A Day in the Life

Post Christmas, our days are pretty lazy. No school, no work, and not too many plans of any sort.

7:13--Birds wake me up, but everyone else is still asleep, so I stay in bed, reading.

7:45--Stirrings from the boys' room. Escalates in volume within minutes.

8:15--Bean gets up, various people in and out of our bed for the next half hour.

9:00--We finally get some breakfast on the table. This morning, it's oatmeal. We need something healthy before the sugar comes out.

9:30--Kids are busy crafting and playing, being loud, as always. We remind them that they have to actually put on clothing today because they're going to meet up with friends for the day.

10:15 Everyone is dressed and heading out the door. Steve takes the older two to see the Penguins of Madagascar with friends, Peanut and I head to Target to see if they have any good Christmas clearance.

11:30--Peanut and I finished our errands and come home to play Legos and have lunch.

1:00--Peanut is down for a nap and I spend the next hour surfing the web.

2:00--Steve comes home after leaving the kids to go home with their friends to play at their farm.

3:00--Steve and I head out to the garage. It's a relatively warm day and the garage has needed cleaning for awhile now.

3:30--Peanut wakes up and comes out to play. Not as much work is happening, but we slowly get things sorted back into their places as Peanut builds forts and obstacle courses and gets bikes out.

5:30--I go back inside to start making dinner.

6:00--Big kids come home after hours of running wild, playing magic games, and sword fighting. They're going to sleep good tonight!

7:00--Dinner is finally ready. Meals tend to all be later than normal without the school schedule to keep us on track. Bean soup, with ham, because we still have a LOT of ham left from Christmas.

7:30--Kids all run off, trying to sneak more play time out of the day before we wrangle them into bed. I run to Redbox to get a movie.

8:00--Finally get everyone headed to bed. Steve reads to Peanut while I read How to Eat Fried Worms to the older two.

8:30--Everyone's in bed. Bean is reading (and will forget to turn off her light if we don't go back up in half an hour to stop her.) Steve and I watch the latest X-Men movie. We used to be good at keeping up with movies as they come out, but it's gotten harder and harder to fit one in between when the kids go to bed and when I fall asleep.

11:30--I'm still awake, scanning Facebook and reading, which is not normal, but knowing that no one should be waking up before 7 makes me feel like I can afford to stay up. It's going to be hard to get back to normal next week!

Boxing Day

We may not celebrate Boxing Day in the U.S., but our family certainly has our December 26th traditions, and honestly, it's one of my favorite days of the whole season.

While the weeks leading up to Christmas are full of anticipation and planning, crafting and shopping, wrapping and decorating, and Christmas itself is full of surprises and excitement, the day after Christmas is pure indulgence.

The kids usually sleep in from the sheer exhaustion of Christmas Day. We hang out in our pajamas as long as we like. We eat leftovers and cookies and candy all day. We play with new toys, read new books, watch a movie.

 This year, the kids spent much of the day bouncing on the new trampoline which temporarily took up residence in our family room because Santa thought that was really funny.

The laziness of the day is pure awesomeness and I look forward to getting to rest after the crazy month previous.

'Twas the Night Before Christmas

Every year I try to plan for a relaxed, family centered Christmas Eve, and every year, it is a crazy day filled with frantic last minute gift making (and even some buying by some members of the family), grocery shopping (along with the rest of the city), cleaning, deliveries, and baking.

This year was no exception, and I was a little frustrated with some of the tasks that I felt others were pushing on me, but in the end, I was spending time with my family. Maybe we didn't get to make a puzzle or play games as I'd hoped, but I did get some one-on-one time with each of the kids as Bean and I finished a present for her youngest brother, and Bug and I finished one for his dad, and Peanut and I always have moments through the day.

I snuck away for a couple hours to deliver a few plates of goodies to the ladies from church who I try to visit each month, and it ended up being a nice time alone in the car, away from all the noise at the house which was starting to turn me into the Grinch, and a good visit with the one woman who I found home that afternoon.

Maybe my favorite part of the evening was lying down with the kids, who'd chosen to all sleep in the boys' bedroom, as they drifted off to sleep. I fell asleep for sure before Bean, and maybe before Bug, too, so I got a much needed nap to see me through the couple hours of work I still had waiting for me (I was pulling the last tray of rolls from the oven at midnight), but in the moments right before we all began drifting off to dreamland, it was fun being with the kids as they wound down from the excitement that had been building all day on the most anticipation-filled day of the year.

