Wow, it's really here

It's hard to believe that it's Christmas already, isn't it? I mean, weren't we just at Easter? Crazy how fast this year has gone by!

So it's Christmas eve already, and I'm not ready at all. Well, I mean, the things that needed shipping got shipped, but all the gifts that have come in the mail still need to be unloaded from their boxes and put under the tree. All the gifts for those living here still need wrapping. I've got to work this morning, then make a delivery to a needy coworker-- I'm giving J's old bike and some clothes and toys to her grandson. No child should get totally screwed on Christmas, and J doesn't use the bike anyways. He's so big his knees bang the handlebars. :)I hope Santa got his request for a new one. :)

I'm being a bit of a flake, but there's a picture I wanted to post here, just to prove to you guys exactly how stubborn my boy is, or maybe how wonderful his school is...

The Christmas pageant was a week ago, and J's class had been chosen to play the role of "townspeople". They asked that we dress the children in dark clothing and sandals to go under their costumes.

I didn't worry much about exactly what dark clothing he was wearing. After all, it was going to be under a costume.



Now, I know it's a bad picture, but my little camera can only zoom so far, but do you see him? Yup! The one right there in the center of the stage refusing to wear a costume at all and carrying Dino, no less! To be honest I'm surprised he went up at all. I had promised him that if he tried and changed his mind, he could always come sit with us and just watch. He's not much for performances, despite his ham-ish nature at home.

So he stands there, center stage in his beach break t-shirt, tossing a dino around while the other children sing and look so sincere. Seriously, do you see the little girl angel on the right? How precious! And the girl that played Mary? OMG, she could bring you to tears in that way that only a 4 year old actress could. She was beyond words sweet.

And then we get to the part where they sing "Mighty Day", and my kid whips a harmonica out of his pocket and starts totally rocking it. I wanted to bury my head, but at the same time I was laughing my butt off because these are the moments that we're going to remember forever. It's what makes J who he is. And honestly, besides putting a tiny kink in the preschool play, what was he hurting?

I went to retrieve him from his class after the play, and thankfully his teacher was on the same page with me. She adores my kid, understands his quirks, and we couldn't be luckier to have her.

Anyway, I'm off to work, then home to wrap presents! Eeek! Merry Christmas, everyone!

If only pocket change was enough

Hubby drives all day at work, and that equates to frequent stops at various gas stations for beverage refills, bathroom breaks, etc. This practice results in a center console full of change. Jonas delights in this fact, and periodically will relieve him of it.

Overheard the other night while he sat sliding his treasure, one tiny coin at a time through the slot on his piggy bank, sung in that syrupy, braggy tone that kids learn so quickly: "I'm going to college! I'm going to college! I'm going to college! Na-nee-na-nee-boo-boo!

The best acquisition ever

A few weeks ago J's school held a swap and shop where all of the families were encouraged to bring in an unwanted children's or household items they no longer needed. Everyone was free to take as much as they wanted or needed, and anything leftover went to goodwill at the end of the day.

J picked out a little pretend doctor's kit as his treasure, and it's been the greatest toy ever.

That first day he spent about 3 hours treating me as the sick patient, which meant that I got to spend 3 glorious hours lying on the couch doing absolutley nothing while he examined and took care of me. Why didn't I buy him one of these a long time ago?!

When he tired of this game, he moved on to veterinary medicine in which I learned the true patience of one very adoring dog.

Poor Kelli was put through the ringer, and loving laid there and allowed Dr. J to perform all sorts of tests.

Blood pressure measurements:


Very thorough ear exams:


And even a blood draw, which was, of course, followed up with the application of a bandage:

(Isn't that the cutest thing?)

This dog may, on most days, be the bane of my existence. She might pee on my floor every time the neighbor's dog barks too loudly, and she might annoy the hell out of me with 3 am nudges. She might occasionally swipe entire pork chops from the counter hot from the oven. She may even wag her tail so hard that she busts it open on corners, walls and any other hard surface it contacts, leaving a spray of blood that rivals CSI murder scenes, but this- her undying love and gentle patience with J is the reason that she'll always, always remain a part of our family. Good girl, Waggy Dog.

Catching up

That's what life seems to be all about right now- catching up. Catching up on bills, catching up on time, catching up with my kid, catching up on my Christmas gifts. That last one may be completely hopeless, but I just keep plugging along blindly denying that I only have maybe a handful of days before I have to start shipping things out. Eeek!

And of course, instead of working on anything, I'm simply sitting here blogging. But I've neglected the blog for a while and wanted to update a few things that have been going on, just for the sake of helping me keep the days straight, if nothing else.

After getting a grumpy start to the holiday season, I'm finally starting to find some Christmas spirit in me somewhere. We put up our tree this weekend, and for the first time since we became a family, it truly did turn into a family event. Hubby has never taken part in the trimming of the tree hanging of stockings, but this year he attacked it with full gusto. So much so that all I had to do was sit and untangle ornament hooks while he and J took care of the rest.



The obligatory under the tree shot.

We bought a new tree this year after somehow losing the stand to the old one last year, which made the fiberoptics and the lights not work, and also left the entire tree in a state of tumbledom. Yes, that's a word in my world. :) I love this new one. It's tall and slim, which works well in our cramped space, and is full and lovely and prelit, which saves me a huge headache, and probably is part of the reason hubby decided to join us this year. Good tree.

J even slept under it that first night. Sigh.


Another thing that makes me smile about the holidays is the return of this ugly old guy.

Meet Evil Santa, so named because when the lights flash they cast creepy shadows on Santa's face and it looks like his eyebrows are wagging up and down. Evil Santa has adorned the top of my parents tree for my entire life, and he grew quite endearing in our late teen/early adult years. Last year, with the knowledge that it would be the last year that we all gathered around the same tree, I tracked down Evil Santa's for both myself and my sister, and now we all have our own. I even love the fact that mine has a few burned out bulbs. Makes him all the more authentic.

There's so much more I could be filling you in on, but right now J is begging me to go outside and play in the yard, and it's so gorgeous out there that I can't possibly resist.

Go Elf Yourself!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards