about last night

last night was a good one, friends.

first, we ate here with a group of really great people.

via

then we went to see these guys.  love.

if you have never experienced either of these in person, i highly recommend them both.

greatest hits

it is 2:09 p.m. and i am still in my pajamas.  ben has been feverish, so we haven't left the house.  the fact that i haven't changed/bathed/left the house today in part makes me feel like a bum, but mostly makes me feel pretty awesome.  sometimes lazy days are just what the doctor ordered.  i hope you are as comfortable as i am right now :)

so to celebrate my laziness, i present to you this week's greatest hits.

1) we went to see some of my former students perform in their choir at a local mall.  i miss these goofballs.

 2) winter fashion = ugg boots without pants.

 3) a crazy, loud, rambunctious dinner at the lovely eno's in the bishop arts district.

 4) this baby, whose tongue is always out of his mouth when he is not busy smiling all the time.

 5) ben's "worker" boots.

 6) rocking around the christmas tree.

 7) this sweet baby again.  he melts me.

 8) the trains at northpark.  ben was a blur the entire time, that is until he accidentally DERAILED A TRAIN.  mortified.  so we did what any respectable citizens would do after that happened, we got the hell out of there.  sorry nice train employees.

 9) sick day christmas crafts delivered with a wink.

looking forward to christmas shopping with my dad and sister, and our annual family christmas brunch a neiman's on saturday.  woot!

how was your week?  what are you looking forward to?

until next time,

xoxoxo

this and that

it's been a while since i've given you a little this and that.  it has become apparent to me that i have a bit of a hoarding problem when it comes to saving things from the internet that inspire me.  you might not be remotely interested, but i needed to clean out my google reader desperately, so here are my goodies.  hope you likey.

this is what you say.  but (this is what you really mean).  aren't these prints genius?  check out all of justin barber's posters here.

Faber Castell from eric yeo on Vimeo.

you have got to watch this video of an artist recreating the famous girl with a pearl earring.  his talent makes me jealous, jealous, jealous.

if i had a reason for these in my life, i would snatch them up.  discovered here.

blck and white christmas goodness.  found here.

chris' proposal was for sure my favorite (duh.), but isn't this one awesome?  my friend jessica was proposed to in a photo booth.  jess, post pictures, pretty please???  photo found here.

this frame is genius.  who wants to go to italy???  found here.

whew.  that felt good.  might have a part II in the near future.  happy weekend, friends.

the difference between one and two

Source: google.com via Amber on Pinterest

i love the blog, lil bee.  melisa and i are about the same age, listen to the same music, have two small children (however hers are much closer in age, bless her soul.)  she writes about the kind of days i have had here recently.  hilarious.  

please read and enjoy!

greatest hits

it's been a while since my last greatest hits with thanksgiving and all, so please bear with the buttload of pictures.  thanks, my lovelies.  i am one tired momma today, so i'll keep it short and sweet. xoxoxo

1) thanksgiving program (proud parent moment).  isn't out little indian native american adorable?

 2)  a 24. hour trip to college station with marcy to celebrate the 4th anniversary of our friend ryan's 30th birthday.  at the tailgate we enjoyed the best of college station: wings-n-more, layne's, pepperoni rolls, and bud light.

 3) thai takeout.

 4) thanksgiving morning nature walk.

 5) feasting at my parent's house.

 6) hanging with all my girls (plus their hubs and kids)...even jami and steve were in town from germany!

 7) getting a christmas tree.  this day usually results in a crooked tree and short tempers, but not this year.  it was drama-free and wonderful.

 ( i do realize that i am leading you to believe that my children never wear pants.)

8) feeling crafty and making a wreath that will allow santa to enter our chimney-less house.

 looking forward to dinner and window shopping in the bishop arts district tonight.

how was your week?  what are you looking forward to?

until next time,

xoxoxo

at a loss

could someone please come explain this to my three and a half year old?  because what i am saying isn't working.

Source: balzerdesigns.typepad.com via Cortney on Pinterest

my child is rude.  and no, not in the i-am-shy-so-i-refuse-to-speak kind of way.  rude as in when someone says hello, he screams and covers his face.  when someone asks him a question, he yells no.  he doesn't act that way with everyone.  but he acts that way to my grandmother.  and today to my former co-workers who were being especially kind to him despite his bad attitude.  it embarrasses me.  it makes me anxious.  and it turns me into the kind of mother i don't want to be; the kind who makes excuses for his behavior.  oh, he's hungry. he fell asleep in the car.  he woke up on the wrong side of the bed.  he's three-and-a-half (complete with a knowing glance).  i find myself trying to predict when these outbursts might happen, so that i can preface it with a serious conversation with him about my expectations for his behavior.  by the way, it. doesn't. work.

i can handle sassy.  i can handle an occasional tantrum.  i often find them funny, like the other day when he yelled from time-out that his daddy and i weren't "cool" and that he was going to find new parents in georgia.  but rude?  i can't handle that.

time-out doesn't seem to work.  he could care less about the elf-on-the-shelf, three strikes, losing privileges.

part of me wants someone to tell me this is normal.  but the other part of me doesn't want to accept this behavior as normal because it upsets me so.  do i need advice?  sure.  do i need to commiserate?  you bet.  do i just need to vent?  probably.

my sister-in-law once told me that all of the "half" years were difficult for them and that holds true for our family also.  two-and-a-half made me want to run away to mexico.  and so far, three-and-a-half isn't far behind.

he is the true love of my life, i swear.  sometimes i just need to take a breath and remember that.

in the spirit

thanksgiving food coma?  check.
leftovers for lunch and dinner?  check.
halls decked?  check.
christmas tree decorated?  check.
nasty cold?  check, check, check and check.

although it didn't help us breathe through our noses any easier, listening to this song while decking the halls put a little pep in our step.  'tis the season to be merry, y'all.  

my favorite time of year has officially begun.