Merry Christmas

This morning, I woke up earlier than normal, which doesn't bode well for me since Santa Claus is coming tonight.  Every Christmas morning for the last few years, we've been taking a photo of the kids on the stairs.  My kids don't like pajamas, but I managed to have them wear PJs for all these photos. (Not sure why, as I would happily live in PJS if I could).  Anyway, here's the last couple of year's worth of pictures.

December 25, 2013

December 25, 2012

Darling Daughter was a latecomer and didn't get in on the stairs party in 2012

Christmas 2011

It's amazing to me to see how much they've grown over the years.  I think it's funny Number Two is wearing the same pajamas at 3 years old as he is at 5 years old.  That gives you a little perspective on how quickly my kids grow.  There's just something about Christmas. 

I love seeing their faces as they look at the gifts they received.  I love getting on the floor and playing with them.  I love putting together legos endlessly, and "Mommy, can you open this?"  I'm not sure we missed the mark this year on Number One though.  He is ten, and he's impossible to shop for.  He either wants expensive gifts, or tons of video games, or a Flash or Impulse costume. The costumes are hard to find (and expensive) in December.  I just hope he can be happy with what he receives, because that's what Christmas is all about, right? Joy and Love. The magic of giving to others.  

Tonight, Number One gets to be the stepfather of Jesus (his words) in a pageant at church, while Darling Daughter will be an angel.  Number Two had stage fright, and he refused to do it, even though there are no speaking parts.  

Tomorrow, we'll open presents, then cook a big dinner, then lie around exhausted!

Merry Christmas!!!

Post Holiday Blah

I'm really trying to get back into my workout schedule. Yesterday, I went for a run and I only made it about 1.2 miles, then I walked the rest of the way. I'm sure it didn't help that I had a runny nose, a cough and was fighting a headache. There was no way I was going to spend my last day off of the year in Urgent Care though! No way! Oh, plus the temperature dropped from 71 degrees to 40-something yesterday. That probably hurt my attempts too.

Grandma is here, and she's going to sit with the kids while Hubby and I go to work, so I should be able to get out there and go for a run a little bit later today, around 6:00 AM.

We had a wonderful Christmas. I missed my Mom, who is in Nashville still helping my sister with her twins (and her other two precious kids). On Christmas Eve we sang carols with my Dad and had some snacks at his house. Then, we came over to my house to open one present and to eat Hubby's Ozo Soup and prosciutto salad. It was yummy.

Alabama Cousins + Dad.

I snapped this photo of Hubby and Darling Daughter that I'm totally in love with. I love the look in both of their eyes. Pure and total love.

 

 

The biggest hits present-wise this Christmas for Son Number One were:

• The Hexbug Nano Set with 4 Hexbugs: This was not on his list, but Santa must have figured he'd like it.
• The Lego Batman Set with Robin: He'd been asking for this for months.  And you can tell by the look on his face when he opened it that he was thrilled.

 

 

The biggest hit for Son Number Two was:

• The Spinjitzu Lego Ninjago spinners: If Santa had only known that this was all Son Number Two really wanted, then he could have saved a lot of money and his elves would not have had to work so hard this year!
• He also really liked the Cars 2 Tokyo Spinout Track. 

 

 

The biggest hits for Darling Daughter this year:

• The dollhouse: The whole family has gotten into playing with this
• The Lalaloopsy Remote Control Car, and
• Son Number Two's LeapPad2. Funnily, I did not think she would be interested in this year, so did not bother asking Grandma for one, but she absolutely loves it, and she wants to play with it all the time! 

 

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas!!!







Christmas Eve is Here Again

It's Christmas Eve, and I can hardly believe that this year has flown by so quickly.  I'm working a half day today, then I'll be home with my family to sing Christmas carols, eat, drink and be merry.  The kids are off the wall with excitement, dreaming about Lego Ninjagos, dollhouses, and all the other toys they may get from Santa Claus tomorrow morning. 

Here's what last Christmas looked like, and tomorrow I'll see what this Christmas looks like.  How fast they grow and how quickly the years slip by.  Enjoy every single moment you have with your children, because childhood is so fleeting.

