The Christmas Shuffle

This was our second year of celebrating Christmas morning at home, followed by the pilgramage north to eagerly waiting relatives. We're becoming pros. One of our greatest achievements this year was doing our holiday shopping on Black Friday up in PA. We wrapped all the gifts as soon as we bought them and had them waiting patiently in a closet until this weekend arrived. This meant less stuff to stuff into the car before heading north. Bailey was grateful.

The usual stops were made - first to Uncle Gene's, with Nana, Pop-Pop, Uncle Dave and Aunt De.

Then, to Uncle Dennis and Aunt Joan's house, where Alex and Ryan became fast frienemies (in the sweetest, most sincere terms possible).

The next morning we celebrated Christmas, part 2, with Grandma and Grandpa in the morning, followed by a trek up to Poppy and Grams. That trip is always special because the cousins all get to play. I don't think Ryan and Lindsey realize yet how lucky they are to have cousins the same age as them, but it sure takes a load off of us as parents.

Especially when there is a new cousin to love on.

Ryan and Grace are like two peas in a pod.

And though Lindsey and Evelyn are still feeling each other out, they did find one common connection - Evelyn likes to play mommy and Lindsey likes to eat :)

So although the Christmas Shuffle leaves all of us extremely exhausted, there is no better place to be than in the company of those you love. Regardless of how many trips in the car it takes.

Just like the movies

I wouldn't say I watched a ton of movies growing up, but I certainly hit all the classics of my time. And one of the greatest gifts those movies offered was the ability to delve into a fantasy world. I remember going to the crick and pretending I was on a Goonies adventure. Or reading a book under a blanket and wishing I'd get transported to Fantasia.

But you grow up and realize how unrealistic movies are. Flying dogs won't take you on an adventure to meet a young princess and secret tunnels and buried treasures aren't found by a group of misfits evading murderers.

There are moments, though, when it seems like real life - as mundane and ordinary as it can be - is just like the movies. My most recent moment? Christmas morning.

Each year, Christmas becomes more special because it becomes more magical for the kids. Each year, they get it more, which means their excitement level increases drastically. You know those scenes in Christmas movies where the kids tear into the wrapping paper, it goes flying and every gift is met with an "Ooo" or an "Aaah!" or, if you're really lucky, a loud, excited squeal of joy? We had that in our living room. And it was great.

After the masacre of the wrapping paper, it was on to test driving gifts, trying on clothes, assembling tree houses...you know, the usual.

Just like a good movie - 2011 was full of plot lines, all connected in some way, with suspense, humor and a little drama (thanks, of course, to Miss Lindsey). And ultimately, the ending was happy. Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve

This time last year, we were dealing with some uninvited house guests. This year? We were the uninvited house guests. Maybe uninvited is a harsh word. Self-invited?

Our friends have begun hosting a traditional seven fishes dinner every year - a typical Italian/Catholic (still not sure if it's one or the other - or both) tradition on Christmas Eve that includes lots of people, lots of wine and lots of seafood. It sounds delicious.  So when they were talking about the prep work this year, we casually mentioned how awesome it sounded and how much fun it might be to go (we're really bad at not being obvious). They took the bait (pun intended) and offered us a seat (or four) at the seven fishes dinner!

Beyond the food (which was as awesome as we thought it would be), it was so nice to be with "family" on Christmas Eve. When we made the decision to have Santa visit our house every year on Christmas, we knew that meant we'd be giving up the ability to visit with family the night before Christmas. Our friends in Delaware are like our extended family, so who better to kick off the holidays with than them!?

When we got home, before we said good night, Ryan and Lindsey made sure to have some cookies and milk for Santa and a big bowl of cabbage and carrots for the reindeer.

And now...we sleep and wait...and digest.

Crafty Christmas

We're getting closer and closer to Christmas, which means it's crunch time for gift getting, house decorating and all things holiday related. Our weekends, thankfully, are low key right now, which frees up time to get a little crafty.

