Playing Holiday Catchup...

So, I am very clearly getting a litte behind on this thing. Between hectic days at work and sick children at home, my blog has suffered. Well, I'm back to try to catch things up before the big day. Let's take a step back in time to last weekend. We had our annual holiday party and had spent quite awhile tweaking all of our decorations and finalizing a menu (Josh finalized right up until the minute guests arrived. He's so indecisive.) We had absolutely no food in our house so Josh had to run to the store. It was perfect timing since the Purcellville Christmas Parade was right about to start. It was also Everett's nap time. I refused to miss another piece of holiday Americana due to my child's poor behavior (we missed out on the tree lighting due to one of Ethan's breakdowns.) I told Josh to drive us over and he could shop while we waited curbside. Here is a pic of Ethan ready for the fun to begin...

Everett was a twisting, turning, writhing mess in my arms. He wanted to get down. Run through the mulch. Scoot off the curb. And repeat. After about 15 minutes of agonizing wait time in the cold, the parade begun. The Loudoun Valley Marching Band serenaded us with a lovely holiday tune, "You Can Call Me Al." I don't know about you, but nothing screams Christmas more than Paul Simon (remember that video? I believe Chevy Chase was playing a bongo. Maybe that was just a connection back to Christmas Vacation.) Anywho, the parade was a success. Not too short not too long. The perfect combination of miniature ponies (Lil' Sebastian anyone?) and Clydesdales. I took a pic of almost every little horse that trotted along but only one kind of came out...

Josh finished up his shopping just as the parade was winding down, and who should come walking down the street...Santa Clause! Of course Ethan had to go out and give him a hug, but like a good suspicious child, he turned at the last moment and gave that old man the butt...

All in all, another great Purcellville Parade was in the books. We headed home and put the kids down for a nap in time to clean up the house for our partygoers. The night went off without a hitch. I wish I had some pictures, but as a good hostess normally does, I got super wasted and forgot to get my camera out. We did get to take an awesome midnight ride in Lauren's swagger wagon (driven by David Frohm) who took us on a drive-by tour of the neighborhood. Our parade of one let its presence be known by honking aloud for all to hear (5 honks for the best lit house, one honk for the most pathetic decorations.) We also had some cheesecake to celebrate 29 years of Megan Frohm and Johhny Hawkins. I must admit, there were a lot of great pjs, but Grace and Tom win bragging rights for best pajamas. If you too want to get super cozy and possibly fall down the stairs due to lack of foot grip (right, Grace?) click on the link to find out where you can purchase the most talked about bed clothes of the season.



In my opinion, the party went off without a hitch. Josh was just hungover enough to completely clean the kitchen the next day (it's this weird thing he does.) Our kids were also sufficiently worn out that they blessed us with a 3 hour nap on Sunday. Perfect holiday kickoff weekend and we were in prime spirits for the annual Roanoke Christmas Bar Crawl!

Testing Fate with Santa...

Everyone knows one of the most important holiday traditions is the annual photo with Santa. Well, not in the Lubore house. I was so deathly afraid of anything or anyone in a costume that my parents quickly got tired of my panic attacks and shenanigans. After about the age of 3, my brother was the only one in the photo with the Big Guy. Meanwhile, in God's Country (aka Roanoke,) Cheryl was instilling in her children that this photo was the most important and best present a child could give their parents. So much so, that the tradition continued right up until 2006 where the four Shepherds under the age of 25 are gathered (and possibly hungover?) around Santa. It was after that horrible photo that Josh insisted the tradition end and never again allowed his face to be put on film. Well, lucky for Cheryl, we decided to procreate soon after and the tradition started again! Unfortunately, Ethan had the same affliction for dramatics as his mother and threw such a scene as a toddler that I had abandoned hope we'd ever get a photo. This year we decided to give it another try. Ethan has become a whole lot more adventurous and Everett will smile at just about anything, so I figured it would be perfect.

Well, almost. Josh bought a cut the line pass since we learned our lesson the hard way last year. Flashback to 2010, we stood at a standstill with a rambunctious 2 year-old and a screaming 5 month old only to watch the line next to us fly by. After 30 minutes of not moving I abandoned all hope and assumed that this was a sign that pictures are not "our thing." As most parents of little ones, we're constantly learning so it seemed that the cut the line pass, coupled with the fact we're early risers, would result in a quick and easy photo. As Josh said, "this shouldn't take more than 15 minutes. In and out." That was only partially true. There was only a short line for us "cutters" but we still had a good 20 minute wait. Ethan was so excited. Josh had coached him on what to say and what he should ask for. Here we are a couple minutes in...

