December

As I have for the past few years I keep our cards in a gorgeous Christmas basket. The other night I added the just-opened cards to the collection. Adrienne asked to see the basket. I handed it to her and without saying a word, she promptly took the entire pile of cards out, hopped off her chair & started lining them up along the windows. It's super cute - we now have a trail of Christmas cards through the living room and dining room.

Adrienne & Nick had a holiday show at school.
HYSTERICAL.

So I walk in to Adrienne's class first - 'school' was still going on.
Seriously Adrienne?! Can you get ANY closer to Ms. T????

Ms. T believes in truly TEACHING the kids - not just babysitting them. Here she is teaching them colors: simultaneously in sign language AND Spanish.


Then they let loose with a little dance party.



The 'productions' went in order of classroom, youngest to oldest, so first up was Nick.



Then Adrienne's class doing Frosty. She started off strong! The other mom (whose arm I was constantly dodging, who I had ASKED to switch spots with me but no, no, she was fine... argh) said it best, "I think they're going to pop a blood vessel."


They followed up with Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer in sign lanuage!
Back to Adrienne's classroom for snacks and treats.
nom nom nom nom
We told Ms. T that after the sugar fest we were going to let her take the entire class home until they crashed. For some reason she wanted NO part of that plan.
(I was going to do a side-by-side look-alike picture with Heath Ledger as The Joker... but I couldn't find a picture of him that wasn't completely disturbing....)
The next day Greg had a surprise family outting planned. He said we'd be in the car for 1hr+ and it was naptime so we decided not to put the kids in their coats. Nick - no coat, no problem. But he REFUSED to leave the house without his hat & gloves on.


Adrienne could care less about hats, gloves, coats... but her lipskip bag... now THAT was NOT leaving her clutch.
They woke up just as we were getting there - we told them it was a farm. Instantly Nick said, "Cow! Mooooooo!"

The big thing about this farm is the Christmas light show.... well we got there around 3:30 and the place was DESERTED. We had Santa ALL TO OURSELVES!!! It was AWESOME! And he was such a sweet guy....
I told him I wanted a Lexus & a mansion on the beach... he said I wasn't naughty enough for those! hahaha!

After a snack of hot chocolate, ice cream AND kettle corn we went outside to run it off. After 6mos of pushing them on the swings I finally get a break! yeah!!!

We learned that when we (eventually) get one of these monolithic jungle gyms a tire swing is an absolute necessity.


As the sun sets the lights go on.
My attempt to get a picture of them together.
Second attempt. