Merry Christmas...

The wrappings are thrown, the ribbons stored and the memories made. Merry Christmas! A few special moments and then on to the video montage of Jack and his loot.

I had visions of Jack storming in our room at 5:30 am shouting "SANTA CAME!" The reality? I woke Jack up at 8:00 am...our early bird transformed to a sleepy head. Look here he still has Mr. Sandman's sand in his eyes!

He was wonderfully patient as we all took turns opening gifts...though I caught him sneaking Santa's leftover cookie during Pop Pop's turn. HA!

And then a few of those memories that one day will be funny (promise...) like Maddie removing the left hand of Jack's new fireman only to go back for the right hand a few hours later (Buster would have eaten the hand first but he was nursing a sore shoulder..) or the five times I had to put the Crown Roast back in the oven because it was still bloody red in the joints (literally). All in all it was a perfect holiday...good presents, good food and most importantly a GREAT family! Here's the montage...Pop Pop took all the good pictures and promises to send them. So forgive the grainy shots and enjoy!

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Prelude to Christmas

Christmas is 95% anticipation. This was Jack's first Christmas at home. Besides visiting Santa, scoping out the tackiest Christmas lights and watching every Christmas movie suitable...we built up the anticipation with a few additional traditions.

Cookies

I was all set for an idyllic morning of cookie baking and decorating. Minni and Pop Pop were eager to join in...that is until I pulled out the Betty Crocker mix. WHAT? Not homemade? They exchanged those glances couples do when the wish to communicate telepathically. I pressed on citing all my reasons for using the mix...highest rated by Consumer Reports, fool-proof, I AM A WORKING MOM for Pete's sake. They graciously accepted all the reasons and the fun began. Thank you Minni for teaching me the proper way to "roll out" cookie dough. Good grief Betty! We used the traditional cut-outs of trees, snowman, stars, etc. and then Pop Pop got a little creative with the free hand...let's just say I don't think Rubbermaid will be making a mold for his "Jack Frost's side profile" cookie. However his rocket ship cookie was Jack's favorite (big surprise!) After 8-9 minutes those puppies were ready to cool off and get some cookie clothes on. Pop Pop took the decorating seriously remaining focused on his art. Minni claimed to be terrible at dressing cookies only to turn out the prettiest ones (which might say more about the rest of us than Minni's skill...hu-hmm), I proved to be a copy cat and Jack continued his streak of disdain for crafts and his love of sugar. He ate all the toppings while the rest of us decorated. After we all tried a cookie I ate some humble pie and promptly snuck out of the house to call Aunt Meg for her homemade sugar cookie recipe. Without as much as an "I told you so" Pop Pop and Jack helped me make (and eat) the homemade cookies the following day (much much better). Thanks Aunt Meg!

Oh Christmas Tree!

Our second new tradition. Decorating a tree four our friends outdoors. I dragged Minni and Pop Pop out in the frigid cold to string popcorn and cranberry garland while Jack and I made pine cone bird seed ornaments. We discovered that borderline burnt popcorn is rather difficult to work with. Like the sugar cookies I made a new batch of popcorn. Much better. Minni finished her string of garland first (not that it was a competition or anything!) Her reward was to pick the dinner venue for the evening. Pizza. Excellent choice. Jack impressed me as he hung all the ornaments. Limited by size only he hung the ornaments in varied heights and distances to create a rather aesthetically pleasing arrangement. He may have his father's arranger talent after all. We would have more garland but Minni and Pop Pop threatened to go on strike with only one demand (an outdoor fireplace or heat lamp...my choice!)

Christmas Eve

Jack's advent gift on this day was Reindeer food. We bravely ran out in the rain to spread it on the grass--ensuring Santa's sled pullers were fueled up for the ride up to the roof top! But before this we celebrated the birth of Jesus at our Parish's 4pm children's mass. Ninety percent of the time I am so proud of how articulate Jack is...understood by most. And then there are other times...such as in the middle of the Gospel when a hush falls over the parish and Jack says so clearly (and loudly) in a resolved voice, "I want to go home now!" I swear I saw a man's shoulders' shudder with laughter six pews up. Jack's other proclamation...after we returned from receiving the Holy Eucharist he sang out "My blessing has worn off! It is gone!" Oh my...if that isn't reason enough to return to church next Sunday...what is? The night rounded out with delicious nibbles, drinks, carols and family. Jack opened up his gifts from Uncle Robby, Aunt Meg and the kids...here he is with his awesome remote control Monster Truck. Daddy read us Night Before Christmas and tucked Jack into bed...with sugar plums dancing in his head! How could he sleep! The anticipation...isn't it enough to just sleigh you (groan!)

A Jack Attack?

Jack's teacher pulled Gary aside Wednesday to ask if anything was going on with Jack at home.  Hmm...there's a loaded question.  Apparently the sweet boy we all know, the one whose previous teacher said he would NEVER hurt another kid--hit, pushed, pulled, and bonked another kid on the head with a toy.  WHAT?!?!?  Shocked and confused we came together and had a "chat" with the boy.  We went as far as to roll play what you DO say when angry with another child.  We also recognized his sleep is all off and we have been on-the-go with business travel and holiday prepartions so we slowed down and had two wonderful nights at home and early bedtimes.   When he woke this morning he told me, "It is HARD to be patient."  Yes, Jack it certainly is.  His teacher said yesterday was perfect...old Jack was back.  Fingers crossed the same for today.  Did we just handle our first important discipline issue?  Is this what parenting a teenager is like--only times 100?  No more attacks, Jack.  Thank you.

