Gingerbread house building ... and destroying

One of the nights we were at my parents' for Christmas, we gathered around the table to decorate gingerbread houses. I mean, is there anything more quintessentially Christmasy than that? And, as my family is known to do, it quickly turned into a competition between Scott, Courtney, and my dad. Preston was more interested in taste-testing than competing. 

It was interesting to see each person's take on decorating. Preston opted for the place and clap approach. Dad slathered his house in almost an inch of icing ("It's a snowy chapel!"), while Courtney incorporated a candy straw roof and peppermint walkway. Scott hoarded all of the candy wreathes for his windows and used M&Ms as shingles (they ended up sagging, much to his dismay).

Each accused the other of stealing key design elements (they were worse than the designers in the workroom on "Project Runway"). More than one time did Scott throw in the towel only to rally back, claiming he was back in the lead (his orange slice awning was pretty impressive).

Once they were all finished, though, we wondered what to do with them. In true, Southern tradition, we decided the best way to see them off was with firecrackers. So, we took them to my grandmother's where my uncle has plenty of ammo to choose from and set aside time one afternoon for their demolition. 

Not only did decorating the houses bring us together, but destroying them did, too!

Gingerbread demolition from Jennifer Hannigan on Vimeo.

Christmas 2013

Christmas Eve in our new Christmas pjs

My favorite part about the holidays is remembering the years prior while in the midst of making new memories to look back on later. This year didn't lack old memories or new ones.

Saturday when we got in, we had our traditional holiday dinner with our longtime family friends. In the midst of banana-less banana pudding and catching up, we monitored the tornado warnings in the area. I can remember white Christmases but never one with tornados. Luckily nothing came of the warnings, only jokes at my expense because I'm jumpy at the mention of tornados.

Sunday night after church, we drove Preston to a nearby house that went National Lampoon-style on their Christmas lights. We pulled over to take in the waving Santa and illuminated Christmas Elmo while Preston ooh-ed over them.

Christmas lights galore/checking out the lights/playing with Charlie Brown

Shopping selfie/coloring while Daddy shops/Preston enjoyed J.Crew's mirror

Watching "A Muppet Christmas Carol"/stealing my cousin's iPod/this rocking chair was my great-grandmother's/Dad and the elusive toaster

We all sat around in the living room Christmas Eve eve watching "A Muppet Christmas Carol" while Mom wrapped her gag gift for my uncle (this year a camo-wearing, gun-toting Santa who would've fit in perfectly with the Duck Dynasty family). Courtney gave Dad his gift from her early because it would be difficult to take with us. It was a new toaster oven, but not just any toaster. Dad had particular specifications — the toaster needed a toast button. Courtney had scoured Amazon and other retailers, zooming in on photos of toasters in search of a toast button and was victorious in her seemingly fruitless quest. Dad was more engrossed in his toaster's owner's manual than the movie, and it lead to much discussion over how to properly toast an Eggo waffle. All the while Preston was sucking up to anyone with a smartphone or iPad, running up and hugging them, saying, "Hey!" while snatching it from their hands. He's addicted to Candy Crush, too.

Lots of card games were played. Few were won by me.

Preston helped set out cookies for Santa. He even helped eat a few.

Opening presents/smiling with Pops/Mimi's Christmas tree/posing with his new tricycle from my grandmother/he also got this cute name puzzle

The biggest highlight of Christmas though was on Christmas Day at my grandmother's when my 13- and 14-year-old cousins decided to get baptized. My family of 11 plus a few members from church whom my cousins had invited gathered in the quiet church and watched as they committed their lives to Christ. Scott led a few songs, and Daddy baptized them. It was amazing to me, watching these two girls who were just tiny babies seemingly days ago become my sisters in Christ.

Checking out the cows

My cousins, Katie and Lauren, with my mom and Preston

I hope your Christmas was just as memorable!

Ho ho, oh no

My sister and I went to the same mall Santa for several years when we were younger. The man who played Santa (Sorry, spoiler alert, kids) lived in the same town as my grandmother. Whenever we'd go see him, he'd ask if we were going to her house again this year and what we wanted for Christmas. His knowing us and how we spent every Christmas at her house (and where it was!) convinced us that he was no ordinary mall Santa. He was the Santa — who just so happened to spend the peak of his busy season in a Nashville mall handing out candy canes and two 5x7 photos.

It's the main reason I enjoy the consistency of the local Santa in the square. Hopefully Preston can build that same wonder about Santa through him. I'd been working on it this year, building Preston's Santa excitement, seeing as last year didn't go so well. I'd point to every depiction of Kris Kringle and say, "Ho ho ho!" Now Preston "ho-hos," too, whenever he sees the jolly ol' elf. But, as you can tell by the picture, Preston hasn't quiet warmed up to the "real" St. Nick. He did end up giving him a high five though, once he'd been rescued from his lap. 

