a good time was had by all.

But what you do is go to where the love is real.

Where it piles up deep like snowdrifts after the plows have had their say.

And you take off your wraps so you can really feel it.

piled up love.

You take your time there.

Pose for a picture.

Cause you don’t want to forget the time when you were mermaids. When the water was warm and soft and innocence looked at you from big brown eyes.

mermaids for a day

Just like yours were.

And you wonder if you’ll ever be again.

Innocent, I mean.

But you can’t sit around and wonder all day long.

Not when there are adorable little faces to kiss.

Not when there are pink striped sweaters to be worn.

and this. this right here, this is good.

Not when you’ve got hair that looks a lot like your nephew’s.

the best kind of monster is a two-headed monster.

And not when your face looks a lot like a whackadoodle.

The fact that there are some things that I can just count on, I mean.

For instance, no matter what color my hair is, there are a few consistencies to my life.

Like how my hair often goes unwashed.

x

gimme some sugar

And how dogs like to nibble on me.

no really, that means he likes you

Come to think of it, perhaps the unwashed hair is why dogs like to nibble on me.

*I am using some hyperbole here. I do shower. Mostly.

catatouille

One could say that it might have something to do with the fact that the cat couldn’t quite reach the counter, but there was some question as to what he would do if he actually could.

I try to give others the benefit of the doubt, but come on. I think it’s pretty safe to say that he’d probably use his paw to shovel more of it into his mouth than onto a cookie tray.

Perhaps like Puss N Boots he’d be pretty good at swordplay or something, but cooking is just not his forte.

And then there are the large beasts who currently take up residence in my parents’ house.

sometimes we just need to sit and squeeze each other and that's okay

And they get presents.

On Christmas.

A pillow and a pig knuckle, respectively.

Have I mentioned lately that I am grateful to be me?

To not receive pillows and pig knuckles on high holy days?

Okay, so I guess I’d take a pillow, if pressed.

But the pig knuckle? No.

And have I also mentioned that my nieces and nephews are some of the coolest people around? Not even just taking into account all the kids I know, either; I am talking some of the coolest people.

Today Lyric and I took a long drive in a car together and sang the whole way.

I taught her an audition song from my book. She taught me some songs she learned at camp this summer. And then we finished it off with singing through the Christmas musical that the kids in church just performed. All in all, it was awesome.

And too bad that the rain was pouring down like God was draining his bathtub. Otherwise, we totally would have rolled down the windows and let the songs out into the world. Well, except for the fact that’s it’s winter. That kept us from letting the songs out too, I guess.

But before we started our sing-a-long, we took a picture.

Because we love each other.

so gangsta

And because we’re too cool for school.

*and for any of you who might be concerned as to whether or not my pop is actually still alive after seeing the second picture posted here, let me assure you: he is.

santa never looked so good

Something about sentimentality keeps him resurfacing every year.
And something about my brother relentlessly searching through the box of Christmas ornaments until he finds his Santa that he made when he was little.
And then settles it on the tree in a place of honor.

Look at that pride he has in his craftsmanship.

homemade? I could hardly tell.

Can you believe that he decided to write for a living instead of continuing to craft these babies for Hallmark?

Some people just want a challenge I guess.

And I have to admit I have some attachment to this little ornament.

it's not christmas without this

I’ve had it forever I think. And it doesn’t hurt that my name is etched into it. In gold, no less. Who doesn’t love a tiny kitty in a stocking with the added bonus of their monogram? That’s what I thought.

But I definitely saved the best for last.
There’s one ornament that makes us all laugh. It’s all face and curls and a smile for days.
And look–

cheese.

Not much has changed.

And I wouldn’t have it any other way.

*please note that you can also see Jason in action, placing Santa on the top of the tree (much to our chagrin).

So not to be outdone, allow me to contribute to the lovely Christmasy moments exhibited everywhere else.

I mean, even my brother’s blog is snowing.

So because it’s the season and all that, I was inspired to bake.

Imagine my utmost delight and pride when I pulled these things out of the oven.

 

just call me mrs. fields

And just like a good elf, I busied myself with scraping.

I turned up the Christmas carols a little louder so as to drown out the sounds of the knife scraping the flattened dough off the cookie sheet.

Very special Christmas cookies call for something a little more…specialized then a spatula, you know.

And look, now aren’t they just gorgeous?

you're welcome, santa

I’d leave you the recipe on my recipe blog, but that would require me actually having a recipe blog. And I don’t know how many different recipes I can write that involve peanut butter, saltines, or edamame anyway.

But as you can imagine, I’ve really had to beat off my family from devouring all of them in order to save some for Santa.

Merry Christmas.

Now go make some cookie scrapings of your own while you contemplate the reason for the season.