Maybe next year will be different. Maybe the planning ahead will actually happen, or maybe I'll embrace the chaos and quit expecting anything different, but either way, Christmas Eve will have moments of happiness along with the frustration. Of that, I am sure.

Stockings Hung

What started as convenience, because we didn't have hangers for our stockings when we moved to this house that actually had a mantle, has become strong rooted tradition for our kids. The stockings are hung by the window with care each December. And there they stay until Santa comes along to fill them. They do get rearranged occasionally, or borrowed to be used as actual socks, through out the month, but hung at the windows is where they belong.

Spirit of Christmas

I do not think of myself as a musical person. I can't sing particularly well, can't pick out the intricacies of the music, and don't really play any instruments. But music has always been something that touches me. I have strong memories associated with a lot of different songs, and even a new song can touch me and immediately cause me to think about certain things.

This time of year, this means that our church Christmas program is one of my favorite celebrations of the season. There's a lot of beautiful music and I always end up feeling the true spirit of Christmas, remembering that the first Christmas gift came when a little baby was born a long time ago. This Sunday proved to be no exception.

We had a few very talented people sing for us as well as the children which is special in it's own way. One woman in our congregation has the most amazing voice and brought me to tears as I listened to her sing The First Noel. What had been a hectic morning where I lost my cool trying to get the kids out the door on time for church turned into a peaceful reminder of what is truly important (and making it to church on time at the expense of my kids feelings isn't).

The feeling followed me through much of the day, as I shared the symbolism of Christmas with the 8 year olds I teach at church (and they actually listened!), as I celebrated winter solstice with my family, as we watched Mr. Krueger's Christmas and listened to Christmas music, and then later, as Steve and I introduced one of our favorite movies of all time to our oldest child, It's a Wonderful Life.

I'm glad that I can be reminded each year, that along with all the parties, crafts and searching for the perfect gifts, Christmas is about something else, too. From the words of How The Grinch Stole Christmas: He puzzled and puzzed till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before. Maybe Christmas, he thought... doesn't come from a store. Maybe Christmas, perhaps... means a little bit more.

At the Moment

Our house is feeling a little chaotic. This is what the playroom looks like. And yes, it really is as bad as the picture makes it seem. It was never fully picked up after the brunch we hosted last weekend, where there were 11 kids under 12, and my brood have only made it worse.

There are signs of Christmas covering every surface.

 

Gifts from teachers, books, and candy.

With the free time the kids have had, there's been some reminiscing and stacks of photo albums left behind.

There are also crafts stacked in the most random places, like the front staircase, because what better place to drop everything from the church Christmas party.

 

And speaking of crafting, this is what my desk is looking like these days. The glue gun has gotten a lot of use, as well as all my paper scraps. It's been fun to be playing in my craft room again.

 

The cards have been pouring in and our holder is overflowing. It's been so nice to hear from friends, especially the non-Facebook crowd who we only catch up with at Christmas each year.

And our book advent, which is really the only countdown we've been at all consistent with this year, is almost done. Only 4 more books under the tree. Guess it's time for us to start filling the space with the gifts for Christmas day.

 

(And I think we need to do a little Christmas pickup before the big day so poor Santa doesn't trip over something on his way in.) 

St. Nick

I think it's interesting as each of my kids learns about Santa, putting ideas together from various TV shows, movies, and books that we read and other kids telling them this or that, they each come up with a slightly different persona for this character. When Bean was younger, she wasn't sure about this stealthy guy in costume who snuck into everyone's houses while they were sleeping. Bug has always seen him as a challenge, to trap or capture in some way.

Peanut apparently has decided that Santa truly is a saint. The other day we were driving and saw stray dog on the side of the road. The kids really wanted me to stop and get catch the dog but we were late and it was a busy street with nowhere to park. As the older two kids wailed and fought with me about how we were dooming the dog to its death, Peanut chimed in,"Santa will take the doggie home don't worry."

I love that his idea of Santa is so much more than just a means to getting a bunch of presents for himself.

