverwalk to eat dinner and look at the lights. I would have gone with them but I’d already made an appointment to get my hair colored so I opted for a Christmas with no gray hair over looking at the lights.

The next few days were a haze of baking, cooking, wrapping presents and staying up way too late watching movies. Caroline and I spent almost all day Wednesday making our traditional cinnamon rolls and that’s when it dawned on me that Christmas with a big kid is sorely underrated. There are no tantrums or crashes from sugar highs or red and green sprinkles all over the kitchen floor and instead it’s like you have your very own Keebler elf who knows how to roll out cinnamon roll dough and cover it with butter and sugar and cut it carefully to place in pans.

It’s like a Christmas miracle.

On Christmas Eve we had our very first Community Worship Christmas Eve service and I have to say that it was so great even though I failed to take even one single picture to commemorate the occasion. Afterwards, we went to Mimi and Bops’s house to open presents with my sister and her family and eat tamales.

Another overlooked feature of Christmas with a big kid is that some of them sleep late on Christmas morning as opposed to flying out of their room at 4:30 a.m. and trying to convince you that counts as morning. Caroline slept in until almost 10:00 a.m. and then we drank coffee and ate breakfast as we looked at what Santa had delivered the night before.

Please note that table-top soccer foosball table. That was a last minute addition to Santa’s bag of toys and I hear that it took him over an hour and a half to put together and caused his back to get so stiff that he could hardly stand upright to walk to bed later that night. Bad call, Santa.

Of course he also brought a selfie stick and a bag of photo booth props that we all enjoyed.

Then we opened the rest of our presents.

This was the year we turned the corner from toys to clothes and electronics.

We spent the rest of the day enjoying our time together. Caroline gave me a full makeover that included an unfortunate experiment with liquid eyeliner and sparkly blue eyeshadow. All photographic evidence of this has been destroyed. And, finally, later that evening I decided to at least be productive enough to sweep up all the red glitter that seemed to be multiplying all over our living room floor. We ate gumbo even though it was 75 degrees outside and then watched It’s A Wonderful Life.

I can’t even remember what happened on Saturday because I think I blacked out due to all the sugar and butter and spiced pecans and homemade Chex Mix. True story, I ate enough Chex Mix that it made the inside of my mouth hurt. That’s either a high or a low point.

On Sunday the weather finally cooled off and Caroline was thrilled to get to wear the new fleece her Gigi bought her for Christmas.

Of course I was so saddened about the terrible weather later that night and the horrible devastation in Dallas. Sending so many thoughts and prayers to folks there as they begin to put the pieces back together.

I hope you all had a nice Christmas and are ready for 2016. I’m not even sure yet how 2015 managed to go by so fast, but here we are about to turn the page on a new year. Or swipe to 2016 on the calendar on our phones. Either way, I hope you have a happy one.

**Edited to add that Caroline’s boots are the Sam Edelman Penny boots. You can find them here at Nordstrom.

I can’t say for sure that I won’t post anything over the next week or so, but I do know that I want to enjoy this Christmas holiday to the absolute fullest. Carpe Diem and all that jazz. But before I go, I just wanted to share two things.

First, if you happen to find yourself in San Antonio or somewhere nearby on Christmas Eve, we are having our very first Christmas Eve service at Community Worship. It will be fun, laid-back and casual if you’re looking for something along those lines. We meet at Turner Production Studios at 8126 Broadway and the service will be from 5-6 with the option of coming at 4:30 for Christmas cookies, coffee and hot chocolate. We will all pretend that it’s not 82 degrees outside.

Secondly, there’s this.

I need you to please note how happy Mabel was to wear those antlers. It just goes to show that beneath her poet’s soul lies the heart of a gal who enjoys some wacky antics. Meanwhile, Piper seems to be thinking there aren’t enough pieces of cheese in the world to endure being dressed as a reindeer.

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas. I hope it’s filled with so much love and light.

“For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”

Isaiah 9:6

Sophie and I finally found time to record a new podcast on Friday morning. We’ve both been so busy with all manner of things that it’s been hard to align our schedules. In fact, she emailed me this week and said she felt terrible that she didn’t know I had a “stank smell” in my house until she read it on the blog. But that’s just December, you know?

Anyway, we talk about Christmas, how to cook a steak in a cast iron skillet, what we’re cooking for Christmas, Aggie football, Star Wars and other assorted things. Rumor has it that Travis recorded some Christmas songs for us at the end. That alone will make this one worth a listen.

You can click here to listen. Or here. You can even listen right here on the blog.

Or, as always, you can subscribe on iTunes.

I’m not sure where the month of December has gone but it has raced by. And I can’t believe we’re just a week away from Christmas. But I’m excited that Caroline is officially out for Christmas break and looking forward to days of pjs and baking cinnamon rolls and just spending time together with no schedule.

Here are some cute things I found this week:

1. cowled cableneck pullover

Anthropologie is offering 40% off all sweaters with the code GETCOZY and free ship with $100 purchase until Saturday and this sweater has been at the top of my list. It comes in several different colors and its super soft and long enough to wear with leggings.

2. winnie slipper boots

How cute are these? I wear my Uggs around the house, but I would totally switch to these if given the chance.

3. jo malone wood sage and sea salt cologne

I realize this isn’t really a fashion item, but I am in love with this right now and felt the need to share. All of the scents are incredible but this one is my favorite.

4. quilted flippy dress

I saw three different people wearing this dress in the last week and loved it every time. So I finally asked someone where they got it and they told me Loft. Best of all, it’s $34.88 plus another 40% off with no code needed at checkout. (However, it is final sale so keep that in mind.)