Nate has taken the reigns this year, helping the kids glue gumdrops and candy-coated chocolates to slabs of gingerbread with the help of sticky, sweet icing. He is doing a great job walking the fine line of letting them slip an M&M here, a lick of frosting there, while making sure we're not sharing germs with others who might indulge in our crafty efforts.

See the star on the back of our house? That was my singular contribution to the cause. Please, hold your applause.

Inspired by our sugary piece of holiday real estate, Nate and the kids later tackled some cookie-in-a-jar treats to share with neighbors and friends. Word on the street is these jars contain the ingredients for Santa's favorite cookie. We'll find out in a few more days!

Instant Gratification

It's not always obvious when you're growing up, but eventually you come to realize that some of the really cool things you did as a kid were long-standing, family traditions. Some, more unique to your family than others, but all of them a part of the wonder of childhood you can't fully appreciate until your an adult.

Then, when you have kids of your own, you learn to not only develop a deeper appreciation for the actual traditions, but for your parents, who painstakingly spent endless hours prepping things, coaxing your participation, teaching you the ropes, packing things away for next year, saving mementos and scouring magazine for new ideas, in order to give you, the child, a moment in time that you will, hopefully, remember and cherish.

It's a lot of work, these traditions.

And while it may take kids years to fully appreciate it all, parents get instant gratification. And I, dear friends, am a big fan of instant gratification.

So maybe that explains (in part) my unending thirst for the holiday season. I drink up this time of year like a lost, desert wanderer.  Because there is unexplainable magic in seeing excitement grow in the eyes of your child.

Or watching them proudly roll out the dough for Aunt Sherry's homemade Thanksgiving noodles.

Or catching the "power of the tongue" as they roll up crescent rolls. 

Or hearing Lindsey ask for "more, more" after Daddy squirts whipped cream in her mouth.

Or anticipating our annual visit from Finnegan - that silly, little elf.

Or finally having a great reason for the kids to eat their breakfast in the morning.

Or visiting with real, living, breathing reindeer.

Or picking out the perfect tree.

Or admiring a big brother teach his little sister how to hang ornaments on the perfect tree.

'Tis the season for traditions.

Good weather sparks spontaneity

On Halloween this year, the northeast coast experienced a freak snow storm. Not just a few flakes, but nearly 6 inches of snow. Trees tumbled under the pressure and we were snowed in at Grandma and Grandpa's with no power.

So, it's safe to say we're not taking fair weather days for granted this fall. And this weekend delivered a boat load of fair weather.

The kids dove right in. Literally.

We can finally appreciate the joy of the millions (swear) of leaves that blanket our backyard every year. They make for an AWESOME leaf jumping pile.  Another bonus? You can start exercising your snowball-throwing arm with a good leaf battle.

And that was just Saturday. Sunday, I was itching to get out of the house and do something exciting. So we decided on a spontaneous adventure that served as a first for both kids! Road trip to the Philadelphia Zoo.

The plan was to go in the morning for a few hours and head back around lunch/nap time. But as with most bouts of spontaneity, things didn't go as "planned." The kids were troopers and hung on for four hours, with no major meltdowns.

Lindsey had a standoff with some roaming ducks, though. I think she was excited there were animals that weren't behind glass or fences.

There were spontaneous bouts of spending, like when both kids got their faces painted. At first, we were only going to let Ryan do it. We didn't think Lindsey would tolerate such nonsense. But, not to be outdone by her big brother, she too sat there while the artist worked her magic. Grumpy cheeks and all.

Can you tell who was more excited by this?

Ryan didn't get grumpy until about 90 minutes into our self-guided tour. He was dead-set on seeing gorillas. But to get to the gorillas, we had to pass by bald eagles, reptiles, farm animals and (mommy's personal favorite) giraffe's. 

At each exhibit, there was whining and pouting and arm crossing. "But I wanna see gorILLas!" (emphasis on the "ill."). Finally, we made it to the primate exhibit and fast-tracked it past orangutans and  spider monkeys to the main attraction. Two huge, albeit adorable, gorillas who were thisclose to the glass and put on quite a show. I'll admit it, it was somewhat worth the whining.