I woke up this morning ready to run.  I needed to after spending much of yesterday on the couch or holding a sick child or sleeping.  I watched Glee pretty much all day long and indulged in potato chips.  I wrote about 5,000 more words of my novel, bringing my total now to 40,000 (roughly 150 pages).  I started reading, "For Whom the Bell Tolls," which promises to be a good book even if it does seem somewhat depressing.  I didn't exercise, unless you count the 25 minutes I jumped on the trampoline while all the kids were with their dad at the doctor being diagnosed with sinus infections. 

Some days it's super nice to be lazy.  I woke up with a plan to go running today.  I opened the door to the cats mewing, and alas it has already started raining here in Alabama.  The beginning of the Christmas storm has made it's way towards us so my feet won't hit the pavement. 

I'm okay with that.  I'll get back to running in a few days.  For today, I'm going to enjoy work.  I'm going to come home and enjoy my kids, my dad, my brother and his family.  I'm going to take joy in the fact that I have a family to share this wonderful time with.  I'm going to delight in the looks of my children's face tomorrow morning as they creep down the stairs and see what Santa left them. 

As I write this, the music of Pachelbel's Canon has begun playing on my Pandora, raising my spirits even more.

Merry Christmas Everyone!  May Yours be Shiny and Bright!!!

Christmas at the Bass Pro Shop

You may be wondering where my Goal Post is this week.  I decided to take a little break until after New Year's.  I have too many time commitments to give my goals their due respect, and I don't want to set goals and write about them knowing that I don't have time because of Christmas parties, kids, wrapping...you name it!

Last weekend, we took the kids to see Santa at the Bass Pro Shop in Prattville.  We dressed them up in their Christmas finery and headed out for a long drive to the "North Pole."  Number One and Number Two both brought Diary of the Wimpy Kid books to read (Number One) and to look at (Number Two). 

When we reached the shop the line was so long. We placed ourselves in the back of the line, and Hubby and I took turns standing there or chasing the kids.  Bass Pro Shop did a great job at providing entertainment for the kids: games, coloring, letters to Santa, a train, and the 4-wheeler display!

 

 

Now I can't say I approve of the Alabama bow on their tree, but I'll forgive them for that!  The boys played nicely which I must say is a Christmas Miracle.  They are like Tom and Jerry these days, always at each other's throats. 

 

 

Darling Daughter snuck off to take a peak of Santa.  I'm almost sure she made it into some unsuspecting family's Santa photo.  She was thrilled and in awe of Santa and not one bit scared of him!

 



 

 

After waiting in line, for what seemed like forever, our time with Santa finally came up.  The kids ran up to him, and there was a slight scuffle between Number One and Number Two about who would sit where.  Number Two didn't want to be in the middle, because well, he's ALWAYS in the middle.  I placed Darling Daughter on Santa's lap.  She was uncertain but didn't cry.

 

And then, the Christmas Elves snapped this priceless photo, that I will remember for years to come:

 

 

And it will always make me laugh!





Crafty Kids: Pine Cone Christmas Trees

This weekend, Hubby and I took the kids hiking and along the way we picked up three pine cones: one big, one medium and one small, just like our kids. (Oh and in case you're wondering, that's where Number Two fell and hit his lip.  You can see the result of his klutziness in many of the following photos).  

I decided it would be fun to make pine cone Christmas trees.  I went searching the world on my lunch break today for little tiny pom poms to make the ornaments.  Of course, as is my nature, I went a little crazy and ended up buying a ton of things for the kids to decorate their crafts. 




The kids begin decorating their trees -- Dad helps.

 

Number Two is hard at work decorating his tree.

Darling Daughter is quite fond of the glitter.

Number One was having a great time adding color to his tree.

Number Two made a "star" out of two big pom poms.



Darling Daughter putting the finishing touches on her tree.

Mommy even got in on the fun.  I made a star to go on Number One's tree.

Number One's finished Product.

 

I bought, from the Dollar General, little wrapped presents to put under the pine cone trees.  I put these, along with some tinsel in the bottom of a silver dish, and then arranged the Christmas trees in the middle to give the table a holiday centerpiece, with the help of my kids!

