A Christmas Extravaganza

Every year is the same around here

(I love that!)

and Christmas isn't just a day...

it's an extravaganza!

Day One starts at my grandmother's house.

A Christmas Eve celebration where --

children are free to entertain themselves,

talents are shared,
and ornaments are opened...
lots of REALLY beautiful ornaments,
each one a celebration in itself.

Day two is Christmas morning.

And guess what....

SANTA came!
and even though he didn't bring a baby sister
(my own secret wish a few years back),
he did seem to hit the mark!
(No, the dalmation wasn't real,
but almost real in his own little online world.) And the traditions continued
(my favorite part)...




matching Christmas jammies
(the only gift opened on Christmas Eve),

a toothbrush in every stocking

(the big guy is SO smart!),

leftover crumbs from a yummy midnight (or 3 a.m) snack

(no time for neatness with millions of kids to visit!),

and sweetness and love for breakfast!

After Christmas dinner with my hubby's delightful family,

Day three begins -

A "Day-After-Christmas Party" at Grandma's house

(so she doesn't have to compete with the in-laws),
where we take an annual Christmas picture of the cousins,

and have what seems to be the annual post-picture dog pile.

This is followed by special gifts for each child.

Grandma is so careful about checking their lists,

and each child gets several gifts

picked especially for them.

My mom is so clever --

She loads the children's gifts

on one half of the tree.

And after they speedily race through,

here is what's left...

gifts for the adults!

And we take our time,

and open each one with care,

and admire what others receive.

It's so fun.

So MUCH fun.

3 days of fun.

No wonder it has taken me so long to recover!

The Nutcracker

The picutres are poor

(to say the least...)

but the day was fabulous!

Mom, Linda, Nathan, Camille and I

went with Aunt Sandra

to see the Nutcracker

at the War Memorial Opera House

in San Francisco.

Stunning!

Camille and Nathan
posing in front of Sandra's
amazing Christmas tree.
(I wish the picutre
could do it justice!!)
Overall, a wonderful day!

Doors

I've been thinking all week
about how grateful I am for doors.
When you open a door
you invite wonderful things into your life--
like carolers with cookies
or friends dropping by with a smile.
Sneaking up to a door is fun too--
especially when you've got secret santa duties to perform.
And doors can be closed
(particularly those belonging to teenage boys)--
and that makes me very happy as well!

Yea for doors!

Good Luck Santa!

Camille has been keeping a secret.

She's got an idea of what she wants from Santa, but she doesn't want anyone to know - it's just between the two of them.

I told Matthew that it was his mission today to find out what the secret wish is.

It's not like I need to know or anything.

After all, the gift isn't from me.

I'm just curious.

She was hesitant to tell.

She was afraid he might think her ideas were a bit "ridiculous" - but who can resist the lure of sharing a secret with a sibling?

So, the secret is out. (But don't tell her!)

Would you like to know?

Well, she's open to two options. . . the first is a dalmation puppy and the second is a baby sister.

Good luck, Santa!

Day 6 - Breakfast with Santa

What better way is there to spend a Saturday morning

than having pancakes with Santa Claus?
Can't think of one.

Day 5 - Finding our Tree

One of our Christmas traditions is driving up to Apple Hill to cut down our own tree. It's an event that the kids both love and hate. They love running among the trees, trying their hand at the saw, playing in the leaves and chasing wild turkeys. They don't love the 90 minute drive or the fact that they can never understand what my qualifications for a perfect tree are. (I will say that I'm a bit picky!) This year has been so crazy that we decided the only time we could squeeze in a trip up the hill was on Friday afternoon. We pulled the kids out of school early and had the tree farm completely to ourselves. It was delightful!

Searching for the perfect tree.

It never works quite like Brad and I expect it to - with snow covering the ground and a big beam of light that comes down to illuminate the perfect choice (a la Chevy Chase), but we still manage to find a good one!

High Five!! We found one in record time!


And after that we played in the trees...

and slept in the leaves while Dad tied it on the car.

It was a beautiful stress-free day and we're so happy to have our fresh, fragrant tree smelling up the living room!

Now it can be Christmas.