Creating Calm

Typically, we find some sort of cultural engagement, or two, to attend during the Christmas season. Some years, it's been a play at the Children's Theater, some years, it's the tree lighting with live music in Uptown. One year, we had the first grader's holiday concert as well as a holiday family dance at her school.

This year, other than church programs, we haven't scheduled anything particularly cultured. I had already decided that we needed to cut back a little somewhere because between the parties and pageants and programs, we tend to end up with few nights at home during the month of December. Even scaling back, we have been on the go enough. And I really want to lose a little of that rushed feeling.

So, we will attend concerts and plays again, I'm sure, and I am hoping that we can make a family trip in the next few days to see the singing bears we love so much, but for this year, we didn't try to cram in more and instead have been quite content with a little less hurrying around and a little more snuggle time.

Deck the Halls

This year, after a couple Decembers that proved to be too busy for me, I have actually found the time for some Christmas crafting, which means we have a few new decorations around the house. Some of these have been on my to do list for the last 3 years. But thanks to Pinterest, the ideas are safely waiting for the year that I actually have time for them.

Like this felt garland. I actually cut the circles out 3 years ago, but finally got around to sewing them onto the baker's twine this year. I like the little bit of color it adds to our mantle, although I'm not totally convinced that it goes best with our village houses, but at least for now, that's what is there.

This tree has also been on my list for a few years. I think it's cute. Wish I had some more unique buttons to use on it, but I'll have to be on the lookout for those for another year.

And the idea of turning our door into a snowman has probably been the best addition this year. It only took me and the kids about 15 minutes to put together, and it has made me smile every time I walk by our door all month long. He's such a happy guy.

White Christmas?

This little Peanut and I get to have lots of conversations as we drive. These little windows into the mind of a 3 year old can be quite entertaining (on less lucky days, these conversations involve him yelling and crying at me, which is not entertaining.) The other morning, after we dropped the big kids at school, he was quiet for a moment, and then chimed up,

"Mama, there's no snow because it's not Christmas yet."

"There's not always snow at Christmas time," I replied hesitantly. Like, never, if we're here, I thought.

"Yes there is! When it's Christmas, there will be snow." He was completely confident in his understanding of the holiday as only a 3 year old can be. I didn't know how to respond in a way that would satisfy him so I didn't say anything at all, but I hate that this little kid's idea of Christmas is about to be crushed. Growing up in coastal California, I totally don't need snow for it to feel like Christmas. And in our current part of the world, we love the mild winter weather that we usually have. But apparently movies have had a stronger influence on my little guy's idea of Christmas than his own life.

I hope this doesn't come back to haunt us next week.

Home is Where the Heart Is

I grew up having Christmas in the same house, same room, with the same people, every year. In fact, there was only one year after my memories stuck, the year I was 5, that we traveled at Christmas. The years from age 6 to age 24 were all spent in Hayward, waking up in my bed, opening gifts with my immediate family. Some years, even Christmas dinner was only the 5 of us, if the extended family who lived nearby were out of town.

As much as I treasured the stability of tradition and loved our Christmas days, I'm glad that my kids have grown up with a more flexible outlook. The first few years, it was from necessity. We moved houses, and some years, states, 7 times in the first 5.5 years of our marriage, which included the first years of our oldest two kids lives. Christmas, even if it was spent at home, was in a new place each year. And those years, we also traveled every other year, to my parents home in Colorado, or to my in-laws in California.

Life has been a little more stable in the years since. We have lived in our current home for the last 7 Christmases, and we have only traveled one of those years, but that year is one of the favorites in the kids' memories. 3 different Christmas celebrations as we spent 3 weeks driving over 4,000 miles to visit family in New Mexico, Utah, and Colorado. The kids loved getting to see so many aunts and uncles, cousins, and grandparents, that it was well worth the hassle of bringing Christmas with us and planning a long road trip at the busiest time of year. I wish we weren't all so spread out so we could have more of the big family gatherings at this time of year.

Even the years we stay here, it isn't always the same group. Many years, my mom and brother spend Christmas with us. One year, we were lucky enough to have my other brother and his wife out as well.  This year, for the second time since we moved across the country from all our family, we will be having Christmas with only the 5 of us, just how I grew up celebrating.

No matter where we are for Christmas day, as long as we are with the people we love, it feels like Christmas.

