39 of 52

Finally, the moment we'd all been waiting for. After four days of travel, Daddy finally arrived home to spend "Christmas" with us.

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Are you the Mom who's always taking pictures and look back only to realize you aren't IN any of them? Do your kids look through photo albums and ask "Where were you Mommy?" Well, Carin over at Forever in Blue Jeans decided to change all that and challenges any one who's interested to do the same. So hand over the camera, or at least figure out the self-timer and get on the other side of the lens more often. Post your photos of you enjoying time with your family every Thursday and share the link with other Mom's by posting it on Carin's blog. You can start any time with week 1 of 52, don't worry about being "behind" just jump on in.

That's MY Daddy??

Finally at 630 am I got a call from Atalanta, he was on standby for a morning flight into our regional airport! After breakfast and all I finally told the kids that today was "Christmas Eve" and that Santa had called to tell me that we need to go somewhere and pick up a present that was too big for him to fit in the Sleigh. It worked so well! I never said "airport" but when we got there Cali looked out and said "why are there runways here?" So I said well the present has to come on a plane. After about 30 minutes of some seriously excited kids (and myself!) waiting as patiently as possible here he came...



Right after I turned the video off D started saying "That's MY Daddy?? That's MY Daddy??" It was the cutest ever. We came straight home for lunch and to play a little. Now its naptime and tonight will finally be our "Christmas Eve"!

Still Waiting...

Thank you for all the nice comments, but alas I am still waiting! And once again I have no idea where in the world he might be at this time. At least today we went out and about and didn't stay holed up inside. We went to a couple stores, I worried about people asking "how was your Christmas" and yes two people did ask at Sam's Club. Very nice people, too nice, but luckily the kids weren't paying attention and I quickly said "no, no, no we didn't have Christmas yet" and tried to whisper to them why. Later in the day we went for a walk to the park and Cali spotted a Christmas tree out by the curb. Yikes! We had a conversation like this...

C: Why is their tree outside?
Me: Umm.... maybe its broken.
C: No, trees don't break.
Me: Well.... maybe their cat peed on it.
C: Eww yuck.
Me: Yeah, and now its all smelly.
C: Maybe they had a new little puppy and it peed on the tree.
Me: Oh yeah, that's true puppies like to pee on trees.
C: What if the puppy is in a box and it has to pee?
Me: That's a good question...

And then we were past the tree and we had changed the subject. Phew!

The Village

Let's just say the important thing is we all had fun doing this... I can't help but think though our little village has suffered some major tragedy, perhaps a massive earthquake!

Unfortunately nearly ever piece was already broken when I opened the box and I'm no pro with the construction process anyway. Last year we were thankful to have Daddy around for the engineering stages. Also this is the first year Diego was involved. Last year he wasn't even 2 yet so we figured he'd do more taste-testing than helping and just let Cali work on it when he was napping. Oh and don't tell, but there were two other building I hid when they weren't looking.. I was already out of white frosting anyway.

Waiting

Today was a very strange day for me, to say the least. You see I am waiting for someone. Someone much more exciting than Santa Claus. Someone the kids and I have not seen for over 8 months. We've celebrated birthdays, enjoyed an entire summer of swim lessons and new water parks, gone on a 2 week vacation, had multiple out-of-state visitors, Cali has started school and continued to learn new things in gymnastics, D has gone from speaking single words to holding entire conversations, we've had doctor visits and vet visits and car troubles... And today of all days, the 25th of December, he is supposed to be en route back home to us. It's only a visit for now, two weeks of R&R. The kids have absolutely no idea he is on the way.

I spent last night asking strangers to please not mention it was actually Christmas Eve. I spent today convincing myself as best I could it wasn't really Christmas. Because this year, lucky for me, the kids are not old enough to read calendars or realize what day it really is. I can push it back, I can simply not mention what day it is and they won't even notice. The plan is to go get him when we can, then that day will be Christmas Eve. They'll leave the plate of cookies, the artwork Cali has made for Santa, the carrots for the reindeer and go to sleep with visions of sugar plums dancing in their heads. There are plenty of presents under the tree from relatives already, but Santa has yet to visit until the much bigger surprise can arrive.

For now I continue to wait. I wait with no idea when the arrival may actually be. The last I heard a word from him was two days ago. He could be anywhere right now. I was wishing earlier today I had something along the lines of those "Santa Trackers" everyone was watching last night.

Today while I tried to hold my excitement and anxiety and curiosity at bay, the kids went about as any normal day. Except we did stay inside, away from friends' houses full of newly opened presents. And I did my best to keep them (and myself) occupied. We worked on our gingerbread village, colored, watched a movie, decorated paper trees, made pizzas, watched another movie... All the while I couldn't keep my eyes from straying to the windows or the front door, couldn't help but peek out every time I thought I heard a noise outside. A part of me thought.. maybe he is trying to sneak up and surprise us rather than call from the airport. Even now as I type I keep muting my music when I think I hear a noise. It's almost worse than waiting for Santa... at least Santa has a set day and time to come!!

Snow!

It is truly amazing how fast the weather changes down here. On Wednesday we walked to the park and played outside all afternoon with no jackets. Cali wore a sleeveless dress and leggings. Overnight the wind started literally howling and making all sorts of noises that kept me awake. Today it continued to blast through and when I looked closer there were snow flurries! Actual snow flying through the air! The last time I saw substantial snow in TX was Easter of 2007, neither of the kids were old enough to care much or to remember. This time they were excited, we got bundled up as quick as we could and went out to experience it. Unfortunately the freezing wind was relentless, making my poor, spoiled TX babies miserable. They took refuge in their playhouse for a bit, but even then they didn't last long in the winter weather.

