Christmas 2010 Recap

I had high hopes for Christmas 2010, and it did not disappoint. The boys just seemed to be at perfect ages for all the fun and magic - old enough to get it but young enough to still be enthralled with it all, not yet spoiled by "gimme gimme" attitudes. Sure, they (Ethan, in particular) eagerly awaited Santa's delivery, but it wasn't all about the presents, or one present in particular. The room across from Ethan's at school houses the older kids (school age), and they had a big sign on the door where each kid could list what they most wanted for Christmas. EVERY SINGLE CHILD asked for some version of a Nintendo DS. I know my kids will get there some day soon, but for now, I am cherishing their funky and individual Santa lists and their innocent and grateful attitudes.

Even though they're young, I want the boys to realize Christmas isn't all about them getting presents, but also about giving to others. This year we made granola for everyone. I forgot to taste it before sealing it up in gift jars, so I have no idea how our first foray into granola-making turned out. I love this picture because it looks like Adam is reading the oatmeal instructions. To be honest, he wasn't the greatest kitchen hand.

He wasn't the best gingerbread decorator either. Every time I looked over, his cheeks were stock full of gobs of candy. I'm not sure any of his pieces actually made it onto the house.

Adam was, however, very enthusiastic about singing at the Christmas Eve service. Unfortunately, what he was interested in singing wasn't exactly what the minister had planned, but rather "Like a lightbulb!" (Rudolph), Frosty, ABCs, and shape and number identification, all on a repeat loop and at a very loud volume. Suffice it to say, I spent most of the service in the back of the church with my hand clamped over his mouth (didn't help).

Adam was also very enthusiastic about the Polar Express...enthralled actually. He was very scared of Santa (as expected), but loved the conductor punching his ticket and the nice people giving him a cookie and hot cocoa. We rode the Polar Express all the way to the North Pole on Christmas Eve Eve, right after Uncle Pauly got into town.

The boys absolutely adored having their uncle here, and didn't really leave him alone for his entire stay. The poor guy would try to go the bathroom and he'd have two little boys at his heels saying "Uncle Pauly, Uncle Pauly, whatcha doin'?".

After church on Christmas Eve, we came home for dinner and to prepare for Santa's arrival. Ethan took this very seriously, and even drew a little picture for Santa (a "snowman baby").

Then the boys got to open one present from Mom and Dad (a Christmas book), and we read that and other traditional favorites.

The tree room (otherwise known as the "car room" the rest of the year) was filled before Santa even made his appearance.

And we all slept soundly and until a normal, decent hour (thank god - when do the 5 AM Christmas morning wake-ups begin?). Christmas morning was a bit of a blur - Ethan could read all the tags so there were two things happening. If the present was for him, it got opened immediately; if the present was for someone else, you had about 30 seconds to open it after delivery - otherwise he opened it for you. Adam was content with present number one and couldn't really be bothered to open any more. Good thing he had a big brother to pick up the slack.

Santa was very good to all of us, and the boys are loving their presents. A whole stash of new and different toys came in handy when a blizzard housebounded us on Sunday. For those wondering, Santa came through with the batteries and paper for Ethan, but he somehow missed the garbage! Ethan didn't seem to notice until yesterday when he pensively said "You know Mommy, Santa got the paper and the batteries, but he forgot my garbage! Oh well, I'll just have to ask again next year - remind me Mommy!". Sure, honey.

Digging Out

We are busy digging out. Digging out from under piles of snow, piles of presents, piles of post-Christmas mess, piles of pictures to upload and post. But it was all so very merry and bright. A ride on the Polar Express Christmas Eve Eve, decorating cookies and a gingerbread house Christmas Eve morning, getting ready for Santa Christmas Eve night, and then of course, the big event. And all this topped off with a good dose of family time. More photos and stories to come, but for now, a belated Merry Christmas to all, from our frosty wonderland to yours.

There's No Place Like Home for the Holidays

Perhaps my favorite part of the holiday season is the opportunity it presents to reconnect with friends and family from afar. Every day this month, I skip out to the mailbox in giddy anticipation, like a kid on Christmas morning waiting to see what Santa has brought. But my Santa is the postman, and she brings beautiful cards, adorable family photos, and news and updates from friends and family I see way less often than I would like. I look forward to the whole holiday card exchange all year - while I know the practice is perhaps outdated and definitely not earth friendly, it is a lovely tradition that makes me extra happy and grateful at this time of year.

Even more special than cardstock and photos are real live visits with faraway friends. Aunt Gwen, Uncle Mike, and Brian arrived late Saturday night, and the boys could not wait to see their cousin Sunday morning. So we headed over to Grandma and Grandpa's for a day of family and winter fun. The boys were put to work immediately, lugging wood indoors for the stove. Ethan, as usual, embraced his assignment with gusto.

Adam preferred to stand there and look pretty.

After the work was done, there was time for play.

And pigpiles.

And while the little boys slept, the big boy tried that skating thing again.

I remember so vividly my first year away at college, that special feeling of coming home for Christmas. Now that we have our own home, I love being here for Christmas, and having others join us. The first visitors have arrived, and others will creep in over the next few days. And then our home (and our hearts) will be full.