The scene quickly deteriorated from there. Everett isn't much of a "stroller guy" so he needed to get out immediately. I don't carry my diaper bag much anymore and didn't really have anything to entertain him. Then, in a total amateur move, I didn't bring any food. Guess who did? The lady in front of us who was doling out yogurt bites like they were infused with crack. Everett lost it. He was lunging and screaming and carrying on in such a manner that I almost ran out. But then I realized we had already spent money on the pictures (hence the cheater pass) and there was no turning back (clever sales trick.) We crept forward in line and watched a few other melt downs until it was finally our turn. I had Everett in some weird sort of half Nelson by this point and was so relieved to reach the front of the line, that is, until the woman in charge informed me that she needed to let someone from the "regular" line go. Oh, by all means! Let that sweet, quiet, polite 6 year-old in front of us. Clearly, you enjoy the screams of a one year old and don't want to let us leave. We waited for the photographer to change printer paper. Then, we waited while Santa stretched his legs (he is getting up there in years you know.) Everett was still thrashing in my arms until he saw that big red suit. I'm not sure if the halo of light shining down was coming from the skylight or was really a ray of hope, but Everett actually stopped his fit long enough to catch a glimpse. I thought we had made it. We would hold it together long enough to get this pic and run. Well, as they say, a picture says a thousand words...

That's right. We paid $22 or two 5 x 7's of this:

Three quick clicks later and I rescued Santa from my child. While I consoled Everett and chose which screaming pose was my favorite, Ethan finally had a chance to chat up the big guy. "I've been good and I would like a scary skeleton mask." Yep, after all that, Ethan asks for a Halloween costume. Luckily, Santa has incredible foresight and already ordered it on Cyber Monday with free shipping. I was scooped up by Megan to take on Toys R Us and Josh stuffed the kids with grease from the food court and threw them in the car. Apparently, the whole ordeal took a lot out of them:

Those of you lucky enough to be on our mailing list will receive the official Santa photo in a few weeks (aka our Christmas card.) Believe me when I say, it gets better...

Next up...The Annual Shepherd Christmas Party (pajama style!)

A little holiday confusion...

Before I jump into our visit with Santa, I have to give a big thank you to my dear friend Ms. Perfectly Imperfect herself, Meagan Hawkins. I received a text on Friday that she had found the perfect shirt for Ethan. I assumed that she had bought yet another superhero shirt, but thought it very sweet nonetheless. Boy, was I wrong. It was literally the perfect "Ethan" shirt. A little too perfect (I'm beginning to think that GAP has our house bugged for marketing purposes.) You see, we spent so much time hyping up Halloween for Ethan that he's had a bit of trouble letting it go. He watches videos of Monster Mash on my iPhone. He plays with skeleton toys. He randomly walks around the house yelling "It's Halloween time!" Well, imagine my surprise when Meagan shows up with this most perfect gem:

A skeleton/Christmas shirt! He was over the moon. He continually confirmed Meagan's generosity over the next two days by saying, "Miss Meagan gave me this shirt??" Now, I just have to wait another month until the rest of their stock goes on clearance because, let's face it, I'm sure every other mom in America is in Gap saying "what weirdo buys her kids skeleton clothing?" This guy!

A craft realized...

I've been planning various holiday crafts for the past couple of months, but once I went back to work those plans quickly fell by the wayside. It wasn't until we were "done" decorating that I realized I had three wreaths left over. They were used on our windows last year but Josh decided if we have a bigger house, we need bigger wreaths (nevermind the fact that while the house may be larger, the windows are the same size.) Nonetheless, I couldn't let them go to waste. I hung them on various doors around the house and forgot about them for a couple weeks. Well, today I finally got the itch to craft with some help from the "Crafting Queen" herself, Megan Frohm. After a trip to Toys R Us, we hit up Michael's where I was able to stock up on extra ornaments and embellishments. Here is the before:

So some strategic placement, creative thinking and a layer of glitter dust later, the wreaths were properly "Shepherd-ized."

The best part about these wreaths? Nothing is permanently tied on. Each year we change things up so all of the decorations are strategically wrapped with wire or twine (or just securely jammed in) to make for easy break down and build up next year. Unfortunately, I told Josh what a great deal I got on the ornaments ($1.99 for five large ornaments? What a steal!) I have this funny feeling I will be sent on a mission tomorrow to procure more to add some extra oomph to the tree...

The long weekend...

This weekend proved to be a nice, long, relaxing weekend due to the fact that we were pretty much done with our decorating! That's right, while all of you were out there dragging up your trees and decking the halls with boughs of holly, we were left with the task of hanging wreaths on the windows and sitting on our butts. Well, not entirely true. Thursday was Thanksgiving (aka my birthday.) It was spent by running a 5k (to ensure I could properly gorge myself,) stuffing myself full of turducken (never heard of it? well, it's a Lubore family favorite and consists of a duck inside a chicken inside a turkey. Genius, right?) And lastly, hitting up good ol' Clyde's in Ashburn for some post-feast drinks which turned out to be pretty dead. Apparently people in Ashburn are really hit hard by the tryptophan. Here's some proof that we potentially ate way too much. Ethan was warned by my brother (Uncle Mike) that too much food can cause a "Turkey Belly," and so it did...

Friday we wanted to enjoy the warm weather and hit up some sales but our crabby children foiled that plan. Everett decided to throw an hour long tantrum, complete with face on the floor and eardrum-shattering screaming. We retreated to Purcellville in hopes that the fresh country air would clear up whatever was ailing him. It only partially worked. We threw him in his crib and left him to rot, er, rest.

Saturday I began my Christmas buying. After I got back, Josh decided that he needed to match my purchase power by buying yet another wreath, only this time one 4 times the strength of a regular wreath. I awoke Sunday morning to realize that Josh was not up strictly watching the Notre Dame game. Apparently the extra drinks went straight to his head and he decided to add a little ooomph to our family room. Here is what I call "drunken decorating:"

Not only was I not pleased with the use of colored lights (I'm sticking with white due to the classiness, not because I'm a racist as Josh would like you to believe) but the carelessness of his decorating was just offensive. Not to be outdone, Ethan (who has now become afflicted with an ear infection) decided that the newly wrapped presents under the tree were for him and that today must be his birthday. Here is how to really piss off Josh:

Some might find this funny or cute, but Josh was not amused. As you can see, Ethan looks pretty ashamed of himself. Ethan didn't speak to us for about 20 minutes out of embarrassment (we're not sure if that was really a punishment or not.)

All in all, the house is pretty much finished (although Josh is trying to convince me that our house is not quite bright enough and needs a spotlight.) Of course there are a few tweaks that will need to be made and there is a bunch of wrapping that needs to be done. Everything will need to be finalized before the 10th for our holiday party. If your reading this and haven't received an invite yet, it's probably in the mail...

You may be a Shepherd if...

I think it's very important in the chronicling of our tale to point out that our Christmas craziness is not limited to our small sect of the family. A love of the Yule-time is instilled at a very young age and affects all Shepherds both young and old. Here are a few instances since the inception of this blog:

-November 6th the first text from Cheryl (my amazing mother-in-law and the ringleader of this Christmas Circus) was sent asking for Christmas lists as she was in the mood to start shopping

-Aunt Martha (Josh's aunt who has a 6th sense for just the right present in just the right size for the boys) sent out their annual Christmas shirts with a note saying that she "knew it was early but they can wear it while lights are hung." She must not have known Project Icicle Drip and Droop 2k11 (my new name for the front porch lighting) had already begun.

-I came down the stairs over the weekend to hear Josh in an in-depth conversation regarding the differences between LED and traditional Christmas lights (yes, we Shepherds have an official stance on lights: LED is not warm and Christmas-y enough. We prefer a warm glow, not to be bowled over with laser beams.)

-9am Saturday morning, Josh informs me from the other room that The Santa Clause is on the Hallmark Channel. How could he know that from the other room? And more importantly, who is monitoring the Hallmark Channel? Why, that would be Miss Jayme Shepherd down in Atlanta. She is in charge of holiday programming and ensures that no one in the family will miss out on a key viewing experience.

I'm sure there are more instances than even I know about. The Shepherd summit has not met yet to decide exactly which presents to buy and when to exchange, but I'm sure that's coming down the line as well. The boys received their X-mas jammies last night and Ethan was super excited to get in the holiday spirit. I'm still in the midst of my research, but I'm pretty sure I can prove that the Shepherd family shares at least a chromosome or two with Kris Kringle himself.

Next up...a Lubore Turducken Day, my Bday Extravaganza and Black Friday...

Garland Envy....

This weekend, Josh declared that we would finish all of the decorating. Well, surprise, surprise, we're only about 85% finished (and may never be done!) I spent all day Saturday cleaning up, fixing the tree in the dining room (I decided in lieu of a star to go with a giant bow which took up the majority of the time) and perfecting our mantle. While I was trimming the inside, Josh set up outdoors. He hung some garland around the door only to decide that it was too thin (which it was.) On our walk around the block, Josh spotted another house with garland around the door which was lush and thick. It was then that I diagnosed Josh with "garland envy." After that, Josh decided we had to hit up the craft store immediately to spruce up our trimmings in order to have the thickest, manliest garland on the block (overcompensating?)

The inspiration: a couple of months ago, we had both decided that our house should look like this:

So, that was the original plan. Unfortunately, I figured by the time I bought all the garland and the decorations to embellish it, I would have to spend a fortune. So, in the spirit of savings we decided to buy some regular $5 garland and add in some "fancy" floral garland from the craft store (on sale for 40% off.) After much back and forth on how this should be done, it was decided that we should double up on the green and then add the floral. Here are some before and after shots:

All in all, I think it turned out pretty good (all 81 feet of garland!) Not quite the photo we started with, but compared to PB's $60 for 10 feet (we spent less than that on the entire project,) I think we made out like bandits.