The Fennels: HOLIDAY MADNESS! (I still blog)

To catch up on my blog posts: click here to read about Friendsgiving and here to read about me trying to get a grip on life.

This is the post that never ends.....

Oh hey, ya'll. Remember me?

Starting off yet another post as to why its been so long since I've blogged.

Work
Is
SO
Crazy

Like so super duper crazy, I cannot even look up from my computer most of the time. In this month and next month alone, I will be writing 24 stories. Yowza! But that's not to say that happy hours are not involved. Because they most definitely are.

Aside from work and happy hours, I've been busy Christmas shopping, decorating, and hosting.

SUCH THE LIL HOUSE WIFE I AM!

The Christmas decor went up just before Thanksgiving, which is like, a major improvement from previous years. I originally hoped to wait until after Thanksgiving, but as time grew closer - I just couldn't handle my excitement anymore. Alas...

I love our big window that displays our pretty tree.

The second the tree went up, people started placing bets on how long it would stay standing (thanks to the #fennelpitties). And I'm happy to report that it has NOT YET tipped over.

It has gotten damn close. But not yet....

Matt's message to me while working from home:

I love the Christmas tree at work

Matt is now a fan of eggnog (gross):

Thanksgiving was filled with lots of messy clutter in the kitchen and yummy vegetarian meals. My dad wasn't a fan of the vegetarian part, but really, that's to be expected.... ;)

We spent the day with my in laws, and Matt sported his early (at the time) birthday gift - a Cubs "ugly" Christmas sweater.

He also played with play-doh.

After lots of coffee, the rest of the evening consisted of a mad dash to Target for some Black ~~Friday~~ Thursday deals.

Out of the eleventy billion purchases I made that night, my favorite and most short lived purchased was Noel.

Our ELF PET!!!!!

Now before you all die of laughter, LET ME JUST SAY that one of the most saddest things about not having children is the..... inability**??...... to participate in fun Christmas traditions. If you do a simple Google search, you'll find pages and pages of blogs titled something along the lines of "surviving the holidays while battling infertility"

This post, in particular, even mentions the sadness that childless couples feel about not being able to participate in "annoying" traditions like Elf on the Shelf. While parents could go on and on about the annoyance of hiding an elf every night and the kids waking up at the crack of dawn to see where he moved, couples who want children are willing to give anything to participate in that fun, "magical" part of Christmas.

**I hesitate using the word inability because, really, childless couples CAN participate in these fun traditions IF they're open to being perceived as crazy, like me.... ie: see Noel.

So, as crazy as it is, I bought this "elf pet" (which is really an accessory for the elf of the shelf) with the intention of placing "Noel" somewhere around the house for her to "watch over" the puppies throughout the Christmas season. Knowing if this shit was legit, there would be NO WAY our dogs would be on the Nice List. I digress...

So, I forced Matt to read the story that came with elf pet, and introduced the pups to "Noel"

To say that they were NOT fans would be an understatement. Two days later, this was all that was left of the poor reindeer...

RIP NOEL - There was stuffing scattered throughout the house, and we never found her head..... :(

BUT THAT DID NOT STOP ME!!!!!!!!

Meet Elf Pet #2: Venison (a very fitting name)

Pappy hates him

I tried my best to make them friends, but it didn't work out so well. SO, while Matt was distracting Pappy - I hid Venison in a SUPER DUPER high place and he has stayed there (safe and sound) since.

Another ridiculous, crazy dog Mom occurrence??

SANTA CLAUS SENT US A LETTER!

Sparknotes? Welcoming Charlotte, hoping Venison and Pappy were getting along, sad to hear about Noel, and THAT THEY BETTER STRAIGHTEN THE HELL UP or else they will get COAL. But really?? We all know better - even them.

The Christmas cookies have been made! Matt helped in the absence of my nieces (because I had to cancel):

And we handed them out to our bosses for ~~brownie~~ cookie points:

I always try to do the advent calendar (with puppy treats as the gift) and fail every year:

See future posts on gingerbread houses, leaving carrots for the reindeer and CHRISTMAS PRESENTS!!!!!!!!!!!

The weekend of Thanksgiving, Darren and Ben came to visit Matt. We had so much fun. And ladies, take note: if you marry one, you marry them all. AKA best friends become husbands #2 and #3.

After a long days at work, we are now greeted with boxes like these on our doorstep. EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. It is awesome!

For Christmas, Matt, the pups and kitties will be beyond spoiled (as always), and I have taken care of Christmas shopping for myself, because, well, Matt waits until Christmas Eve to go - and I handle the checking account/paying bills, so I'd be able to see his purchases anyway.

So far, I have bought (and worn) -

Christmas pjs. LOVE THEM.

My new sparkly oxford knockoffs.

And my official favorite pair of pants - Elephant Pants (which every purchase goes to save the Elephants!!!!!!!!) I want a pair in every color now.

PLUS - A custom 16x20 painting that I CANNOT WAIT TO SHOW OFF!!!

The remaining thousand gifts for family remain wrapped in our spare bedroom and will not be placed under the tree until Christmas morning because the puppies will eat them for a snack.

From this:

To this:

The puppy/present experiment (he ate the bow shortly after this picture was taken) = FAIL:

By the way, when wrapping gifts with three dogs and two cats - YOU MUST LOCK YOURSELF IN A ROOM.

Speaking of, I still suck at laundry.

Because of this, I locked myself in our bedroom (AGAIN) the other night (with an essential bottle of really cheap wine), turned on Scandal, and folded 5000 loads of laundry.

It took me much longer than expected because Olivia Pope (Scandal) is AH-MA-ZING. And, wine.

Birthdays, birthdays, birthdays

November 19th was my dad's birthday, and while OBVI, this picture wasn't taken on his birthday - I can't help but share it. Because Ashley was genius enough to capture the second I looked up at Matt, at the end of the aisle, all while gripping my dad's hand for dear life. I love this photo so much.

And this one too. I mean.....

(How many times can I share this photo on my blog??)

December 8th was my Mom's birthday. Here is my favorite picture of us - because it shows exactly how we are. #twinsies

And December 12 was my darling hubby's birthday AND FRANK SINATRA'S!!!!!!

Per Matt's request, we went to Cracker Barrel in the morning, and ordered pizza at night. In between, we watched Christmas movies all day long. It. was. perfect.

I gave in on the whole Facebook thing. BUT FIRST! I deleted about 600-700 "friends"

I absolutely love this.

BUT don't worry - I LOVE ALL MY FACEBOOK FRIENDS NOW!

Mom, Dad, Matt and I went to the Texas A&M vs. Badger basketball game the other night (which also happened to be Bo Ryan's last game):

And celebrated Christmas with the extended Fennel family a couple weekends ago:

Charlotte is the star of our holiday cards this year. Which I've sent out half of them already and will be sending out another batch soon - so if I ruined it for you. SORRY!

Ernie insisted on photo bombing each f'n shot.

She seriously LOVES her Christmas sweater and wears it 24/7 - She hates being cold.

And we have been introducing her to several Christmas traditions - including watching The Grinch.

She developed a recent/sudden hatred and fear of being crated. So much that she would rub her snout against the metal until she bled. Then she'd eventually break out. How??? Beats me. The chick is strong and determined.

So now, her nose is scabbed which will probably be a scar forever - and she is no longer crated. The boys are SO jealous, but she is doing an amazing job while left alone (wish I could say the same for the boys)

This weather SUCKS!!!!!! 55 degrees and rain on December 23rd?!?!? It doesn't even feel like Christmas. I miss the snow....

#screwyouElNino

The weather makes it feel like Spring, which gets me excited for when we install our fence.

Our 13 month old dishwasher (which had a 12 month warranty) shit out on us a few weeks back.... which means we are hand washing our dishes as of now and get to buy a new one soon. URGH.

Can you believe this is only for two people? We're fatties.

Rumchata with hot chocolate is the BEST HOLIDAY DRINK EVER. You're welcome.

I am off work for the next six days, so pretty much, that drink will be 99% of my diet.

Some funnies to make you all smile:

This reminds me of my sister and I when we were kids