 

 

And an abstract view from above, showing all the glitter:

 

**************************************************************************************************************************************************

Materials Used:

• Pine Cones
• Glitter -- multi colored
• Pom Poms -- multi sized (I actually bought a value set that had the pipe cleaners in them too)
• Pipe Cleaners
• Glue -- I used Elmer's Clear glue
• Gold and Silver Tinsel
• Little Wrapper Present Ornaments -- if making a centerpiece.

I found the pine cones in the woods...free.  I bought the majority of the supplies from the Dollar Tree or Dollar General...cheap.  I had to buy the pom poms from Michael's...not-so-cheap.  An hour of fun holiday craft time with the kids...priceless.



Christmas Traditions: The Past Meeting the Present

I’m an early riser, like my father, and it gives me time to reflect on life, before the chaos of daily life begins.  In the wake of Christmas, I was just thinking about how amazing traditions are. 

When I was little, every Christmas Eve my parents would make something disgusting for dinner: oyster stew (yes, I like it now, but as a child I thought it was disgusting).  I generally would not eat.  We would open one present from under the tree, the anticipation building throughout the day for that special moment, to know what we had received! 

After opening presents, we would normally hop into the car to go look at Christmas lights.  There was always one particular house down in a neighborhood near ASU that was decked out with so many Christmas lights, blow up Santas and reindeers in the yard, and it just made me giddy with excitement!

After arriving home, we would gather around my Dad’s piano (a Wurlitzer back then) to sing Christmas carols.  None of us have great voices, but we would just belt out those tunes, laughing and giggling the whole time! 

After singing, we sat on the white couch in the living room and Dad would read “The Night Before Christmas,” and the bible story: Luke 2:1-20.  We were just itching to crawl into bed at this point, so that we could wake up the next day to see what Santa had brought.

I would pass the night, tossing and turning, dreaming about waking up to the presents and candy!  One year I even threw up, because I was so excited! Usually around 3 or 4, I would creep out of bed and wake up my sisters and brother.  We would sit on the landing on top of the stairs, just listening to see if Mom and Dad would ever wake up.  We’d usually sit up there for a few hours before they’d open their bedroom door, located at the bottom of the stairs, and tell us to come on down.  Sometimes, they’d make us sit in the breakfast room and eat before seeing what Santa brought (and no matter what, he’d always put an orange in our stockings!).

These traditions make for great memories.  Repeating the same tradition year after year helps you hold onto parts of the past that are important.  We’re resuming a lot of these traditions now, with our family and I hope they have just as wonderful memories of their past Christmases as I do.

Christmas Morning

Here is a video from this Christmas morning, Sunday, December 25, 2011.  The kids really enjoyed themselves, and of course they ended up getting everything they wanted. 

A Christmas Poem

Our Christmas tree is up,

And now the little ones can hardly wait until Santa shows up!

They've written their lists, and they've checked them twice, to make sure everything is there because Santa's so nice!

Mommy and Daddy have wrapped the presents and placed them here:

Now we're all looking forward to some Christmas cheer!

Merry Christmas!

Santa Won't Come

Threats of no presents don’t work with this boy.  He must know that he is on the “Nice” list, and no amount of Mommy saying, “Santa won’t bring you presents,” would bother him.

Yesterday, Son # 2 was having quite the fit.  He wanted to go to his grandma’s house instead of daycare.  Who wouldn’t want to go over there, right?  I led him down the stairs and told him we’d call his grandmother so she could explain that she had a doctor’s appointment.  This seemed to do the trick for a moment.

After a quiet and calm conversation with his grandmother, he settled down enough to sit at the kitchen table for some breakfast.   He then became ornery again, though, saying that he was going to throw his juice if he didn’t have a juice box with breakfast.  Daddy and I stuck to our guns, though, and we did not give in.

I looked in Son #2’s eyes and said, “You know Santa is watching you, right?”

He looked up at me with his huge blue eyes and a scowl on his face.

“Don’t you want Santa to visit you?”

“NO!” Son #2 said emphatically, as he began to reach for the cup.

“If you do that, Santa might not bring you presents.”

“I DON’T WANT SANTA TO BRING ME PRESENTS!”

What do you do then?  I just looked down at my cereal, continued eating, and five minutes later Son #2 was his usual, chirpy self.

