Tuesday, December 20, 2011

2011 Christmas Card

It's the holidays...and that means a wacky, weird, and wonderful Copeland Christmas card experience!

We decided to save a bit of money this year and upload it in PDF form, but I think you'll enjoy it nonetheless. If you have trouble reading it, please contact me or leave a comment and I'll come to the rescue.

Without further ado, click on the link: 2011 Christmas Card

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!

Sunday, December 18, 2011

Christmas Decor

YIPPEE! The semester is over. I submitted my grades, and I'm quite excited for some down time. :)
Adam and I have been finishing our Christmas shopping and I think we've done pretty well. Yesterday was some holiday madness. Literally. We got mad at each other while we were running to drop off the car for a check-up, to the post office to mail packages and get stamps, to various stores to pick up gifts/gift cards, to Petsmart for a nail trim for Oliver, all while wrapping/packaging presents, doing laundry, getting our Christmas card together, and more. However, I'm lucky to have a husband who'll forgive me and who will even admit that I was right about not needing all the extra packaging materials! I love the holidays, but I know that Adam and I haven't felt fully able to enjoy our holidays yet because of work and other everyday things. I'm free of teaching, yes, but Adam has had a very hard semester and he's still not done yet. However, I'm glad that we can hug and comfort each other, make each other laugh, and convince each other not to let the small worries get in the way of a fun time. Wow--writing at 6 a.m. when you can't get back to sleep, does apparently make me a bit maudlin!

Anyway, we decorated our townhouse around Thanksgiving, but have been adding to it in bits and pieces. Here are some pictures! Enjoy!


Our gingerbread houses and reindeer-land

Makeshift mantle for stockings!

You have to decorate every tree with lights, don't you? Plus, some stuffed animals!

Our Christmas tree

Trying to get a better angle/color perspective...I probably failed, but it looks GREAT in person!

And, finally, our outdoor lights. Adam did help me hang them this year (usually, I like to do it all myself because I LOVE hanging Christmas lights). But it was nice to have help...and not be in danger of falling! Usually, I love the dangerous possibilities, but I'm tempering that for the baby's sake.
 
So, there you have it. Our decorating. And, yes, I'm a colored lights person. Hey, they remind me of my childhood and are just fun....but, to those white lights people out there: your displays are delightfully elegant. I just don't know if I can ever be that elegant. Luckily, Adam says that we can have whatever kind of lights and however many I want since Christmas lights and decorating make me so happy. I wonder what he'll say next year when I make him part of the display and buy him a tie that lights up! Just kidding....the tie will be from Oliver and Baby Copeland!  :)

Sunday, December 4, 2011

A Forgotten Hallowe'en Post!

Oh dear. I completely forgot to load these pictures onto my computer! Well, we had a lovely Hallowe'en. Last year, one of Adam's administrator's suggested looking at Target for dog costumes on November 1st. So, we looked, found this outfit (for $1.50), and I've been waiting a year for Oliver to wear it. So, he went as a Roman chariot, carrying a little gladiator charioteer.




Oliver usually doesn't like costumes, but I think he liked this. It helped that the costume didn't require anything to put on his head. Instead, it just strapped around his body, and I think he liked it. He didn't even try to roll to move it off---maybe he wants to carry little people on his back? We'll have to test that out when Baby Copeland comes.  :)

I went as someone who didn't have a pulled-together costume, so I wore lots of skull-n-crossbones gear (yay, ChiO!) and my green cloak. Here's a clip of me walking my perfect little man! Don't mind the background noise; just appreciate how happy and adorable Oliver looks!

And, not to worry, I found another good find this November 1st. Since we'll have a crawler plus a dog, they can probably use the same type of costume. I'll probably let Oliver decide if he wants the Chariot costume or the new one.  Baby will be happy with either, right? heehee!