No, I'm not dead.

The gaps between my posts keep getting longer!

I don't mean for that to happen.

And this time, I have an excuse other than no WiFi:

It was the week before Christmas, and we were so busy.

Incidentally, MERRY CHRISTMAS, you epic, faithful followers you!


So I thought I'd do a sum up of what's been happening lately.


It was a really great Christmas build up, guys.


Let's see, we painted our freaking windows, because THAT'S what DeLallos DO.

But we put it off until like the week before Christmas, because everyone worked. And then we found out that we were going to have Midnight Mass at our house (since we're a mission parish, and we don't have an actual church, so we rent a building, and.... understandably, they wouldn't let us rent at midnight.)  so we pretty much went, "The windows need to be painted before that." and we hustled off to buy window paint.

No one sells window paint anymore!!

Window markers are a big thing now. What even...?

So we got poster paint instead. Which was three dollars a pop, which I found to be a little excessive.

Anyway, Kat and I got this idea to do lyrics to a Christmas song that we'd recently discovered, and it turned out fabulously. (I mean, I think so. But I could be like... biased, or something.)

So day one, we did the base.

And day two we did the colors. 

Candlelight, Angel light, fire light, and star glow

Angels are singing

We always pick the really cold days to get down and dirty with the windows.....


Because we're weird, we like to procrastinate with baking and cooking, until the last minute. And we hadn't really decorated this year at all.

SO CHRISTMAS EVE ROLLED AROUND.

And Kat and I went into overdrive. We came over to the main house, and we got bizay. (kudos if you get that reference.)

I started by taking fabulous pictures, and instagraming them, because.... social media. 

Blasting Christmas music, and singing lustily, we crammed in all the Christmas baking. All. Of. It. 

"See what I DID!?"

I MADE LITTLE CAR SUGAR COOKIES FOR OUR MECHANIC.
We didn't have car cookie cutters.
I did it, by hand.
I'm awesome that way. You may applaud.

We promptly turned our attention to cleaning the whole house to welcome Baby Jesus. (Also because we were having Midnight Mass, and we wanted the house clean.)

We then finished all the extra decorating, rolled out the homemade gnocchi, and rehearsed the sung Mass we were supposed to be practicing.

I drew a thing.

I read aloud The Christmas Miracle of Jonothan Toomey. (that. BOOK. You must read it, it makes me cry.)

Midnight Mass was really pretty, even if there were some complications. Let's just say, I was expecting to go to bed by around two, and we didn't get to bed until three. Which is okay, I guess... we were up by six.

We just love Christmas morning so much!!

You want to talk organized chaos? We excel at organized chaos.

I got a SuperWhoLock shirt!! *flails* (I would show you a picture, but I didn't take one, because I was too busy being awesome with friends who came up to visit on the 26th.)

I also got Taylor Swift's 1989.

And a frikken '67 impala.

Which went along with SUPERNATURAL, SEASON EIGHT.

And this really cool quote from CS Lewis printed on a thing.

AND THE WHOLE RAVEN BOYS SERIES!!!!

Not to mention the small stuff, which is fun, but takes too long to talk about.

Anna sent Bella and me a package full of fun stuff like Supernatural season one. *screams*

And I got the coolest package from mein great friend Hannah Joy the Awesome. (the awesome is obligatory.)

It was stuffed full of the sweetest thoughtful pressies, sent from all the Knights of Camelot. NO SERIOUSLY, IT WAS, HANDS DOWN, PROBABLY MY FAVORITE PRESSIE THIS YEAR. LOOKIT.

If you had asked me when I started this blog, if I thought online friends were real friends, I would have scoffed and said something like, "People on the internet are creepy, so... no."

But now, I'm all in for the ONLINE FRIENDS ARE REAL FRIENDS TOO!

In the words of Syndrome, "I'm still geeking out about it!" *le sigh*

That jar in the bottom right hand corner of the above picture, was full of these quotes for if I get discouraged. I cried, and it was fabulous.

It was seriously one of the best Christmases.

I love Christmas.

I got Amy this rubber head that you can use for boxing. It's an epic rubber head, that you can kick and punch, and it's the best.

It's Amy's new best friend.

I'm going to try to post more, because I miss blogging on a regular basis.

How was your Christmas, people!? TELL ME!!!

God bless, and goodbye!

Picture Saturday -- Bah dum tissss

It's been a while.

I don't even know how to start it.

You know you did, admit it.

Dis dude is the ONLY REASON to watch Teen Wolf.

Let's get right to it, shall we? (Because why the heck not? It's my freaking blog.)


1.) I drew two pictures for Hannah's short story that she let me read. (Guys, it's good. It made me all teary. Ha!) It's cool.

So we have Le Boy on the Bridge

And Le Boy With the Guitar who saves Le Boy on the Bridge and it is fabulous.

2.) And then we have Le Ice Skater, because I suddenly really like watching ice skaters.

3.) BUT BABY, IT'S COLD OUSIIIDE.

4.) Another ice skater because they like.... they are fabulous.

5.) And the last verse of In the Bleak Midwinter. Because dat song doh.

SO which one is your favorite? Because, like Loki, I NEED TO KNOW.

