Merry Christmas!

I hope you are all enjoying your holidays. I love Christmas. This year was a little tough, as San Antonio doesn't have snow, or evergreens, or mountains, or any family. But we do have holiday craziness which appears to be a rampant epidemic throughout the US. Try as I might to get Christmas cards out, presents bought, goodies sent to friends, packages mailed on time, and a slew of other Christmas "to-do"s, it didn't happen this year. I did get presents bought, but that was about it. The BK and I were put in charge of our Church Christmas Party, and combined with trying to work part-time and wrangle my kids, not much else got done.

That said, it ended up being a very nice and quiet Christmas at our house (as quiet as things ever are around here - in part because the LG ended up sick which means he actually laid around with us on the couch for a few hours ; ). A couple of images of our Christmas celebration follow.

Here is the LG playing with the nativity that Grandma sent in response to my complaining about the kids not leaving my nice nativity alone. When she said she was sending a nativity the kids could play with, I was thinking plastic, not clay so the heads and other body parts could pop/shatter/break. That's okay though, the kids still had a great time. As you can see, the LG set up shop in his fire station, while the TP just carried around baby Jesus in his manger sqwuaking, "baby, baby". She seemed content with this unfair division of assets (there were about 10 pieces), and so did the LG, so who am I to point out the inequity of their sharing arrangement?


This should give you a good idea of the weather around here in December. It also demonstrates the havoc 2 children and a negligent BK (he failed to water anything when I was on vacation with the kids in UT) can wreak on a beautiful patio garden (okay, so it was never that beautiful). Where once grew a few legitimate plants, we now have a "dirt" box, a garden hat, and 2 race cars. Not a bad trade from the kids' perspective. Or the BK's apparently as he was amused enough to take pictures rather than send them both to time out in the tub.


Before I say anything about the Church Christmas Party, just let me say, "Please, Lord, please, never again!" Seriously, not my cup of tea. That said, I think it went pretty well. It was sort of an out of body experience. The kind where you know you were there, but don't really remember much of what was going on. You can catch a glimpse of what it looked like, as well as my children having the time of their lives running with free reign in a large gym. I'm pretty sure the experience rivaled that of Christmas morning. As for me, I was just glad it was all over.




The LG got to be Rudolph for the Christmas festivities at preschool. His nose was red for 3 days as he wouldn't let me wash it off.


An example of why it was time the TP got some "girl toys" as the LG put it when he saw her toys at Christmas. Poor thing is often dressed in the LG's hand-me-downs like his red airplane jammies and green hoodie, and daddies shoes. She even makes flying airplane noises, and calls all little people "guys". Yup, time for some girl toys around here.


Christmas Eve preview: pajamas and books to make sure the kids slept well while Santa was at work.


Shock-and-Awe of Christmas morning.


Little momma in her new little kitchen.


MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!! We love you all (you know who you are ; )

Happy Birthday Baby

The LG turned 4 this year, just before Thanksgiving, and just after Grandma and Grandpa arrived for the festivities. Nothing to age you like your children growing older. I can't believe he is 4. He often looks much older, acts much younger and definitely keeps us on our toes! He is amazing, smart, funny, very sensitive to others, kind, happy, and very energetic. He is a great older brother, loves his sister, loves his brother-to-be, and loves anyone and everyone around him. We are so lucky to have him in our family. Happy Birthday LG!

Here he is with his birthday pancakes. The party sort of continued through the week with a family party on the actual date with Grandma and Grandpa, and a friend party after Thanksgiving.


A few side stories that illustrate his personality, both of which have occurred in church over the course of 2 weeks:

2 Weeks Ago:
The woman speaking was talking about marriage and maintaining good relationships. As one point she was making the point that we all feel, when it comes to our spouses, that, "I hope you can understand me."

From 4 rows away, in the brief silence that followed the statement, the LG comments, "I don't understand you." It was loud enough that she (and everyone else) chuckled and she wittingly replied that that is exactly how we often feel. At least he was listening, right?

Last Week:
For those of you who haven't read this already on Facebook, last week was our Christmas program in church. I had to play the piano for the choir and was therefore sitting on the stand, and had left both kids with the BK, surrounded by others willing to help with the kids as necessary. At one point in the program, the primary children were asked to come up and sing a couple of songs. The LG straggled up as the first song had already begun, but did sing his little heart out. Unfortunately, after all the other kids had gone back to their seats, the LG was still hamming it up in front of the congregation. He tried to sit with the narrators (also on the stand), and then wiggled away to get back to the wall facing the congregation. He then scaled the wall, and was standing on it as his little friend on the front row was yelling for him to "Jump"! You can imagine my horror at this point, and the eye contact I was trying to make with the BK who had yet to intervene in any way. Fortunately, before he could jump (it was pretty imminent), one of the narrators grabbed him off the wall and turned to walk him back to the BK who was finally coming to retrieve his child. Just as it appeared someone finally had the LG under control, he kicked off the wall and knocked the poor narrator (and himself) flat on her back in front of the whole congregation who collectively changed their chuckles to an "oooooohhhhhh". Fortunately the narrator was fine, and graciously stood, bowed, and let everyone know she was alright.

Needless to say, he can be a handful. That said, he's hard not to like (fortunately), a little like curious George, and as beautiful on the inside and outside as any mother could hope for. We love you little guy.

Homecoming

Ahhh, DC. We love you. We miss you. We often think we should never have left you.


We went to DC so the BK could run another Marine Corp marathon, we could visit Grandma and Grandpa, catch up with old friends, and remember what fall is supposed to look like.

Some of the highlights:

The TP fell in love with a Superman doll at Grandma's house. At least she has high standards.


We took the kids to a corn maze. Great idea. The LG kept hiding in the corn (off the path of course), and would then start screaming while strangers would think there was a lost child without parental guidance. We all got lost because the BK never thinks that looking at a map is worth his time, and Grandma and prego mama got pretty cranky wandering around. Like I said, great idea. Maybe next year.



After visiting the National History Museum and the Air and Space Museum, the LG had finally had enough sight seeing, and lay down in the middle of the mall to "take a rest" and make dirt angels.



I can never get enough of my kids holding hands, especially when it occurs spontaneously. Somehow it makes everything in the world seem right.