When I first looked out and saw the snow Cali said "I think it's part of Alaska coming down here!"

And yes I realize you can't actually see any snow, so you'll just have to trust me on that one. It was flying through the air like crazy but never did accumulate until later and even then it wasn't even enough to cover the grass.

Tradition

Among the many dozens of cookies we baked this week (and by "we" I do mean I had the constant "help" of my two little bakers alongside me) were these green cookie press Christmas trees. My Granny Blanche makes them, I made them with my mom as long as I can remember, and now my kids get to help make them too. Do note the tiny bit of counter space we have to work with. We have a space about the length of my arm, its crammed between the oven and the fridge. All of the counters in my kitchen are this short, but the overall kitchen is a nice size. They get to help if they both stand and nicely share the one dining chair I allow them to put by me. There are often threats of "I WILL send you out of the kitchen if..." That usually works, they certainly don't want to be left out of the fun. It's not ideal working conditions, but we make do and they of course thoroughly enjoy the results!
'

38 of 52

Helping the kids decorate gingerbread cookies at our annual cookie exchange.

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Are you the Mom who's always taking pictures and look back only to realize you aren't IN any of them? Do your kids look through photo albums and ask "Where were you Mommy?" Well, Carin over at Forever in Blue Jeans decided to change all that and challenges any one who's interested to do the same. So hand over the camera, or at least figure out the self-timer and get on the other side of the lens more often. Post your photos of you enjoying time with your family every Thursday and share the link with other Mom's by posting it on Carin's blog. You can start any time with week 1 of 52, don't worry about being "behind" just jump on in.

Meet Our Robot

We started this project on Friday, and finished the arms yesterday. One clever reader did guess that it was a robot. Every time I asked the kids what his name is I get a different answer so I can't really tell you what his name is right now.

Gingerbread Cookies

The house still smells like gingerbread from our baking this morning. I will admit that these were of the pre-made dough variety, but I don't feel one bit bad about it since we have plans for so many other made-from-scratch goodies.

Banana Gingerbread Muffins

Add an easy, festive twist to your usual banana muffins...


Banana Gingerbread Muffins

1 box (14.5 oz) gingerbread cake and cookie mix
2-3 ripe bananas
3/4 cup quick-cooking oats
3/4 cup water
2 eggs

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix all ingredients until well blended. Divide batter evenly among muffin cups. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Immediately remove from pan. (I use a mini muffin pan and bake about 10-12 min)

Under Construction

I've been planning for this project for a while now. We do lots of crafts as you already know, but it's not too often we do one specifically catered to Diego's interests so I started thinking one day and figured out the perfect project. Its large scale, involves paint, glue and various recycled materials. I started saving bottle caps (I recycle all my plastics anyway but most places don't take lids) about 2 months ago, and I always have boxes around... especially this time of year! This is just steps one and two. We will work on it more tomorrow. Any guesses as to what it might be?

37 of 52

Sorry, I fell off my 52 weeks wagon for a bit. Just busy, you know the drill. I had some pictures even and could go back and dig for them if I wanted but I'll be better off just picking up again right here. Cali had her very first school Christmas recital this week. It was adorable although hard to see and hard to pick out her little voice from the crowd, although I did see her mouth moving and she did know all the words. She did not want to take this picture, but I *made* her do it before we could go have cookies at the reception.

*************************************************************************************
Are you the Mom who's always taking pictures and look back only to realize you aren't IN any of them? Do your kids look through photo albums and ask "Where were you Mommy?" Well, Carin over at Forever in Blue Jeans decided to change all that and challenges any one who's interested to do the same. So hand over the camera, or at least figure out the self-timer and get on the other side of the lens more often. Post your photos of you enjoying time with your family every Thursday and share the link with other Mom's by posting it on Carin's blog. You can start any time with week 1 of 52, don't worry about being "behind" just jump on in.

Finally "Fall"

There really is no distinct "Fall" season where we live in TX, its more like everything goes from green to dead and brown somewhere around December. These pictures were taken just two days ago, the kids had noticed all the leaves in the front yard from our Globe Willow and kept asking for me to rake them into piles so they could jump in them. They've only done this one other time, at my parents' house in Alaska last September. At least they were willing to "help."


And still many more yet to fall...

Frost Fest

It was a fun evening to take the kids out to Frost Fest, an annual city event with live music, petting zoo, giant carnival slide, free cookies & hot cocoa, and of course Santa! Yes, this is about the 4th Santa they have seen already this year but they still get excited every time at this age. Cali was even ready to talk to this one. She finally decided she would ask him for "one babydoll." D always gets so awestruck he forgets what to say so she talks for him and this time changed it to "some dinosaurs."

Kid Art Round-Up

I had piles and piles of the kids' art all over the house. Mostly Cali's. When she does art its not just one page or one project its two or three or four... I got these really nice clear zippered pouches as a giveaway at the Art Fest we went to a couple months ago and kept thinking they'd make great art storage bags. Anyone know where I can get more? The hardest part for me is the purge, but I think I did a pretty good job.


I should point out that the 3rd picture is not the stuff I removed from the wall & fridge, but its own pile in itself. All that art and we've probably sent just as much to Daddy too!