5. curved cables poncho

This is another cute Anthropologie sweater which means it’s 40% off right now. It also comes in several colors.

6. fringed sunrise poncho

And this also falls in the sweater category at Anthropologie. I am so drawn to this bright mustard color right now and think this would look so great with jeans and boots.

7. hue faux leather leggings

I can’t see leather pants without thinking about Ross Gellar. Maybe we would all be better off sticking to faux leather leggings. These are on sale for $38.86 and would be perfect if you have plans for New Year’s Eve that don’t include being in your pajamas by 9 p.m.

8. I glam hardly believe it blazer

Free People always has jackets that look like this but for twice the price. And I love how they put them with skirts or jeans or even with a great dress. This is really versatile and comes in a couple of different color options.

9. countryside capers top

This would be great with leggings and paired with a scarf. And it would also transition well to white jeans and sandals for spring.

10. down the boulevard pendant necklace

I love necklaces like this and this one is a great price and would be so versatile.

That’s it for today.

Have a great Friday.

This almost didn’t happen this year. Between traveling and life and bad smells under my house, I just didn’t know when we’d find the time. And, granted, we are pushing it because you may have to order some of this with expedited shipping to get it in time for Christmas. Or you may have to venture out to your local outdoors store to see if you can buy it in person.

Just remember that most outdoor stores sell kettle corn and homemade lemonade outside. So when life hands you lemons, buy some lemonade.

You will notice some of these are the same as last year’s suggestions which just means they are perennial favorites. If I knew how to do any kind of fancy graphic I would stamp them with P’s seal of approval.

1. under armour flats guide II fishing shirt

This is P’s favorite fishing shirt, hands down. And he’s tried them all. There is also a short-sleeve version if you think that might be better.

2. L.A. police gear operator L2 lumens flashlight

While he still loves the Surefire flashlights, he discovered this more affordable flashlight option this year. He says he can’t totally vouch for its long-term durability and “wouldn’t take it into a war”, but it works really well outside of war zone situations apparently.

3. surefire titan led keychain flashlight

This is one of his favorites because it’s just a good, small flashlight that you can carry around for everyday use. Maybe I should get one to help me find my car keys that always find their way to the bottom of my purse.

4. mad bomber rabbit fur hat

Back off, ladies. He’s mine.

But you can buy your significant other this hat. RV and cigar not included.

4. outdoor edge swing blade outdoor edge knife

I bet P owns 456 knives, many of which he’s had since childhood. He likes this knife but mentioned a couple of others depending on your price range and cutlery needs.

He also likes this knivesofAlaska trekker whitetail/GH combo that he received as a gift a few years ago. He said it will flat cut some stuff up.

And also recommends this columbia river knife and tool m16 which is what he carries everyday. Because, you know, everyone needs an everyday knife to go with their everyday flashlight.

4. leupold vx-3 scope boone & crockett

A good scope is pricey and so this falls on the high-end of the spectrum. I would never even attempt to buy P a scope for an occasion unless he wrote all the specifics down for me. But maybe you’re braver than me. Or maybe you could start a subtle conversation with, “So if you were going to buy yourself a scope…?”

He says any of the Leupold VX series are good scopes.

5. camelbak hydration backpack

This would be a great gift for any sportsman in your life. They come in various sizes and styles depending on your hydration needs.

6. princeton tec fuel headlamp

You don’t even want to know how many headlamps we have at our house. I will tell you it’s more than the number of heads who live here.

7. warthog knife sharpener

Okay, I have to say this is the best knife sharpener ever. We’ve had ours for years and we use it to sharpen all our knives.

8. smartwool socks

We love our Smartwool socks around here. They aren’t cheap but they keep your feet warm and dry. Perfect for everyday use or hiking or hunting or shopping.

9. north face quarter zip fleece

This is a great gift because it’s super soft, totally comfortable and not bulky. It’s perfect to wear indoors and out.

10. GoPro camera

P doesn’t have one of these. And I don’t know if he wants one. But Gulley’s husband has one and uses it all the time to record hunting trips, sporting events, fishing trips, etc. I always think it’s really cool.

11. UV Buff

Every now and then I’ll post a pic of P from a fishing trip and someone will invariably ask if he’s wearing a scarf. The answer to that question is always no.

This is what he wears. He wears them hunting, fishing, and pretty much any time he is outdoors because he has a lot of sun damage on his neck and this protects it. They also make them in merino wool for cold weather.

12. klean kanteen insulated beverage bottle

I nearly called this a water bottle, but P corrected me and it’s a BEVERAGE bottle. And I have to say that it is the best beverage bottle ever. It truly keeps hot things hot and cold things cold for a long time. I used to send Caroline to school with one last year and by the end of the day it still had ice cubes that hadn’t melted.

Although my yeti rambler tumbler gives it a run for it’s money. I love my yeti and it keeps my coffee so hot that I have to take the lid off for it to cool down before I can drink it. It’s my best friend at early morning soccer games.

13. digiscoping adaptor with monocular for smart phone

One of my friends sent this gift idea to me because she saw that her husband had ordered it for himself and thought it might be a good gift idea for P. And it totally would be if he didn’t still have a flip phone.

I hate to end on thirteen because that’s so random, but it’s late and I can’t think of anything else. Hopefully there is something here that will help you with your Christmas shopping. And, remember, there’s always a pair of pajama pants and a gift card to Academy or Cabela’s. Sometimes desperate times call for desperate measures.