Christmas

Our holiday was defined by sickness this year, but thankfully it was the mildest version possible. And of any holiday season, this was the best one because we weren't traveling and no one was staying with us.

The first day of break found the kids and I at our annual holiday breakfast with the Marshalls. Halfway through the morning, Ruby came and sat on my lap. She still ate, but wanted to be close to me. This was an obvious giveaway that something was on the horizon since she had three of her favorite older friends there, two of them vying for her attention, yet she still wanted me. But nothing showed up until late that night.

Two or three fevers over the next few days (always gone with one dose of medicine, not to return for 24+ hours), and general fatigue were the only symptoms. I already had a well visit set up for Ruby for the day after Christmas, so while we were there, they checked her out for flu and strep. The flu test came back positive, which shocked me given the lack of 'big' sickness she'd been showing. Lots of naps and breathing treatments (to make sure nothing developed in her lungs) and LOTS of snuggles and movies got us through the two weeks and she returned to school, good as new, on schedule.

Back to our holiday week: Christmas Eve was a beautiful day with warm temperatures, so after breakfast I dragged the family to a nearby trail on the river for a walk. We pushed Ruby most of the way, but when she saw a friend and their new dog, she was out of the stroller and running.

We did sibling gift exchange around lunch and Ruby rallied a little to ride in her Cars car, which Eli had souped up with a new (faster!) battery.

Ruby also spent some time in her new reading 'teepee' that Maddux picked out for her. She was SO excited to see the windows and the doors. Maddux even stocked the book pockets before the big reveal.

We did not make it to Christmas Eve service though: I didn't want to chance it with her having a fever late the night before. We did go for our annual Christmas Eve sushi though, and we drove to see some holiday lights too.

Christmas Day was another beautiful one, but we still used the fireplace (that is just a 'must' for Christmas!). We exchanged gifts in the morning and also did the scavenger hunt for baby Jesus. This is something I usually plan, but Maddux asked to come up with the clues and 'hide' Him this year. I was definitely on-board with that!

We did our annual Christm-Olympics after lunch. This year Maddux asked to be the one in charge of that as well. For a week or so beforehand, she researched games and came up with the plan...I was so impressed and it was a huge help to me! Ruby did great with the games, participating in all of them, after a lunch-time nap.

We finished our night with homemade pasta and sauce and meatballs, and the birthday cake for Jesus. It was a very laid-back, not rushed year, and I loved it.

My favorite part is always the extra 'together time'. We made orange juice and Christmas cookies and pasta and meatballs and gingerbread houses. All of those times, even though each one is short, force us to be together in the kitchen: arguing, laughing and everything in-between.

wonder

you have so much wonder and awe this holiday season. the other night i drove you by a few streets with holiday displays. you had to roll down your window to get a better look and you just stared as you said, "That. Is. Awesome."

Thanksgiving Week

We changed things up a bit this year and headed to Florida for Thanksgiving break. We met up with Mom-Mom and Aunt Megan and Liz at a condo right on the shore! This allowed everyone to enjoy the sun and sand and scenery for a few days.

We ordered Thanksgiving dinner in to allow for more beach time. The kids loved finding shells and digging in the sand. On Thanksgiving day, Eli buried Ruby (at her request) and made her into a 'sand turkey'. She loved it.

And after dinner that day, we all took a long walk on the beach as the sun set. It was beautiful weather!

The kids were excited to meet their new cousin, who was very tolerant of all of the doting (especially by Ruby).

After we drove Mom-Mom back home, we swung through our favorite açaí bowl cafe in Cocoa Beach for lunch, and then made our way to a putt-putt course. We played 18 holes and followed it up with go-karts, which was a blast. Random fun afternoon in the best weather ever! (It's not often you can play putt-putt in Florida in the middle of the day and have it be enjoyable, in regards to temperature.)

We finished our trip with dinner out with some 'old' friends. Ruby was asked by, get this, OUR flower girl to be a flower girl in her wedding next year. Such excitement!

Christmas

It was the first year that it's been just us at our house in probably forever. It was quieter but still a lot of fun. We spent Christmas Eve making food and playing outside. Just before we left for church, we took a walk to drop off some of our baked goods at a friends house. The girls rode on the electric skateboard, which sounded like a great idea at the time. However, on the ride home, the board got going too fast for Maddux to control it, and they toppled. Ruby was such a trooper - no tears, just a pouty lip. Her face, however, tells a different story.

At church, Ruby fell asleep on Lehr's shoulder, which was probably his favorite part about the whole day. We stopped for sushi on the way home (our new Christmas Eve dinner), and then we went home to change for holiday light-seeing. The kids put on their matching PJ's and we made some hot cocoa and set out with my pre-made map/list. There were a few really cool houses, but the winner was the one that included a neighborhood full of ball-type light creations that were strung high in the trees. It was taken to the next level when one of the houses started lighting up sky lanterns just as we drove by. We pulled over and watched them light about a dozen before letting them loose in the sky. So pretty and fun to watch. The night finished with the kids opening their gifts to each other - their tradition.