After the gorilla show, we managed to get a family picture that proved everyone was in a good mood!

Until Ryan decided he didn't want to see zebras next. He wanted to see "flaMINGos."

Regardless, a four hour spontaneous trip into Philadelphia could have ended a lot worse. Family membership to the zoo? Check. Bring on more fair weather days.

A Painting in the Sky

Today's sunrise was beautiful.

So beautiful, it prompted a very poignant question by Ryan. "Who made the sky so pretty?"

I thought of taking the "easy road" and answering simply with "God." But there are a couple problems with this. First, I'm personally not sure where I stand on that theory. Second, while it's an "easy answer" it would clearly open up a whole carton of new questions from Ryan that I'm not prepared to answer yet.

Religion is a tricky subject. I've waned in and out of varying degrees of religious faith over the years. So while I believe there is a higher power and I believe that higher power has an impact on how our lives are intertwined, I certainly don't take the bible as a true account of how we came to be.

But that doesn't mean we, as a family, disregard Jesus and God and the stories we learned in bible school. I think many of those stories provide the basis for healthy discussion and are lessons on how to love others and be loved. We have received books from friends that speak about God and read those to the kids. Lindsey even sleeps with the fuzzy bible board book she received as a gift from her baptism (yep...both kids were baptised too).

Some may take my stance and actions as hypocritical or inconsistent. That's OK. They are. As I stated before, I'm still not sold on where I stand on that theory. To me, the important thing is to keep options open. To explore religion and faith and spirituality in a healthy way in order to find inner peace and be comfortable with ones place in the world. I want my kids to go to church, if they want to go. I want them to read the bible when they're old enough to understand what it is (or what it's meant to be). But I also want them to consider other religions, other beliefs. To be informed and make a decision that works for them.

So today we left God out of the equation. I posed the question back to Ryan. "Who do you think made the sky so pretty?" And his reply was as good as any other.

"There are guys who get ladders and take paintbrushes and go up the ladders and dip the paint brush into the buckets and color in the clouds."

"Those must be some tall ladders to make it all the way up to the clouds," I said.

"Yep. And they're really big brushes too."

Quality Alone Time

The weekend before Lindsey was born, we took Ryan to the Delaware Museum of Natural History. It was our last weekend as a family of three and we wanted him to enjoy the solo attention while it was still an option.

It's been 21 months since that weekend and 21 months since we've had a real opportunity to spend a full day, one-on-one, with either kid. So when field trip time came around this year, and the kids were going to be going on two different field trips, to two different places, we decided this was the perfect opportunity to take the time and devote all attention to one kid at a time.

First up, Lindsey's trip to Coleman's Tree Farm. This was Lindsey's first real field trip and our first time at Coleman's. She LOVED it.

The hayride allowed us to see ducks, geese, turkeys, pheasants, old barns and tractors (and take some mommy and daddy shots with the star of the day).

Then it was time to pick our pumpkins. Lindsey knew just what she wanted and tried her hardest to pick it up.

After getting a workout walking through the pumpkin, gourd and corn fields, it was back on the tractor for the return ride where lunch and apple cidar awaited us.

Next up - Ryan's trip to Milburn Orchards. We've gone there a few times, but what made this trip even more special was how we got there. Ryan got his first shot at riding on a school bus!

And though I know he was excited for his first school bus ride (he sang the wheels on the bus both there and back), I think he was equally excited on the fake, wooden bus at the orchard simply because his best friend was along for the ride.

Once again, we had a hayride, with the standard mommy and daddy shots.

We fed goats and petted their heads. We laughed at the snorting pigs and marveled at the huge (or in Ryan speak - hooge) bunnies. We even hung out hung out with Johnny Appleseed.

Later on, we went into the orchard and helped Ryan find and pick the biggest apples we could find (they were almost as hooge as the bunnies).

And though we were very proud of the fact that we spent two days devoted individually to each of the kids, we're pretty sure the fact was lost on Ryan. He's a little infatuated these days...