First Hansel and Gretel...and then Jack

Gingerbread House

This morning Jack pulled not a toy or candy from his advent calendar but an activity to do with mommy--make a gingerbread house. He was a fantastic helper and together we created quite a decadent house. Of course he thought his biggest job was to TASTE the product. At one point when mom had removed all candy and icing from his reach he resorted to the only other way to get an icing fix...he lunged mouth first for the roof of our house. tsk, tsk. By the way...Minni and Pop Pop, I suggest you don't eat any of this gingerbread house when you come for your visit...just a friendly suggestion.


Here he is placing a dot of candy in each "square" of the roof-top. He even gave thought to alternating the colors once he saw that he had four blues in a row.

Towards the end he was so chock-full of both sugar and Christmas spirit that I was able to capture a moving (literally) rendition of Night Before Christmas.

Over the Hill and through the Woods to...

Jack, Gary and I want to give Grandma and Grandpa a BIG thank you for going over the hills and through several wrong turns to get to our home to take care of Jack last week while his Mom and Dad had out-of-town business trips! Jack thoroughly enjoyed his grandparents' unexpected visit (he especially enjoyed Grandpa giving him TWO ice creams with dinner the first night and then Grandma sharing chocolate cake the second night...) The grandparents proved to be super nanny's not being deterred one bit in the face of whining, picky eating, or even the most complicate set of remote controls ever created. The only kryptonite for these two were the gazillion stairs in this house. Sorry about the aching knees :(

Jack is blessed to have two sets of very loving grandparents that have helped us immensely this past year!!! THANK YOU! And now we get ready for Minni and Pop pop to come for Christmas!

Ho Ho Ho

Santa, Christmas lights, snow flurries and hot cocoa!!! What a wonderful time of the year. We had a fantastic weekend!

ZZZZzzzzzz....

Let's start with some very exciting news...Jack went to sleep all by himself without running out of his room! THANK YOU AUNT MARY! Between vacation and the most recent bout of pneumonia we gave up trying to teach Jack to stay in bed and fell into the very bad, albeit cozy habit of laying down with Jack in his bed until he fell asleep (which usually happend right after Dad or Mom fell asleep...shameful, I know.) Well, no more! I decided on Friday night we were going to tackle this once and for all. New twist. I added the flashlight and book option to the deal (Mary's idea). In addition to our tried-and-true bedtime routine, Jack now takes a flashlight and books in bed with him to look at after I kiss him goodnight AND LEAVE THE ROOM. And here's the kicker...it works! He STAYS in bed! (I hear trumpets playing in the far distance!) More importantly he falls asleep (like right away!)...oh Merry Christmas indeed!

Jolly Old Saint Nicholas

Santa made an appearance next door and Jack was invited. Gary and I were curious as to how he would "receive" Santa this year. Based on his exuberance for all the Disney characters we were prepared and had the camera set to sports mode...but apparently Jack understands Santa's power and respected Father Christmas. He approached him right away but once within inches of the snowy white beard he FROZE. He remained statuesque until said Mom and said Dad picked up said boy and placed him on Santa's lap. I think I heard Jack whisper his Christmas list...a fire truck, ladder truck, dump truck, armor truck and pickup truck. Good grief! Santa gave Jack a dry erase board with permanent marker. Alrighty then...I wonder if a Magic Eraser is going to be in my stocking from Santa this year. Thanks Santa ;)

A family photo with Santa and Mrs. Clause at our neighbor's house this past weekend.

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

Gary slaved on decorations this year and while his idea of elegance won out over my desire to decorate our lawn with every Christmas item sold at Gradinroad...I think in the end he may have had the better vision. Look how pretty it turned out. Simple and elegant. Just like him. The only item missing is SNOW...and you know what? We almost had it. Flurries danced from the heavens to earth in our own backyard Saturday morning. There is hope for a White Christmas in the South after all.

Yummy

I know there are some serious popcorn addicts in the family (yes, I am referring to you...Minni and Gary!) Looks like last night gave birth to one more. The Jackal devoured his first bowl of popcorn accompanied by hot cocoa. The popcorn wasn't the only first of the evening. Jack stayed up to watch his first Christmas TV special. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. He was very excited about the evening. We went up early for bath and pajamas. Jack loves him some bath time...but he was so excited about cocoa and movie that after only a moment in the comforting water he stood up and declared that he was ready for PJ's. He enjoyed the show...and I discovered that my husband who can remember nothing about his childhood could quote all the popular lines from this show. Jack's favorite line of the night was by Yukon Cornelius: "Didn't I ever tell you about bumbles (the Abominable Snowman)? Bumbles bounce!" So after ending the show with a 10-minute imitation of bouncing bumbles Jack slept soundly the entire night. Here's a picture of Jack before the show with his prized bowl of popped corn!