Christmas Day started with our scavenger hunt to find Baby Jesus to put in the manger. (Of course, that included some arguing also, as it always does.) We opened some gifts, ate some breakfast and enjoyed just being. Just after noon, we gave the kids their 'big' gifts. We usually don't do a big Christmas, but each kid wanted something larger than usual this year, and we went for it. Maddux opened an iPod Touch (which she's begged for since forever), and Eli received a new guitar. They were psyched, to say the least.

After the gifts, we started our (new) annual Christm-olympics. It was a lot of fun, Ruby had a blast, and the big kids actually got along!

It was warm and sunny outside, so we got to do at least half of the events in the backyard. Maddux and Eli legitimately tied for first place, and in an unexpected twist, Eli said he did NOT want to do an extra game to determine the winner - he thought it was best that they tied.

We followed that up with homemade spaghetti and meatballs and an ice cream birthday cake for Jesus.

Christmastime Is Here

Probably our longest lasting holiday tradition is going to cut down our Christmas tree as a family. We stumbled upon a tree farm when Maddux was a wee little one, and we've returned every year since. Because I know how our schedule(s) tend to get, especially during December, and because I know I'm cheap thrifty, and while I like to send Christmas cards, I have to get that Thanksgiving weekend 50% off deal, I decided to tempt fate and try to get our family photo at the tree farm. Hey, we were going to be there anyway, amongst the beautiful background. Why not just throw on some coordinating clothes and let me take a handful of photos? And then we could ask a stranger to snap a few photos of the five of us together.

Even though I was formulating this plan all week, I don't think i clued anyone in until the morning of, so we had a little bit of a scramble to find clean, photo-worthy clothes (meaning Eli and Lehr may or may not be wearing the same thing they wore last year). Ruby absolutely took her hair out on the drive to the tree farm (despite my labored efforts to braid it up for 15 full minutes at home). And when we arrived, Ruby's boots were not in the car. I honestly wasn't phased; Lehr could hold her for the photos and I knew most people wouldn't even notice.

The big kids did what they do every year: feign protest to me shooting photos.

I made each of them pair up at some point, jackets were sometimes on and sometimes not (it was FREEZING!).

I got a few of Lehr with each one, shoes or no shoes.

Then I passed off the camera to Maddux so she could take a few of me with Ruby and me with Lehr. As expected, she was amazing.

Finally, I picked the lucky family to take a few of us all. Some maneuvering of our people later, we had 4-5 shots of us all with eyes open and pleasant looks on our face. Thank you, random stranger.

And we also had these fun ones the rest of the time.

Christmas

So many times holidays can carry with them stress. Sure there are fun decorations and yummy foods and traditions to look forward to, but also there can be unmet expectations and meltdowns and just stress. For several years now I have tried very hard to prevent some of those stressors meltdowns by planning things in advance to head them off, or having talks as a family in the weeks leading up to the holidays. Honestly, this year I did not have much faith that it would be any different than years past. Thanksgiving had train-wreck components, my family would be visiting for over two weeks, some of that time would include Lehr's mom as well, and some of the pre-teen emotions present in Maddux right now have been piling on top of Eli's ever-present desire to control and know everything about the current situation.

It was a Christmas miracle though! We played board games every night, we sat by the fire and talked, we made food together and no one complained (too much)... we even managed to avoid an all-out scene/meltdown by anyone! And even despite us having cold cold weather (mostly rainy) confining us to the house most days, I honestly feel like it was one of our best Christmas seasons ever!

Eli got a little stir crazy one day and asked if he could take Ruby on a bike ride around the neighborhood. We hooked up the kid carrier to the back of his bike and set him loose. But in the process, he made a sign for the back of the carrier:

We had the opportunity to hang out with friends, spend time by the fire, make an awful big mess in the kitchen at least three times each day, and spend more time by the fire. The day after Christmas, we ventured out so the big kids could go ice skating; we went from being cold outside to being cold inside.

We did a scavenger hunt for Baby Jesus on Christmas morning. As much as my kids talked it up last year (because I didn't do it based on their handling of it the year before), they weren't too into it. But that was ok because the highlight of the whole week was the first annual CHRISTM-OLYMPICS! For about two months before everyone was to arrive, I started planning games for us all to participate in. They were basically minute-to-win-it type party games, and I'd changed them all to fit into a holiday theme. We ended up doing them after church on Christmas Eve and had to stop only halfway through because it got so late! Everyone got to participate, even Ruby!
(video shot and edited by Eli)

Way Out West

For the first time since either Maddux or Ruby has been alive, we were not home for Christmas this year. We (read: I) tend to hold on to that day as a sacred, at home, our traditions day, which doesn't blend well with travel by planes, trains or automobiles. This year, however, Lehr suggested we go, and go we did.

