since Thanksgiving

I think I am behind…
I better catch up.

I went to mom's the day before Thanksgiving to help her cook.
Lance had a crap-tastic day at work that day so he decided to pack us bags and come out to mom's to "get away".

We ended up staying three days... good thing Lance always over-packs!

I forgot to tell him to bring my camera, so this is as good as I got for Thanksgiving pictures::

We went to Nana's at noon and back to mom's by 4:00.

The food was amazing as always!

My sister left to go Black Friday shopping about 5:30 but I was having fun hanging out with my cousin Amber, so I let her leave me.

She called and said that Walmart was a lost cause, full of chaos, but that they were heading to Belk.

Lance decided that he would take me to meet her and Carissa-- and by midnight, we had only made it through Dick's and JCPenneys.

We stopped for a 1:00am snack at Flips and laughed ourselves silly…
And then crashed hard, as we headed out.

We made a last ditch decision to go back to WM since the crowd had cleared, but left with only 2 movies.

Allison and I made it back to mom's about 4:00 and were pretty much good-for-nothing most of the day after.
I called it a Black Friday hangover-- minus the alcohol.

Thankfully call was slow and we spent the rest of that night decorating mom's house for Christmas.

We did make a 11:00 trip back to WM, however, to try and find mom a new tree--
and to buy for a little family that my mom's Bunko group sponsored this year.

In true Holly-Allison-Mendy fashion, we made even such a short trip into a wave of emotions.
At one point, we were all crying in the shoe section as she told us about this family...
I decided to hop in and help a little too, which always gets me flowing--
and then 3 of us laughed hysterically on the way home-- to the point of tears again!
It is how we roll!

Saturday I had to work.
And afterward, I met my SIL Jenn and her babies for Freebirds before dinner with the rest of Lance's family.
The movie was cute, and the kids did well.

Babes was fun and we enjoyed seeing everyone.
Jenn and G's friends came over after and they have a little girl named Brittan who is the same age as Beckham.
She also goes by 'B', which was funny to see them both respond each time their name was called out!

Sunday, the holidays caught up with us.
Maddox woke me up asking for breakfast and I thought that something was wrong with the clock because it was 11:05!

I decided to get into the attic that afternoon and bring down some of the Christmas madness, although without Lance-- my load was pretty small.
I just needed enough Christmas to introduce Shimmer back into our house.
So it was a success.

He has been up to his antics ever since!

Monday was my 7th year anniversary.
I spent the day cleaning-- wearing my best sweatpants and unwashed topknot--
and Lance came home from another terrible day at work.
I wrote him an emotional letter...
he...
was kind of emotional.
I believe we have had better celebrated days.
But that's okay.

I did treat myself to this watch...
that was technically my Christmas present,
but now it is both!

Tuesday I hosted a lunch-and-learn and my mom took the boys to run a couple of errands while I was at work.
We ran to Sam's afterward.
I had no idea it was going to be 80, and my kids were dressed for-- well-- the ice storm we are having today.

Luckily Maddox didn't mind shedding layers, but Beckham wasn't having that!

That night, Lance got down the rest of the trimmings and we splashed this house with holiday cheer.
Unfortunately, the top of my tree lights are not working and I still have not replaced each bulb to see which one is causing the distraction.

Here's our skill put to music:: http://www.magisto.com/album/video/eXt5BQIDQwkfDnIFBA 

I am super stoked about my wrapping paper this year too.
Although after posting this picture to my IG, I was assured that this glitter paper will be the death of me!
Yay!

Wednesday, we went to see Santa.
There was no wait and the boys both did very well.
We were surprised to see a new Santa this year at Bass Pro, but he was a jolly faced fella-- so no complaints from us!

We ran to Grapevine Mills where I was able to finish Maddox's Christmas.
I was honestly impressed with Lance and my FBI skills, since we were able to do it with our kids in tow!
They never knew the wiser!

We made a dash through downtown Grapevine to see the lights, 
and then we had dinner at The Cheesecake Factory.
..kind of to celebrate our anniversary,
but mostly because I was craving their lettuce wraps!

Thursday, my pal Jennifer and her lump-of-love, Madden, came to visit for a bit.
She brought me a sweet gift-- including my very first piece of Lululemon!
She's a peach like that.

Today, we were hit by a storm.
The kids played just shy of about 2 minutes, and were ready to come back inside!

I'm blogging and trying to decide if it is worth my risk of paying my deductible to make the trip in, in the morning!

Until next time!