Father and Son Time

Brian took Isaac sledding his morning while the girls were at school and I was running last minute Christmas errands.

Here he is enjoying a German Berliner for a (rather unhealthy) snack at the big boy table.

First Snowfall of the Season

We tried to go to Mass early this morning only to be stopped by the snow covered roads. We live in a valley with hills on either side. In upstate New York, this kind of snow would have been no problem. Of course, they plow the roads there! I tried. I really did. However, a third of the way up the hill, we got stuck and had to backpedal. Hopefully, by the time Brian gets home and we try again for the evening Mass it will be easier to make the hill. It is still snowing consistently, so only time will tell.

When we made it back home, we geared up for some snow fun! It was Isaac's first time to play in the snow. (No pictures because Brian took the camera with him to Bastogne this weekend for a World War II walk that happens once a year. The kids would not have been able to make it, so he made it a guy trip.) Isaac got the giggles when snowflakes caught in his eyelashes. I love to see the babies experience things for the first time. So amazing! Genna got clobbered twice in the face with snowballs, and took it very well, all smiles and giggles. I dusted the snow off her face and noticed snow caught in her drool which made us all laugh. Hannah made hearts in the snow with her boots. That's my creative girl! She's also my wussy girl and was the first one to poop out and go inside. Then Genna and I made a table top snow-woman because Isaac wanted to steal the snowballs from us. He was chasing us as we rolled the balls, yelling ball at us. We decided the table was a safer place for our snow woman with the little monster running around. Genna got cold toes then and went inside. I had to drag the boy in, as usual. Than came the hot chocolate and marshmallows.

If the snow is still here when Brian gets back the afternoon, maybe I'll be back with some photos.

***edited***
Here is a picture of the beautiful winter wonderland!

Ornaments...Check.

We did finally get our tree covered in lights and ornaments yesterday. It has been such a crazy week with Brian home and just the busy Advent season. I still don't have my Christmas cards in the mail yet (stuffing them this weekend to go out on Monday.) Nor are my gifts for the children completed yet. I am attempting to hand make them all some things. I borrowed a sewing machine tonight since mine is kaput. So, hopefully, I can get those done in the coming week. That should explain my less frequent posting, I suppose.

Back to the tree, I love putting the ornaments on. It is something I treasured as a child, putting the ornaments on with my sister and mom and remembering the story or person behind each one. Now the girls are both old enough to join in that tradition with me. For the last 8 years, I have pretty much had to reminisce alone since my husband, not unlike my father, just doesn't get the whole ritual.

I have all my ornaments labeled (on the box in which they are stored) with from whom or where they came and to whom they were given. I am curious, does anyone else do this? My mom didn't label hers, we just all remembered and passed down the stories, but I just don't trust myself not to forget some. A few of the ornaments on our tree are actual falling apart and ugly, as my daughters put it. I, however, like them even more just because I know they are older than me and have a history. My mother gave me these, some of my favorite old ornaments, when I got married and had my own tree. They've been hung upon a Christmas tree every year for over a quarter of a decade. The kids have been given some ornaments as well over the years, although Hannah seems to have far more than her younger siblings. That's the way it goes, I guess. Hannah's favorite ornament is her newest ballerina ornament she received for her birthday. Genna latched onto her ceramic rattle ornament from ornament that was given to her at birth by my mom. Isaac's favorite is a new ornament that I purchased here in Germany last year. It is a fishing bear in full fishing garb. He growls at it frequently.

We have no star or angel to top the tree this year. Instead I hung our baby Jesus in a manger on the very top branch.



As you can see in these pictures taken after or annual family tree blessing and lighting, the tree is definitely more heavily lit on top. I had to go buy more lights mid tree and only could find strands with 20 lights on them. So I bought 10 boxes and figured about 1 strand per branch or two. I was pretty close on my estimate, but what I failed to realize is that the spacing is so very different that there is no way to make it look even. Oh well!

So far Isaac is doing well with the tree, by the way. I only have to block it off when I am cooking dinner, so far. He tends to act out during this time of day anyway to get attention. His molars are breaking through this week, so he's a bit of a bear right now.

Work in Progress

Well the tree is still a work in progress. We have so much going on these days that it is getting decorated in stages. I did manage to get the lights on it, but we need to buy more. So that is not even finished yet. Then the ornaments will come, but our evenings this week are pretty full, so it may be Thursday before that happens. Here is how I blocked off the room a bit with the couch. I can push the playpen up against the opening to the area if I need to keep the little monster away from the tree. We opted for a smaller tree this year just in case. :)

Under the tree are the gifts St. Nicholas left for the kids yesterday. Craft supplies for the girls! Plastic mesh needle point for Hannah, and lacing for Genna plus kits of other kinds. And don't forget the candy and toothbrushes! Isaac got a stuffed Tramp dog, a book, and a package of little animals. He is already saying "Animals" since getting the gift. It sounds more like "Amals" though.