Making a List

And I'm checking it twice.

So much going on right now, but my on-going goal for this month is to slow down and take time for the small moments, especially with my kids. The list checking is essential to make sure I am as efficient as possible and don't forget the things that need to be done.

Upcoming Fun
neighborhood brunch
friends from out of town
a birthday party
seeing the lights
seeing the singing bears
church Christmas dinners
church Christmas program
cookie party with 4 ten year old girls
make gingerbread houses

Still to Make
felt garland
knitted stocking ornament
star wreath
wood nativity
one last kid gift
cards for the teachers
treats for teachers and friends
Christmas goodies for us

Honestly, the best part is that most of the to do stuff is fun for me, and a lot of it is low-key. Other than having something for the kids' teachers, I don't HAVE to do any of it (and I know that one is also technically optional, but its a priority for me, so I'm going to make sure that one happens.) Some of the other crafts I'm hoping to get to have been on my Pinterest board for 3 years. If they don't happen this year, they'll still be there the next. There only on my list because they sound/look fun, so I feel no pressure to actually do them unless I feel like it.

Christmas Treats

The day that the Candy Cane Joe Joes show up on the shelves at Trader Joe's is a happy day at our house. even though I usually think of homemade treats when I think of Christmas, we love these cookies. Better than Oreos, and the peppermint is the perfect companion to the chocolate. They are definitely a family favorite.

So imagine my delight when this year I noticed they had a new box. Gluten free Joe Joes!  Our little gluten intolerant Peanut can have cookies with us. And they came in the perfect year because he is finally old enough to realize he's missing out on everyone else's treats and he doesn't stand for it very well.

I've stocked up on both kinds because a couple years ago, we learned the hard way that sometimes they run out long before Christmas is over. But we won't this year. We might still be eating Joe Joes in March. Not that that is a bad thing.

Trimmed the Tree

Sensing the Season

Bright lights shining around our home, a lit-up tree glowing from the living room, greenery everywhere, brown paper packages under the tree--our house looks like Christmas already

Christmas music in the car and at home, whispers of present planning, squeals of excitement as kids go on overload--we can hear the holiday coming

smells of a fire from one of the neighbors, peppermint cookies and mulled apple cider--some of my favorite scents of the season

pumpkin and ginger snaps, eggnog and Joe-Joes--our taste buds are only getting warmed up

cozy flannel sheets; snug wool socks; a warm, soft blanket; a warm, soft child leaning on each side--it's snuggling season, during stories, movies, and bedtime

Christmas Calm

Most years, the stress of trying to get everything done by Christmas Eve gets to me at one point or another. I end up snapping and dreaming of running away because all I really want by then is to be alone, away from all the noise, mess, demands, and "togetherness" that seems to bring out the worst in all of us.

This year, I have made a conscious decision that I am not going to let things and to do lists affect the way I treat the people I love. Getting everything done isn't as important as taking the time to snuggle with the kids at bedtime while we read a story. Making it to every event doesn't matter if I have to yell to get there.

Most of my shopping is done, the few things I have left aren't because I don't know what I'm getting, but because I have too many ideas and we have to narrow down the final list. I do have a couple things I'm still trying to make, but most of the crafting I want to do this year is pretty low-key. If I don't finish it, it will wait until another year.

And that is what I keep telling myself about all of it. If we miss a day on the advent calendar, it doesn't matter; we can pick it up the next day. Or not.  If we don't make it to some of our traditional outings (like the tree lighting that I couldn't find details for), we probably won't miss them. Watching a Christmas movie while eating popcorn and Peppermint Joe-Joes might be even more fun, and definitely a lot easier.

I've spent the last two evenings snuggled under a blanket, blogging by the light of the Christmas tree before bed. The living room floor is scattered with Christmas books that the kids left out, the stove needs cleaning and the dishwasher is full of clean dishes (and last night, the only reason the sink wasn't totally full of dirty dishes was because I'd used paper plates), but that will all still be there in the morning and I've gone to bed happy.

That is my goal for this Christmas. To slow down and be happy.

Christmas Cards Through the Years

Or Christmas card photos, is probably more accurate. I'm too lazy to scan in the cards I do have, and there are a couple years that I don't have a copy of the card (and at least one of those years, I think is because we didn't end up ordering any, but I'm not positive.) But I thought it was fun to look back through the photos from the last 10 years.