The Grinch

Today the Montgomery Advertiser posted an article about Thyno Zgouvas' light display.  For those of you who live in Montgomery, if you’ve never seen his light display you are truly missing out.  In years past, he choreographed the lights to automatically move with the rhythm of the Christmas music.  Watching it in awe puts you into the Christmas spirit.  The man is truly a genius.

This year will be different; however, since some of the homeowners in his neighborhood raised a ruckus about how they thought the light display was “disrupting the peace.”  How silly is that?  These people need to find some enjoyment in life and stop always looking for the negative.  Mr. Zgouvas spends a lot of time putting this display together, because he wants to show others how much joy he finds in the Christmas Season, and then something as stupid as a Homeowners' Association has to come along and squash it! 

Come on!  Get in the Christmas Spirit!  Don’t be such a Grinch!

Festival of Lights

Tonight we went to the Christmas Lights at the zoo.  I have to be honest, I was really tired, and I did not want to go at first.  Darling Daughter is coming down with a cold (again), and neither one of the boys had naps.  I was honestly thinking that the entire thing would turn into a giant fiasco.  

When we arrived, we were pleasantly surprised that our membership let us get in for free, and even ride the train around the zoo.  We decided to visit Santa first, before the line was too long.  We saw the giant bearded man, relatively quickly.  Son #1 had no problem running up to him and jumping onto his lap.  Son #2 was a little hesitant.  I mentioned to him that if he sat on his lap, Santa would give him a candy cane, and that was all it took!  Hubby later told me that this was probably not something we'd want to encourage in the future, getting candy from strange men to sit on their laps!  Darling Daughter was not happy with Santa, at all, so I ended up in the picture.  Unfortunately, I don't have a picture to post on here, because our scanner is still packed in a box somewhere but believe me it was FUNNY!

After that, we waited in another line for the train.  Son #1 insisted on sitting in the stroller during this time, while Darling Daughter and Son #2 ran around and played.  Finally, we arrived at the front of the line, and the kids were so excited to ride the train.  Here's a good pic of Hubby and the kids, before boarding the train:

Even though they don't look like it here, the boys were super excited.  I'm really not sure what's up with their stoic expressions in the photo!


Then we loaded the train to see the lights.

After the train ride, we promised the boys they could look at the glow-in-the-dark toys that they were selling.  The boys picked different glowing glasses, which looked really cool.  Son #2 was mesmerized by his the rest of the night!

Overall it was a lot of fun, and afterwards the kids collapsed in their beds where they'll hopefully snooze all night long!

Going on a Date!

Hubby and I rarely go on dates. We have a faithful babysitter, and the kids have wonderful grandparents who are willing to watch them, but still we rarely go. We are mostly homebodies.

Last night, we went to my boss' annual Christmas Open House. We make a point of going to this every year. It is always fun. She always has plenty of wine and beer! She does this party with her daughter, so there are people of all different ages there, and in general it is an eclectic mix.

The Hubster displayed his Christmas tie proudly (as seen above!). This particular tie was bought by Son#1 at his school's Christmas Sale last year. It is about two inches too short, and if you push a button on it you will hear a little melody called "Silent Night!" I thought it was both wonderful and hilarious that he was wearing it. He is not one to put himself out there, and I was really proud of him.

We arrived at the Christmas party, and immediately everyone is drawn to the tie. I think that tie played "Silent Night" about nine or ten times! The party dwindled down early this year, and we decided to leave around 7:30. By this time, several people had already had too much to drink, and their hands were just itching to push Hubby's button. So, we walked out the door enraptured by that wonderful Christmas song.

Hubby really wanted to eat hibachi. My boss always has food at her party, and we had already eaten a little bit, but I acquiesced and we went to one of our favorite hibachi restaurants.

We sat at the table, recalling the times of our carefree youth when we would eat hibachi at least once a week. This was BC (Before Children), of course. We had a wonderful dinner, talked, and really reconnected with one another. I limited myself to sushi, since I did not want to go all out, as I have been trying to get back on the wagon as far as exercise and food consumption go.  Hubby had the fillet mignon hibachi, and he quite enjoyed it. 