So, perhaps next year the guy in red won't be so terrifying, but it seems that, much like Santa himself, crying on Santa's lap is itself a Christmas tradition.

P.S. It was 65 degrees on this day, so Santa opted for a non-traditional Hawaiian shirt instead of the red coat. Mele Kalikimaka!

Christmas card 2013

Every year I think to myself, "This is our best Christmas card! This one is going to be my favorite." And then the next year comes, and I have yet another new favorite. So, for the next 365 days, this is my favorite Christmas card. Once again, Cassie did a great job capturing our family — casually sitting out on a blanket in the front yard in our Sunday's best … like we're known to do from time to time. She especially did a great job getting a smile out of a grumpy, nap-needing Preston, who crashed soon after. 

So a very merry Christmas from the three of us. Come over and nonchalantly hang out on the lawn with us sometime!

(P.S. See my past most favorite Christmas cards here: Christmas 2012's card and cards from 2008 to 2011)

Weekend 1-2-3

1. I (finally) graduate with my master's in education Saturday. I remember sitting in the graduate director's office two years ago as she wrote "Projected graduation date: 2013" on my course list. 2013 seemed like an eternity away! We'd be living in a Jetsons' world by then. But, here at the end, it didn't feel nearly that long. My motto through the program has been "I can do anything for a little while," taking classes while nine months pregnant, working on a paper while nursing a baby, or balancing teaching a class and taking a class, I could do it because it was just for a little while. My family and Scott's family are coming for the weekend, so I'm looking forward to celebrating with them and not having to think about APA style for a while.

2. Now that I'm about to have more free time, I would like to actually read a book I chose rather than one assigned. This list review of several books from 2013 seems like a good place to start; I'd also like to read a few books that have been or are being adapted to movies, such as The Book Thief, The Wolf of Wall Street, and Serena.

3. On Sunday, Scott and I will have been married six years. I'll try to steer clear of too much mush here, but I am thankful to have had him by my side during these past six years. He's been incredibly supportive of me while I've been in grad school and has had to adjust his life to its schedule, too. They say that a marriage is a team, and he has been an incredible teammate, and that's something I've been extremely thankful for in this past year. I couldn't have done it without him.

I hope you have a educational, literary, celebratory weekend!

Snow day preparations

Grab some blankets and bread. The iceman cometh!

If you're anywhere in Arkansas, you know the end times are fast approaching. And by end times, I mean winter weather. Next to tornado season, I think this is the local weathermen's favorite time of the year when it comes to panic-enducing forecasts and serious storm team commercials.

Here in town, Walmart's bread, egg and milk supply are completely wiped out. (Why are french toast ingredients snow day essentials?) And, I'll admit, I'm following the herd mentality and will stop by the store on the way home just in case. If it does get bad, I'm looking forward to being snug at home, curled under blankets with my family, drinking hot chocolate, making a big pot of soup, and streaming Netflix.

Now, all of these sweet snow day dreams are completely contingent on no power failures. We have some candles and two dinky flashlights, but we're underprepared for any thing lasting more than an evening, especially since we are without a fireplace and our only means of cooking would be the grill outside.

So, in case the power does go out, who would like to keep a sweet baby and his parents for the duration? We might become hotel dwellers at the university's hotel and eat in the cafeteria. Anything for warmth and wifi!

What are your severe winter storm plans? Want to bunk with us in the hotel if things get rough?

Photo source: blankets

Thanksgiving, according to Instagram

I always have so much to be thankful for when this holiday rolls around, but I was especially thankful that I was able to have a whole week with my family due to "inclement weather" closing the university on Monday and Tuesday. We packed a lot in this week, mainly just relaxing and eating, but I didn't Instagram that. Here's what I did capture, though.

1. Soaking up the tree in all its glory
2. Preston got his first haircut right before we left town for Thanksgiving. We didn't do anything too drastic, and he handled the whole process very well.
3. Enjoying his tent from Gran. (We alternate Thanksgiving and Christmas between our two families, so we exchange gifts at Thanksgiving.)
4. Turkey Day = turkey bib
5. A mandatory family Thanksgiving photo
6. He was happy to be outside; I was happy he got one more wear out of the turkey hat I made him last year.
7. Cheesing it up coloring on the chalk table
8. A Throwback Thursday shot of little Scott. It's crazy how much Preston looks like him!
9. Preston helped make salt dough with Gran, but he wouldn't cooperate when it came time to make a handprint.



And here's a little video of Preston playing his drum with Scott. They had creative differences over who should be the drummer.

I'm so very thankful for my family and these times together!