 

2004--Our first card as a family. I'm not sure if we sent anything at all in 2003, but I know it wasn't a photo card, if we did. But we were pretty excited to send out cards with our cute little Bean on them this year. (Cruiseship)

 

2005--I'm not totally sure that we sent this card, but I know this was the photo that I had decided on, and then I spent a lot of time editing it to get rid of the backpack strap, but I have no idea where that copy of the picture ended up. (Disneyland)

2006--Or maybe this is the one that was never ordered. That would make sense. We had a newborn baby and Daddy-o was in school fulltime. But we had my brother take a few pictures while he was visiting that first week of December (Utah)

 

2007--I love this card. It's the only year that I convinced Daddy-o that we didn't need to be in the picture. We don't change all that much from year to year, so I figured no one really cares about seeing us, but these two kids were such great photo subjects. I have so many funny pictures of the two of them over the years. (Utah)

2008--Our first year in Charlotte, and we found these awesome ornaments in Uptown when showing off our new city to my cousins at Thanksgiving. (Charlotte)

 

2009--I'm pretty sure we didn't do a card this year. We have missed a few, and I can't find either a card, or any pictures that look like I would have used them on a card for that year.

 

2010--Last year as a family of 4. I was pregnant, sick, but determined to send out a card, which for many people was our announcement that we were going to have another little one joining our family. (Charlotte) 

 

2011--Family of 5, and the only year we've used a professional picture for our card. We'd had family photos done in November, so it was perfect timing, although we also had some fabulous candid pictures of the kids that I kind of wanted to use.

 

2012--I know we missed this one. Peanut was in the hospital at the end of October, right around when I normally start thinking about cards and photos. So, not only was life a little hectic and worrisome right then, I also didn't really feel up to writing a cheery Christmas letter when we weren't sure what was going on with our little guy. (Luckily, he's been fine.)

2013--Only time the dog has been featured. Not that we haven't wanted her other years. I remember trying to get her into the photos in 2010, but she isn't the most cooperative participant. Thus, the beauty of using individual shots. Our family photo didn't seem worthy of a whole spread last year, and I wanted to use some of the good photos of the kids I'd taken that fall.

 

2014--You're going to have to wait for this one! They haven't gone out yet, although for the first time, probably ever, I'd already picked them up by mid-November. Of course, I didn't touch them again until this week when I finally started working on our letter.

Memories of Gifts

The addition of our new family member this year (meet Tumtum) has made me think about a certain Christmas, exactly 30 years ago when I desperately wanted a hamster. I'd read books about hamster care and imagined the little tan ball of fluff that would be mine if only my Christmas wish came true.

Christmas morning, I lined up with my brothers, shortest to tallest, as always, which at that point, still meant I was in the back, to walk into the living room. I was so excited, so hopeful. We could hear the fire crackling and the tree lights were shining brightly across the room.

And then I saw the cage and ran over to find. . . a big, black. . . thing. I wasn't sure what it was, but I did know it wasn't like any hamster I'd seen or read about.

Turned out, it was a guinea pig, a species of animal which I'd never heard of. A full grown female guinea pig, who would expand to the size of a dinner plate a couple months later when she was pregnant. At the pet shop, the employee had convinced my parents that guinea pigs made much better pets than hamsters and that they should buy those for us rather than the latter.

I'll admit, I felt a lot of disappointment at that moment when I first looked in that cage and wasn't sure what I was even seeing. I tried to hide it because I didn't want to seem ungrateful, but I did quietly wish my parents had read my list a little more carefully.

 But it was certainly a case of my parents knowing best. That guinea pig, Sonja, was so much fun. She was awake during the day, first of all, which goes a long way towards making a good pet for an 8 year old. She was noisy and responded to the rustlings of produce bags in the kitchen with fervent demands that we share the goodies with her.

And her babies--those sweet little fluff balls that looked exactly like miniature adult guinea pigs, with hair and their eyes wide open, instead of the typical blind, bald rodent baby--they more than made up for the hamster.

We had guinea pigs, and guinea pig babies, for several years after that and I'm excited now to carry on the experience with my own kids. And to think that it all started with unwelcome Christmas surprise.