Category Archives: Christmas

We must be doing something (kinda) right…

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In this very commercialized-Christmas kind of world, how do you teach your children what Christmas is all about? I’m sure we’re not alone in this dilemma, but I’ve been particularly worried about it this year – Emma is old enough to start learning this kind of stuff, right?

So we’ve been working on giving, not only receiving. Making crafts for our loved ones. Making cookies for all of our friends and neighbors. And we’ve talked a lot about the real reason Christmas celebrations were started. And on some level, I thought it was all sinking in. And it has been really fun sharing these little traditions with the girls. (I know Addie doesn’t really have a clue, but she sure does love to help with the baking parts!)

Until this week. All Emma can think or talk about is the stupid Butterscotch pony at Target that “Santa is going to bring me.”

Me: “But Butterscotch lives at Target, there isn’t room for a pony here at our house! I’m not sure Santa would take Butterscotch out of Target if that is where he lives.

E: “It’s ok, Mommy. Butterscotch can live in our living room by the Christmas tree. Santa will bring it to me.

Needless to say, I’ve been feeling a little defeated the past few days. She is obsessed about it. And it is disheartening – especially because I know she is going to be very disappointed on Christmas morning. (BUT, Santa will NOT be bringing a Butterscotch, no matter how disappointed she is. The pony is quite dumb…takes up a lot of room…and costs $249! For a stuffed animal that neighs! I don’t think so.)

So…yeah, I’ve been thinking that maybe the whole Christmas idea was a little lost on her. Maybe she is too young. Maybe next year.

And then there was this afternoon. Somewhere along the line, through all of the talking we’ve done, the books we’ve read, or the DVDs we have watched, Emma learned the real “Christmas Story” and did a pretty good (and funny) job of re-enacting it for me. This is how it went…

Emma was “riding” on one of her stuffed bears into the hallway, with her blanket over her head and another bear tucked up into her shirt.

E: “Bye, Mom! I’m going to Bethlehem.”

M: “Oh, why are you going to Bethlehem?”

E: “Because I am Mary and I’m riding my donkey to have a Baby Jesus be born.”

M: “Oh, how do you know that it is a Baby Jesus?” (I asked this because we have also been talking about Aunt Meesh’s new baby-to-be, and we don’t know if it is a baby girl or a baby boy, yet.)

E: “Because the Angel came and told me that it has to be a Baby Jesus.”

(Fair Enough! I’m slightly excited at this point…something is sinking in!)

M: “Ok, then. Let me know how that goes.”

Then she turns around, lifts up her shirt and the bear pops out and falls to the ground.

E: “Mom! I had a Baby Jesus! We need to wrap him in waddling clothes!”

So we did – well, not “waddling clothes” but an old blanket.

E: “Okay I have to go put him in the hay so the kings can come see him.”

And off she went with Baby Jesus. My little Virgin Emma.

Then, later in the day Baby Jesus became Toto, because she was then playing the role of Dorothy. I made the mistake of telling her to pick up Baby Jesus and she said,

“Mom! That is Toto, my puppy!”

But I at least feel a little vindicated that she knows there is more to Christmas than just Santa.

Random stuff for a rainy day…

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It is raining in Southern California today! Not just a little, either. We had an all-out, rainy, chilly, perfect for hot cocoa, kind of day. It was nice. Tomorrow is supposed to be more of the same so the girls and I will be baking!! This weather really does help with the Christmas spirit, it is beginning to look a lot like Christmas around here.

The girls, preparing for the great rainstorms!

Addie getting ready for the rains

Em and her boots

Before all of the rains yesterday I took a few pictures of the preparations for the big parade. This is our front yard…

bleachers for the rose bowl parade

Bleachers as far as the eye can see..

bleachers_back.jpg

It is going to be so much fun. I can’t believe the parade marches literally through our front yard! And we got tickets for the Big Game, too. (Go Blue!)

And two final pics today – just because everyone keeps asking me. Yes, the leaves (some of them) do change color, and some of them fall off the trees, too. But, remember when I took this picture it was the middle of December and nearly 70 degrees. Even if you miss a little Christmas snow, you can’t beat SoCal weather!

tree.jpg

leaves.jpg

 

My All-time Favorite Christmas

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Okay, so the story of my favorite Christmas is actually a little funny as well, so I will add it to our funny Christmas story contest. Of course it isn’t eligible to win the Elmo. By the way, we’ll announce our Elmo winner tomorrow.