We went to a Christmas market yesterday and didn't get home until past bedtime. Between that, Mass, and naps we didn't have time to color our St. Nicholas pages this year. Daddy told the story though on the way to Mass. The kids all got huge Chocolate St. Nicholases at church too. Isaac loves chocolate! He is eating like a horse these days! I promise you, he ate three full breakfasts this morning! If he keeps it up, he's going to be 30 lbs soon. That makes my arm hurt to even think about!

The longest day with a happy ending!

Yesterday, we woke up (Isaac and I at 5am) and skipped German Kindergarten. The kids dressed and ate their breakfast. Isaac took his morning nap (we probably need to drop that soon) and I showered and got myself ready while the kids made Christmas cards for people. Then we went to the hospital to get medicine and tests for Hannah. We grabbed lunch while we were there. We came home and went straight to mandatory nap time for all. Well, not for me, unfortunately. (I wish!) I changed my clothes and the sheets on my bed. When they all woke up we started getting ready to head to dinner (after I changed the sheets on Genna's bed since she had an accident during her nap). Hannah didn't want to wear her tennis shoes and started crying that her toe was broken. Genna went potty and the minute she hopped off the potty Isaac threw one of his shoes in the pee pee. When we finally got in the car, I looked at the clock and realized we were going to be 45 minutes late because of the shoe fiascoes. We had a relatively peaceful dinner as long as I kept Isaac's sphere of influence clear. Then we ran into the store to get a few last minute items. At this point it is already 8:30pm when we are leaving. I ran one quick errand and headed to the gym where we would wait and wait and wait for my husband to arrive. The plane had been delayed and it was going to be at least 11pm before he got there. The kids ran around and played, ate snacks, and drank hot chocolate for several hours. Isaac and Genna had a few run-ins with bullies that I had to regulate on. Hannah had a few run-ins with the floor that I had to kiss and make better. My leg, at this point was killing me. It is really bruised up and I still have stitches. Standing too much makes it sore.

Then he arrives, as Isaac is crashing on me. He didn't really get to see daddy until the next morning. The girls were overjoyed to see him and hug him. I thought they would never let go! They were actually speechless for once. Being exhausted had something to do with that, I'm sure. I did eventually get to hug him myself. A sweet lady offered to hold the sleeping Isaac so I could have a turn.

We didn't get home until very late so we are pooped today. Brian did manage to take the girls to get the Christmas tree this evening, while Isaac and I rearranged furniture to make a good spot for the tree. I even figured out a way to place the tree in such a way as to be able to block it off from my little monster some of the time, when absolutely necessary either for his safety or my sanity. More on that tomorrow...it is the eve of St. Nicholas' feast day, you know.

Anticipation

But if we learn to think of it as anticipation, as learning, as growing, if we think of the time we spend waiting for the big things of life as an opportunity instead of a passing of time, what wonderful horizons open out!
~Anna Neagle

In the beginning...

God created "Adam and Even," according to Genna. :)

We started our Jesse Tree this week, and on day 2 I already had to move the tree to a new location. My dear son has added two new items to the list of things he has eaten, but shouldn't have. One of those was our day 2 ornament and one was a big chunk of dog food. To be honest, I was waiting for the dog food to slip by me. I have heard enough mom's of boys ask if he had eaten any dog food yet when I complain about him eating everything in sight to be expecting that one. The ornament, however, I was not prepared for! It was a home-made apple ornament that smelled like cinnamon. I just turned around for a second to put a dish in the sink and he had already chowed down on half of it. It would half actually fit with the whole eating of the apple thing if he had just taken a bite out of the side, but he ate off the top part which held the ornament on its string. I thought he had eaten the string and leaf as well until I found it balled in one of his fists. Luckily, I had an extra one of these ornaments. Anyway, I moved the tree to our end table in between the two couches. He could still get it if he stood on the couch technically, but if he is standing on the couch I have a much bigger problem since we have all tile floors.

Once my hubby gets home and gets our real tree, we will have to be super vigilante and put only non edible and non breakable ornaments on the bottom. I just would like to say that this is the first time I have ever had any problem with any of my kids touching the tree . And I am actually worried about him pulling the whole tree down and shattering my precious memories with it on our tile floor which has truly never entered my mind with the past two children. I think we will have to anchor it to the wall or ceiling for sure! Like I always say, "Good thing he's cute!" LOL