Ho Ho Ho

The boys have had the opportunity to visit with the fat man in the red suit two times this week! Yesterday, Santa took time away from toy-making and Christmas Eve route-planning to visit the Toddle Inn. The boys were thrilled to be able to wear their jammies to school (Dad was also pretty excited about this development, as it was his day to get the kids ready for school and for bed while I was in Boston), eat all sorts of Christmas goodies, and receive a special present from Santa. It appears that Santa gets around Southern Maine, as we also spotted him at the mall Monday evening. This being Ethan's 4th Christmas, and having never done the traditional stand-in-line-at-the-mall-to-sit-on-Santa's-lap outing, I figured it was time. I assumed we would avoid the lines by going on a Monday afternoon - this was not a correct assumption. But at least there was an extensive train set to keep the boys busy while we waited. And lucky for Adam, there was another little boy in line who enjoys spitting and hitting just as much as he does, so spitting contests and wrestling matches kept him occupied.

When it was finally our turn to see Santa, Adam wanted nothing to do with him. I couldn't even get him to sit on Santa's lap for one minute. Ethan, on the other hand, jumped up there and hugged Santa like he was an old friend. Then the two them proceeded to have a long, private conversation while Mommy was asked by the slightly rude elves to "stand behind the red rope and take only two pictures". This is, of course, all very easy to do while holding a scared two-year old and dodging a line full of Santa-crazed kids. So please forgive the quality of the resulting photos. I swear they also purposely dim the lights if you don't choose to purchase photos taken by the nasty elves.

My bah-humbugs aside, seeing Ethan get SO excited about his visit with Santa more than made up for all the hassle. On the way home, he just sat quietly with a huge smile on his face, and I could tell he was replaying the magic of that moment in his head. I asked him what he and Santa had talked about, and he said "Mom! I can't tell you that!". He did say he told Santa what Adam wants for Christmas (paper) since Adam couldn't speak to it himself. He wouldn't tell me what he asked Santa for, but I am guessing it was either batteries, garbage, or non-spicy toothpaste, since those are the three things he is begging for this year. I'm sure I will remember these days fondly when he gets bigger and it isn't quite so easy to make all his wishes come true.

Feverish thumb-sucking begins as we get closer to Santa

Posing for Mom in front of the (hard-to-see) train set

Man-to-man chat

Make Way for A Duckling (and a Polar Bear)

Had it been 20 degrees colder over the last day or so, we would now be digging ourselves out of mounds and mounds of snow. Instead, we need to get out our puddle jumpers and stomp, stomp, stomp. Or build an ark. Either way, it no longer feels like Christmas is less than two weeks away. I must say (and I KNOW I will regret this), I'm ready for snow!

Luckily, we embraced winter before the rains came, and took Ethan for his first ice skate on Saturday afternoon. Grandma and Grandpa live right across from a wonderful little pond, perfect for pick-up hockey games and teaching wee ones to skate. Like another mom I know, I was fearful that this outing would be met with whining, tears, and a quick ending. Ben and I both love skating (although very different aspects of it), so it would be hard to swallow if our kids hated the notion. But Ethan surprised us all with his daring and courageous determination to learn how to skate. We were out there for well over an hour, and Ethan was skating on his own by the end. It was finally my feet that were cold, and I was begging him to quit. Now he can't wait to get out there again, which is exactly how I hoped, but worried he wouldn't, feel after his first go. Of course, we were too busy learning how to skate to take any pictures, so we'll have to do it again soon.

Our weekend was otherwise relaxing and uneventful - we decorated our Christmas tree, shopped, made cookie dough, had friends over for football and fun, and generally enjoyed some quiet time at home. Here are the boys (aka Baby Duck and the hibernating Polar Bear) after their bath last night, doing what they do best: monkeying around.

Sometimes their mom likes to monkey around a bit too.

Let It Snow

Sure enough, snow season has begun in Maine. We woke up to a very excited little munchkin shouting "SNOW! SNOW!! SNOOOOOWWWW!" on Saturday morning.

The excitement was soon replaced with a sense of duty, as Ethan insisted the deck needed to be shoveled right away. Of course, we only got a dusting, but why rely on Mother Nature when you can easily get out there and shovel yourself? He was very confused later in the day, when the snow had melted in places he hadn't gotten to with his shovel yet.

Adam tried to help, but mostly just lent moral support and good humor.

The best part was that Mom and Dad could sit inside in our jammies, drinking coffee and watching our two little men do the heavy lifting.

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

One thing I love about having a blog is being able to look back at previous entries and see what we were doing one year, two years, three years ago at this time. Last year on December 1st we were kicking off the Christmas season by opening advent calendars and stringing lights. Two years ago on December 1st, we had our first snow of the year. Three years ago, we were laughing at Ethan's wild hair and Adam wasn't even a twinkle in his parents' eyes.

Well here we are at December 1st again. We haven't had our first snow of the year yet - the ground is bare and the air is warm (relatively speaking, of course). Ethan's hair has calmed down a bit, and Adam is significantly more than a twinkle in his parents' eyes. But some things haven't changed - we are ringing in the Christmas season with some serious excitement around these parts. The house is decorated, the music is playing, and the boys bounded out of their beds this morning to open day one of their three (yes, three) advent calendars. They have a traditional open-the-window sort of calendar, then the very unique open-a-box-with-a-toy one they got from Noni and Papi last year, and then a move-the-star-from-pocket-to-pocket one that Ethan got during his first Christmas season. Who knew there were so many different types of advent calendars? Regardless, I am thrilled to have partners in crime when it comes to holiday enthusiasm and celebration. The boys have been working hard on their Christmas tunes, with Rudolph and Frosty being particular favorites. I'm sure these will be ready for center stage soon; in the meantime, here are some non-holiday melodies for your listening pleasure.