Have you ever heard In the Bleak Midwinter? You should listen. It's good.

Now that I'm actually in the mood to draw again, I have a few more ideas that I want to get down before Christmas, so I'm gonna... gonna....

Bai.

So we need a little Christmas, right this very minute...

Candles in the window

,carols on the spinet,

Yes, we need a little Christmas,

right this very minute.

It hasn't snowed a single flurry,

but, Santa, dear, we're in a hurry.....

La, mein peasants!

I promise next week to do a Picture Saturday.

As it is, it's been like two or three weeks and I feel ashamed. (Or maybe you're all just like, "Hurray, she hasn't bragged about her drawings in a while! Wooooooooo!")

Whatever.

You know that song.... "It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas! Eeeeeverywhere you go."

That's a load of bull where I am.

With us, it's more like, "Is hasn't snowed a single flurry, but Santa dear, we're in a hurry."

We were supposed to have a giant snow storm this week. It was all over the news, "IT'S GONNA BE HUGE. PREPARE YOURSELVES. GET YOUR SHOVELS. BUY TIRE CHAINS. YOU DRIVE, YOU DIE. IT'S GONNA BE EPIC. THREE FEET OVERNIGHT. STOCK UP ON FOOD, YOU COULD STARVE.

Wanna know how much snow we ended up getting?

What are we gonna do with all of it?!? Lucky we were prepared, right? Hate to be snowed in.

We could see the storm clouds, we could smell the snow. And the clouds looked down at beautiful Lake Tahoe and went, "Nah, I can hold it til the next rest stop." and passed by this particular turn off.


I'm grouchy about that. I stare at the sky like, "SNOW YOU FREAK."

Suddenly my inspiration for this post petered out.


Let's see. I've been aggressively trying to cram in all my favorite Christmas movies and TV show specials before the Big Day. I'm very emotional over them. Like, "Ohmygosh. He gave her a present." *grabs tissue* "This movie is just... so good."

Okay, so maybe I'm not that bad, but I'm definitely getting all sniffly over lame, cheesy Christmas movies. It's embarrassing, really.

Speaking of lame Christmas movies, Le Sammi Bender spent the night and showed us Santa Claus. (No, I didn't sniffle over it. I'm not that freaking emotional.)

That movie is dumb. But it had these funny bits that made me snortle like an idiot. And I like snortling.

Sammi, Kat, Le me

Of course, it helped that Sammi likes desert a lot, and brought two things of gelato and cheesecakes of fabulousness. You wanna talk sugar high at ten o'clock at night?

I literally started singing that song from Calamity Jane.

I've got two wonderful arms

I've got two wonderful lips, 

I'm over twenty-one, and I'm freeeeee. 

OH I've got a hive full of honey. 

For the right kind of honey. Bee. 

And Sammi just sat there looking at me like:

Yeah, that's why we're best friends.



 My niece made her First Communion today.

She was so excited, her veil was literally trembling, and it was so cute. And I'm sitting behind her like, "God is so good. I'm so blessed. I NEED TO BE HOLY, OH MY GOSH."

One of my favorite Christmas stories is The Gift of the Magi, but I like the version illustrated by PJ Lynch because it's beautiful. It's the cutest, sweetest Christmas story! You should read it.

......
............

Guys, I literally just took a break writing, because my family was having a folded-up-socks version of a snowball fight.

Imagine the setting: A cozy livingroom, a crackling fire, companionable company. And then BOOM, folded socks flying, smashing people's heads and breathless giggling because the Pater is sleeping we don't want to wake him up. Merherherher. Reasons why my family is better than your family.

*cough*

I wrapped loads of pressies the other day. I'm almost done with the shopping. I only have two more people to buy for, and a couple little side gifts I need to get. Everyone else is done, and it makes me so ridiculously happy. I dunno. There's something super fabulous about wrapping presents and singing along with Christmas music.

It's like:

*cuts wrapping paper* "Angels we haaaave heeeeard on hiiiiigh!" *tapes packages* "Sweetly singing oooo'er the plaaaaiins!" *fabulously sticks on ribbons* "Aaand the mountainsss iiin replyyyyy!" *aggressively writes labels* "Echoing their joyous straaaain! GLOOOOO-OO-OO-OOORIAAA, IN EXCELIS DEEEOOOO." *proceeds to next package* 

 It's fun. And I like the way my pressies turned out.

On the topic of Christmas music... I'm obsessed with Baby It's Cold Outside. I'd never really cared for it until last year. And this year, I've got it playing on repeat, practically. Even my three year old niece is like, "TRESSIE. NO." And then I spend the whole day, frantically singing both parts.

I really can't staaaaaaa--But baby it's cold outside!

I've got to go 'waaaa--But baby it's cold outside!

This evening has--Been hoping that you'd drop in--

SOO very niiice--I'LL hold your hands, they're just like--

My mother will start to wor--BEAUTIFUL what's your hur-- 

You get the idea?

We plan to paint the windows sometime next week.

We're having Midnight Mass at our house, because we're a mission parish, and we has no church to use at midnight.

I'm excited.

I getting distracted by my sisters and mom having tickle fights.

Yeah, we're weird.

That's all.

Bai.