After our little dinner, we went to Publix to pick up a few items we had run out of during the week.  Important things: Creamer for Coffee and Oatmeal.  (Oatmeal is the biggest breakfast time hit in our house, and it is enjoyed immensely by Son#2 and Darling Daughter.  Son#1 prefers Honey Nut Cheerios.)  At the grocery store, Hubby's Super Shopper personality came out!  He does the grocery shopping in our family, so he knows what aisle everything is in.  Not five minutes into the store, he said I was walking too slow!  I told him to try walking in high heels, so he literally took off his shoes in the grocery store and tried to fit into my size 9 heels.  Granted, his feet did not fit, but he has a much better appreciation of what wearing heels is like!

After we picked up our miscellaneous items, we headed to the cash register.  Our cashier got a huge kick out of Hubby's Christmas tie.  She listened to "Silent Night" as we paid.

Then we headed home to our warm hot house (it was 70 degrees yesterday!) and our wonderfully asleep children.  As we headed home, I realized that we needed to do this more often.  Get out of the house together, reestablish our relationship with each other, be together without the constant interruptions of the children.  I wonder where our next date will be?

Christmas Time Makes Them Crazy, Fa, La, La, La, La, La, La, La, La!

December 13, 2011 

Parenting is hard.  Parenting around Christmas time is nearly impossible.  The kids simply go nuts.  A lot of people have tricks up their sleeves, like "The Elf on the Shelf."  I could tell you in my house that might last about five minutes, before one child, maybe one specific child, would touch him and the magic would be gone. 

Yesterday it was time to decorate our beautiful, $30, Costco Christmas tree.  (Sidenote: If you're still looking for Christmas trees, then this is definitely the way to go!  Best Christmas tree ever!)  Son#1 was super excited.  Literally, bouncing off the walls, as he is prone to do at least five times a week!  Son#2 maintained his uber calm state, in direct contrast to his older brother.  Darling Daughter was strapped into her chair where she couldn't do any damage, or eat any of the packing popcorn that had been thrown precariously from the boxes by the boys. 

Decorating the Christmas Tree would not have been bad, if some Cybor-Galactic Borg from Planet Crazy had not abducted Son#1 and replaced him with this kid:

Yeah, the look on his face is exactly how he was acting.  Notice the calm happiness of Son#2.  Notice Dad playing defense with Darling Daughter, holding her, so she doesn't pluck the, "so carefully placed," ornaments directly off the tree. 

Who knew what was going on with Son#1 that day?  He was literally bouncing around the room, throwing ornaments at the tree, without even trying to securely attach them.  We had several ornament fatalities, such as the head from the mouse ornament and the wheel on one of the cars.  May they rest in pieces.  Who knows why Santa spends so much care picking these ornaments out for these special children when this is how they get treated?

After the ill-fated Christmas tree decorating and a few threats of bedtime, it was time for the boys to go into the bath.  I poured the bubbles in, and I sat by the side of the tub watching them.  At this point, I realized that I am not equipped to handle questions about Jesus and Christmas. 

The conversation went something like this:

"Mommy, how many days until Christmas and presents," Son#2 asked.

"Um, 13 days.  But, you know the real reason we celebrate Christmas is because of baby Jesus."

"Was baby Jesus five when he was born?" Son#1 asked.

"No.  He was a baby.  He is the Son of God."

"Why was he born?" Son#1 asked, always the inquisitive one.

"To take away the sins of man."

Confused look.  "How old is Jesus, Mommy?" Son#1, again.

"Well, he died a long time ago."

"How did he die?" again, the Inquisitive One.

"Well Pontius Pilate.he was crucified."

"What does that mean?" Son#1.

"They put him on a cross."

"What is a cross?" Son#1 asked.

Then, I'm sitting by the tub making my fingers into a cross.  Son#1 nods his head like he understands.

"You mean they drew a cross, and put him on it?" Son#1.

Big sigh from me.  This conversation is going nowhere pretty.  "No, he was crucified."

"What does that mean?"

"It means the bad people nailed him to the cross, and he died."

"How did he die?"

"From being nailed to the cross.Ok, who needs to be washed?"

Sometimes the best way out of a conversation with a curious seven year old is just to change the subject.