Traditions

So, I didn't have time to post yesterday (craziness all around), but I did have time to be thankful. In light of the season, today I'm thankful for traditions. I love that we do the same things over and over every year - it gives a little sense of joy and stability to the chaos (only 20 days left!) that is called Christmas. And this year we have a new tradition (it's never to late, you know!) of making sure we do something Christmasy (is that a word?) every day (thanks Crisitn!). I just put a little note in the advent box (along with a few pieces of chocolate, of course) that tells what the magical moment of the day will be. . . nothing fancy, just regular stuff. I guess you could call it the tradition of making sure we get all our traditions done! (I know...I'm weird.) Of course the boys aren't really that into it (what is it with boys anyway?), but my little girl gets just as excited as I do (thank goodness!). So...

Day one - load the advent calendar

(Camille's favorite)

Day two - decorate the little tree

(full of ornaments that little children

and good friends have made over the years)

Day three - open your Grandma ornament

(we LOVED them! Thanks Mom.)

Today it's our annual trip to pick out and chop down our Christmas tree. I can't wait!

Thankful

This week in her speech at school,

Camille was thankful for this table...

Tonight we were thankful for this table...

...where we had what was probably

the tastiest Thanksgiving dinner know to man.

I'm also thankful for such wonderful family to share it with

and for my sister-in-law who hosted the spread.

This Thanksgiving I'm also grateful that at this point in my life

I have everything I need. . .

Food to eat, a roof over my head and the love of a good family.

I'm also mindful that so many don't have such blessings,

and I pledge to remember to help them during this holiday season.

Won't you join me?

Moms and Being a Mom

Aren't Moms great? Tonight my mom just happened to call while I was mulling over a difficult choice. (Coincidence?) I'm always so grateful for her input. It's always so nice to have the perspective of someone who's done this before and can see the situation a little differently than I can. She gave me some great advice, as always, and tonight I'm very grateful for her (as always!). Thanks, Mom.

I'm also grateful to be the mom of three great kids. Today I had parent-teacher conferences for the two youngers. I love parent-teacher conferences. Last year Adam's teacher sent a note home saying she didn't think I needed a conference because he was doing just fine. I wrote her back and said, "ARE YOU KIDDING??? Conferences are like a mom's payday - where we finally get to see our reward for countless hours of watching over the homework table!" So, she let me come in and have my happy mom moment. Today was no different. Two very happy mom moments for two really delightful kids. Thanks you guys!

Great Wonders Park

We've been having such beautiful weather here - in the high 70's to low 80's for weeks now (sorry, Janet!) - so the kids and I decided to take a few friends and check out our new park. Thought those of you who used to live here might enjoy seeing what it looks like now...


This was one of our family projects - digging trenches and laying the pipe for the talking phone gizmo. Adam tried it out for us, and guess what... it works!!!

This menacing looking slide is a new addition. We didn't get to build it, but we did lay down the layer of crushed gravel that is underneath the playground bark (backbreaking work!)

It's a fun little place, but I have to say that they just don't build them like they used to. My kids prefer an old metal park with steep stairwells and lots of dangerous places to leap off of - not these safe, lawsuit-proof places that they build now!

Don't you wish...

... that this was still your life?

Laughter really is the Best Medicine

I know it's not Thursday, but today I'm thankful for laughter. I happened to be sitting at the computer with the camera next to me when I saw this scene. I let my kids choose 20 pieces of candy from their trick-or-treat stash, and then I take the rest away for a rainy day. Matthew eats all of his within the first day or two, while Adam saves his for weeks. So...this is what happens when one brother has candy and the other brother wants some. I love it when the boys let their goofy sides show, and I'm still wearing the smile that this shot gave me. It's been a rough week, and I needed a little levity in my life!!!

Happy Halloween

I was terribly disorganized this year, so we had to cram all of our Halloween Traditions into one afternoon and evening. We. . .

decorated a few cookies,

had a bowl of "Mamoo's Chilli"

carved a few pumpkins,

put on our costumes,

and went trick-or treating.

My favorite tradition of all is that the kids always knock on our door last! I love it...

Scott, Taylor & Adam

Camille & Bridget

I just have to give a big thank you to my Mom who made Camille's wish of looking exactly like her Bitty Baby come true. Aren't they adorable! Thanks Mom! What a great day.

Thankful for the Legacy...