Most of our friends and family know this story already, but this is for any new folk joining us, and of course, it’s good to have the story written down somewhere, you know – for the kids!

So, on with the story. Ahem….well, apparently my memory stinks and we (J. and I) are just debating which year this actually occurred. I am of the mind that it was 1991, he thinks 1992 – at any rate it was a long time ago.

We had gone to midnight mass with my family and were on our way home when Jamie said he needed to make a quick stop at The Station. For those who don’t know, The Station was one of the two competing pizza joints in our tiny little town. Pretty much everyone in town had worked at The Station at some point in their working career. J. had actually worked and managed The Station through most of his high school years, and then again on college summer and Christmas vacations. Oh, and…it is also where he had first asked me out. Yup, behind The Station, next to the delivery door and the dumpster. Totally romantic, right?

So, he needed to make a quick stop at The Station. Remember it is like 1:30 in the morning at this point. (Can you see where this is going?) So fast forward 10 minutes, our song, “Right Here Waiting” by Richard Marx (Don’t laugh – it was the late 80s when we started going out!) was playing on the jukebox, J. is on one knee trying to get through a very sweet proposal, I’m realizing what he is doing, and am in tears and there is a knock on the door. In the middle of J.’s proposal. So he opens the door and it is the police. Leslie is a very small town, so the police knew us.

Policeman: “Jamie. We saw the lights on. What are you doing? Are you having a problem?

J: “Um…no. I’m just trying to propose to my girlfriend.”

Policeman: (stammering as he is backing out the door) “Uh…oh. Wow. Okay. Good luck. Good night.”

And then J. came back and picked up where he left off…and I said, “Um…OK.” – Nah, I said, “Yes!” of course.

It was by far the best decision I ever made. And the best Christmas, too.

Why, why, why.

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That seems to be the only word our little precocious three (and a half!) year old knows these days.

I couldn’t resist this shirt when I found it because it is all I have heard for the last year.

Why, why, why.

God love her, but I have to be really careful in what I say – because she will remember EVERYTHING and repeat it at a later date! I think I have written about her crazy good memory before (it is by far ten times better than mine), but it continues to astound me. She is a freakin’ sponge. I keep thinking sooner or later she is going to become saturated, right? She’ll maybe start to either forget some things or just not be able to absorb any more….but it doesn’t seem to be happening.

Most of her questions lately revolve around Christmas.
“Why do the ladies have to stand and ring-ring the little bell?”
“Why do they want people to put moneys in the bucket?”
“Why do they help those people?”
“Why are they poor?”
“Why won’t Santa just bring those peoples presents?”
“Why doesn’t Joseph ride on his own donkey?”
“Why don’t they go to the hospital to have their baby?”

And on, and on….pretty much anything she sees, she has a question about.

I do love her curiosity. It is one of the truly great perks of parenting, just to be able to witness that excitement for learning on a daily basis. But it worries me that I still haven’t found a good class or preschool for her. I mean, am I really enough for her everyday? And on my “off” days when I don’t act like I expect her to act, how can I teach her to “do as I say, not as I do?” I’m sure it is (well, I hope it is – I can’t be alone here!) one of the great parenting dilemmas. I just can’t help but imagine what she would soak up with if she was in a learning environment and exposed to other people.

The “finding a school” task has been officially moved to the top of my list. Um…and also, stop acting like I don’t want her to act. That is probably pretty important, too.

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Don’t forget you have til midnite tomorrow (PST) to get your Elmo story in…we will pick the winner on Saturday – and have plenty of time to get Elmo to his new owner in time for Christmas. I’ll share our “funny” Christmas story tomorrow….

Real Work vs. Real Work

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So these actual “work” projects I suddenly have are seriously cutting into my blogging time. I am not complaining, well I am – a little. I really enjoy my work, but the timing is seriously really kind of crappy right now. I have two projects that essentially got handed to me today, and are due January 3rd.

It is a nice little break to go to the coffee shop and actually use my brain for some real work, though. Uh, let me rephrase that. I do real work, very hard work everyday. As every SAH (stay-at-home) mom will tell you, it is the absolute hardest job, it is very demanding, very physical, and always 24 hours a day. But, I can mostly do it with my brain pretty much turned off. The biggest workout my mind gets most days is trying to come up with a new bribe or compromise that I haven’t tried on Emma yet. So to actually be designing graphics, talking with adults about something other than our children’s eating and bathroom habits, and feeling useful…it is a nice change.

But, back to the sucky timing. I am starting to feel a little of the “Christmas stress” that I have been trying so hard to avoid. I still haven’t finished Christmas shopping, haven’t begun to even think of wrapping the gifts, and I am only about halfway finished on the calendars that I do for our friends and family each year. Do you think anyone would notice if their calendar was missing January and they got it for Valentine’s Day?

And honestly…I just want to go hang out at the park with the girls. The weather is beautiful – fall-like for everywhere else in the country – that nice sweatshirt or sweater, perfect-for-the-park weather. And the girls have really been into it lately. It is great for Emma, our little social butterfly. She makes a new friend everytime we go, and she basically runs herself silly. Addie has figured out that she can climb…HIGH. So she is just as fearless as E. She has also learned not only how to say “park” but points it out whenever we go by it. Just her wistful, longing look out the window as we go by, is enough to make me stop, even if it means we are late for something, or we put off grocery shopping (again!) in favor of a trip down the slide. (We are in desperate need of a grocery shop. Have been for about a week, now.)

So…what I should be doing, instead of sitting here complaining, is crossing something off of my to-do list so I can go to the park and continue my quest for a stress-free holiday. I guess I better get on it. *Sigh* How are the rest of you doing on your Christmas To-Do lists?

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3 more days to get your stories and/or pictures in for the Elmo contest! I only have a few so far so your odds of winning are really good!! Come on, put it on the top of your list of things to do!

Tickle Me Contest

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So Jamie and I have a few extra TMX Tickle Me Elmos (the 10th Anniversary Edition) and J. thought it would be cool to do a little contest on the blog here and give one away. I am trying to figure out a fun contest to do – we can’t just draw names out of a hat – we have to make you work for it somehow! Maybe something Christmas or kid-related. Hmmmm….

Leave a comment if you have any contest ideas. And stay tuned – I’ll post the contest and rules soon.

Come here, girl. Good girl!

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This is how Em and I spent our morning…trying to get Addie to sit in one spot so I could get a decent Christmas card pic.

Come Here!

Isn’t this the funniest picture? E. is such a great big sister when she wants to be. I had so much fun just letting them run around and chase each other while I snapped away. Now, I have 200 pics to go through and figure out if any of them will work. Gotta love digital cameras. One of them is just going to have to do. I’ll put up the leftover pics after I decide which one you’ll all be getting in your mailbox.

The Christmas attire did help with my grinch-y attitude, though. Tonight I’m going to finish calendars, I think that’ll help for sure.

Needed: Christmas Spirit – Please Apply Within

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I should state as a precursor to this post, I ADORE where we live. I really love our place, would in fact want to buy it – if we were given the opportunity. I really love our neighborhood, even in the crazy preparation for the Rose Bowl parade which literally marches through our front yard, it is an amazing part of Pasadena. I am even kinda (not totally, yet) in love with LA. And those of you who know me, also know that LA was never on my list of “hot spot places to live.” So that is a pretty big statement right there.

But, as we were sitting outside at lunch today, (yes, outside – it is December 5th and it was at least 70 degrees) and I have to admit it was pretty nice, I realized it is inconceivable that Christmas is only 20 days away! Maybe I really do need chilly days, snow-threatening clouds, even an occasional snow flurry for it to really feel like Christmas.

Then again, I think part of the problem is I am really missing our family and friends. This past weekend my Mom was hospitalized and it is really, really hard to not be able to hop in the truck and be there in a few hours. I know J. and I knew what we were getting into, and I know in my heart that we made the right decision for our “little” family by moving out here, but it is very hard to be so far away sometimes.

Plus, Christmas is about playing in the snow with the nieces and nephews or all of the neighborhood kids; going to visit the mall Santa with our friends Kim and Lauren and attempting (sometimes for days!) to take our “Christmas Card” picture; going to midnight mass in our tiny, country church with my parents and walking out to a blanket of snow afterwards. Those are the things I am really missing right now.

My mission this week, now that we are healthy and well again, is to find my Christmas spirit. Not just “retail” spirit, but that really fun Christmas feeling. I do realize that this is going to be an amazing Christmas with the girls – I mean they are really able to understand what is going on, what it is all about. I guess I just need to kick my butt spirit into gear, so I can enjoy it with them.

Any suggestions or help in doing so are always welcome!