TACKLE!

Here's 12 seconds of football season at our place:

oooh!

Merry Christmas everyone! The word on the street is: ooooh!

This was Kaden's reaction to pretty much everything. Including the lights as we drove home on Christmas Eve... followed by "more?"

He likes the toys and clothes, but the big three excitements were: 1) Christmas lights 2) Wrapping Paper and 3) Coooo-kies

Have a peaceful weekend!

Good Morning, Santa's Workshop, how can we help you?

Ah. I know I SHOULD be sleeping, what with being sick and work in the morning and all... but there has been a perfect non-snow storm tonight. Kade was up a while there coughing... and my get-better meds have things like steroids and caffiene in them (!) which is great for my lungs to be healthy but not so much for the rest of me to sleep.... and then there's the shipping deadline to get presentes out to arrive BEFORE Christmas, which seems The Right Thing for relations. The gifties are wrapped, but not Fitting Neatly into the pre-selected mailing boxes. Now it's time to be imaginative. So yes, my brothers, your box o' gifts should arrive Christmas Eve. Friends and cousins? Not so much. Kade's been sleeping a bit, and my med buzz is wearing off. As soon as I stop coughing I will be asleep (maybe even at the keyboard- wouldn't that be nice for Jim to wake up to??).

And if you know me even a little, you'll remember I don't really send out cards until Christmas Eve at the earliest, just because it seems like a nice time for ME to be writing them out, as I'm overflowing with Holiday Joy and Good Will Tidings then. Until then, it's a bit stressful.

Though I am strangely NOT stressful right now. Steven Curtis Chapman is singing quietly in the corner and I am one of "those" who enjoy wrapping presents. Sometimes, when I can remember, I say some prayers for the people who will be opening the gifties. For their own holidays, and their belief in themselves, and our relationship, and their journey with God (however they understand or relate to the Diety). If there is no one else around, it is pretty peaceful for me--- one of the times I can "enter the moment" and "be present" and all that.

In fact, I know that tonight SOME of our friends and relations are snowed in. So some of those prayers were for a peaceful, holiday spirit sort of storm. And that all traveling will be safe, and flexible with their plans, and able to enjoy wherever they are (home or not). Which generally leads me to think of those without homes, especially in that type of weather, and I pray some for their safety and warmth and that they are shown kindness.

So with Christmas music playing, loved ones snowed in, and a Christmas mug of hot tea (well, lukewarm now!), this is Santa's workshop at it's best. We have 5 piles of wrapped presents waiting to be boxed and mailed. We have another 3 bags of presents on the floor for the locals. And we have at least one bag of presents to be returned (!) as we were a bit extravagent when buying for the wee one. While the numbers say we can give him all this, in reality he doesn't need it. And we don't need to be setting the expectation bar so high. In truth, while I'm very excited about this- his first "sorta understanding Christmas"- I am also looking forward to future Christmases, when we can make things together and decide together what sorts of activities and gifts make the holidays meaningful to us.

Utopian, I know. And perhaps that ideal will go the way of so many other parentings ideas I thought I held closely. But this year, Advent has been so. very. different. for me! Two years ago I was pregnant, and we were telling people at Christmastime, which added lots of excitement to the holiday. But still we had a lot of time to "be" in between the busy-ness. And I had a neat time reflecting on Mary being pregnant in the days/ weeks leading up to Christmas. Last year, Kade was a young enough and social enough baby to be toted along, wrapped up against me or passed around with others. So we did "the usual" and didn't notice much difference.

Then there's this year. We tried to do it all, the same as before. We've traveled, we partied. We've started decorating. We started making gifts. We started buying gifts. We even had ADDED to our work schedules (hosting a smashingly fantastic night program that was also extremely draining!). But the closer we got to Christmas, the more and more we've fallen behind with things.... so now I'm letting go. We might not have all the Christmas lights up, or the playroom done, or anything baked. I probably am NOT going to paint the porch, let alone lay a floor out there. I probably won't make those two crafty gift ideas I had (maybe for Valentine's Day?!).

We will host a wonderful party tomorrow to thank some wonderful people who teach the kiddos at church. After that... we'll shop online and wrap a bit with more store-bought (gasp) wrapping paper. We'll play with our boy and go on a date. And just like that, all is well again. My last quick prayer for the night is that each of you will also take a deep breath, hold onto your simplest meaningful joys and share a wonderful, peaceful Christmas Spirit this week...

And in the background, SCC sings: Rejoice, rejoice, Emmanuel shall come to thee Israel... Rejoice...

now on to my mailing boxes ;)

Tidbits, Snatches and other Phrases

Hi again! Are you feeling as overwhelmed with this whole time-won't-ever-stop-and-let-me-catch-my-breath? I hope it's not just me.

As I spin my wheels out of control, the boy keeps growing. And talking, oh my! That little man can TALK. In the past week, he's been jabbering away *more* than usual: in the car, on the phone, to the TV, to his monkey, to the couch... you get the idea. In the past two days, he's also started echo-ing the exact phrase and tone that Jim and I use, as we're talking to each other and not the little 2 foot person. Like after Jim sneezed and said "excuse me", we hear a little voice from the floor "scoose ME". Other examples...

When picking up a phone (real, toy, or imaginary) and putting it to his ear: 'lo!

To strangers at a restaurant or store: HI!

When he hears keys jangle: bye! bye! with a little wave.

When he sees pictures of food, even if he's never had it, like SHRIMP on a commercial: MMMMM.

Any type of football symbol: helmet, ball, player, crowd- this can be TV, radio or just a picture: TACK-ELLLLL!

tonight in the bath, I heard him using the same phrase over and over again as he placed letters on the wall. Then I realized he was saying: ready, set, go! (place letter) (repeat).

If other people are laughing, even if he doesn't know why: the laugh is mimicked.

Maybe we should call him our little mockingbird?

The lengths we go for coffee around here...

So! It turns out Kaden has grown an inch or so. I know this because he can now reach things on top of the kitchen counter. Like, say, a cup full of lukewarm coffee. You and I both know how this ends, but we still deserve the story.

I'm not facing him, but I hear the ceramic jingle on the counter and think "OH. NO. DONT. NOT. WAIT. STOP." Nothing actually comes out of my mouth, though, and as I turn around he is trying to grab the cup as it falls off the counter, tipping directly over his head. The poor thing looks like a cat that got drowned, with an equally unsure/shocked look on his face. I swipe his cheek to make sure the coffee wasn't hot, then relax and say "wow, bud, are you okay?"

He doesn't answer. He doesn't cry. He doesn't laugh. Instead, as a little stream of coffee runs off his nose, he sticks out his tounge, smacks his lips, and says MMMMMM. For the next 60 seconds, I am literally on the floor laughing while he repeats the process. Goofy kid. Must take after his mother*.


* Who, in her defense, has never dumped coffee all over her in an attempt to get a sip or two.