For ten days we invaded the space at Grandma Cathie and Grandpa Jim's townhouse, leaving traces of us in every corner imaginable. We ate all of their food, slept in all of their bedrooms and offices, and filled every waking second with noise. They claim they loved it.

Eli, Maddux and Ruby were overjoyed to see the snow immediately upon landing. Not only was it on the ground, but it was on the rooftops, the cars, the lake...everything. And it snowed at least half of the days we were there, adding to the already impressive base.

We took advantage of that by making several outings to sled, including two trips to the same hill my brother and I spent our childhood climbing up and sledding down.

My parents live on the river in a very walkable area, so we walked through the snow to the 'beach' or through the neighborhood pretty much every day. Ruby preferred to be pulled by sled, but she did plenty of walking too.

One day my brother's kids came over to hang out with us all day, and then the big kids went home to his house for a movie, pizza and a sleepover.

The next day we met them just after lunch for ice skating. Ruby sat that activity out, but she followed us on the perimeter of the rink on dry ground.

The biggest event was probably skiing. Eli and Maddux have skied a few times before in North Carolina, but nothing as big as what we took them to. The first day out, we all went and pledged to work with Ruby as long as she'd let us. My parents came along to watch and to provide a ride home for Ruby when she tired of the snow. That girl was amazing! She could not stand up in the boots and/or skis very well, but she had a blast when Lehr held her under her arms so she could coast down the hill. She did NOT want to stop!

Just before lunchtime, we loaded her up on the gondola with Grandma and Grandpa and she immediately fell asleep. Eli and Maddux stayed with Lehr and I and finished out a great day of skiing. The day after Chrsitmas, Lehr and the big kids returned and knocked out another full day on the mountain.

The day before we left we drove up the coast a little to an area that was known for it's bald eagle sightings. We were amazed at the amount of birds we saw! They were perched everywhere, as well as flying overhead. It was definitely not something you see every day!

It was so great to spend time with everyone; we do not get to see my brother's family often at all. Ruby especially enjoyed meeting her youngest male cousin, Boden. She is still wandering around the house saying, "Bodie!" like she did while we were there. Hopefully we can do it again before another ten years passes!

Christmas

We hoped and hoped that Ruby would be home for Christmas, and we got our wish. It was so nice to have all of us together for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day! Ruby's counts were too low for her to go to church on Christmas Eve, but we still drove around and looked at lights together and celebrated in all of our other traditional ways.

Eli and Maddux got to sing in the Christmas Eve service, so they got all dressed up. Had to take some pictures, because they looked so fabulous and way too old. After we got sushi take-out (might be a new tradition!) and looked at lights, the kids got dressed in their PJ's (matching ones from Grandma Cathie, their favorite tradition) and they opened their gifts to each other.

The morning of was fun: seeing Ruby come down and find what Santa left was a treat. She got a crawl-thru tunnel and two hands-on toys. She (and Eli and Maddux) dove right into the tunnel.

I set up a Jesus scavenger hunt the night before, so after they got Santa gifts, we steered them towards putting Jesus in the manger (which we typically do before anything else). When they went to the drawer to get Him, I had our "Keep Calm And Find Jesus" ornament in there with the first clue. They had to work together to find the next clue based on the card (sometimes it was a verse or something that rhymed or whatever worked for me at the moment of me writing them out :). The hunt had some ups and downs, but in the end they got it and it was something we will hopefully do each year.

We had our traditional breakfast of dutch babies....the kids insisted. Presents and playing ensued. As far as gifts, Ruby loved the tearing into presents, but she had no real care for anything inside. It was so fun to hear her yelling in excitement as she ripped the paper, only to drop the box once she'd unwrapped it.

The only 'big' gift was ours to Maddux: she and I will see the Nutcracker at the Fox Theater tomorrow. She's been asking for about a year to go to the Fox (she's been once for one other gift), and this month she's been hitting hard with the request to see the Nutcracker. She was super excited when she opened that gift.

When Ruby went down for a nap, we all played "Clue"; it was the big kids' first time. They loved it and it was about an hour of fun and family....perfection.

My favorite memory from today was making dinner. Our 'tradiitional' Christmas dinner is homemade spaghetti and meatballs. Lehr and I made the meatballs yesterday morning, but the pasta itself is saved for the afternoon of, and the kids usually help.

Maddux was very into it, as expected, and Ruby participated as well. But her part was more of a 'grab and go' style: she would walk over to Maddux at the control center and look up at her with wide eyes. Maddux would give her a strand or two of (uncooked) pasta and Ruby would take off as she stuffed it into her mouth until she got to the back porch or it was gone, whichever came first.

Rinse and repeat.

We ended the day with a birthday cake for Jesus, something the kids have always had on this day. They asked for chocolate cake this year, which seemed to go over well with the rest of the clan.