I am blessed to have some amazingly brave ancestors, and they have been on my mind a lot lately. I've always wondered how they did it - giving up home, friends and family to move across the world or across the country. Leaving everything behind to do what they knew to be right. Standing up for their religious convictions in the face of hatred and fear. I've always wondered if I would have had the courage to do what they did. I'm not sure.

I've had to do a lot of brave things lately, and let me tell you that it is very hard. When my son was struggling with the gender change of his music teacher, I had to pull him out of class. I've been accused of discrimination, been called a bigot, and many friendships have been lost or altered. Teachers that I once worked side by side with have held me up as an example of how not to be a parent. I have been labled as intolerant for standing up for my children. I've chosen not to publicly fight them. Defending my position would mean laying Adam's pain open for the world to see, and I won't do that. And now we are nearing the end of our fight to pass Prop 8. It's been a difficult journey for me as I have people that I dearly love in a committed same-sex relationship. But again, I feel to stand up for children - mine and others - and for my religion - which I am deeply committed to - and say that marriage should be between a man and a woman for the purpose of having children and raising them to love and worship God. My dear son Matthew, not knowing that I was too chicken to volunteer, told his friend's mom that our family would be happy to stand on the street corner and wave Prop 8 signs. How could I admit to him how cowardly I was? So... I went. More sneers, more name calling, and lots of little birds flipping around. But, I did it! I survived! Maybe I could have been a pioneer. I'm thankful today for them, for their courage, and for a little bit of something they had that still lives on in me.

Friends

It's Thursday, and I've been thinking all day today about how thankful I am for my friends. So, here's to Karen, who drove my carpool after Robotics today and offered to let Adam hang out there until I got home from Matt's game. . . to Alicia, my fellow soccer mom who keeps me company at all those games. . . to those PTA gals, who are an example to me of tireless service, and to Marlina, who stepped up and offered to take all the high school kids to In-and-Out Burger for lunch tomorrow because they have a minimum day. These friends and many others bless my life every day, and I feel so lucky to have them in my life!

The Story of Soccer

I love having kids that are busy doing something, so when the Robotics teacher at the high school told me that he signed Matthew up for his class, I thought it was great! But then Matthew came home from school on the first day and said, and I quote, "Mom - they're all nerds and they're happy about it!" So, since aligning yourself with the nerds is one of the seven deadly sins of high school, I let him drop the class - on the condition that he find something else to do. So, he tried out for the soccer team. You must know that Matthew quit playing soccer somewhere around the 5th grade, and there aren't any freshman sports at our high school, so he was going to have to try out for the JV team. Would he make it? NO - he didn't make the JV team because there wasn't a JV team - so he's on the Varsity soccer team. What??? Anyway, it's been so much fun! He's learned and grown so much, and I'm really proud of him. The coach has been wonderful and lets him play part of every game - sometimes even 20-30 minutes. Today was their last home game (they won!) and even though I'm going to be glad to have one less thing on the schedule, I'm going to miss this!

Rebuilding the Wonder

Shortly after we moved to Vacaville, volunteers from throughout the city gathered to build a fabulous wooden playground called "Great Wonders" in Andrews Park. When the kids were little they loved coming to this playgound and would play for hours if I let them. After all these years the playground was beginning to show its age, so over the course of the past week the community gathered again to rebuild it. I had participated in the build as a part of our Young Women's activity, and when I saw in the paper on Saturday morning that they really needed more volunteers, I convinced Brad that we should take the kids and go work for a few hours. It seemed like it was the least we could do to pay back the many hours of enjoyment it has provided us.

We worked really hard. We spent the first couple of hours shoveling and moving rock. Then we spent the next hour digging up the rock so we could lay down the piping for the telephone feature. By the time we were done the boys were absolutely exhausted, but I could have stayed all day. It was so fun to feel like you were contributing to something that would bring joy to so many.

Can you see Brad? He's crouched over in the middle of the picture in a white shirt - trying to get the piping just right. What a stud!

I helped set these posts that will form the perimeter fence. Didn't I do a great job?

Camille wasn't actually old enough to be on the job site, so she had to go to the little day care center where they had pizza, snacks, Spongebob cartoons, an abundance of craft projects, and a darling clown. Needless to say, she had a GREAT time (and the boys were very jealous!).

They were supposed to finish the new park today (Sunday). We promised the kids that if it was finished we'd go spend FHE there tomorrow. Can't wait to see how it turns out!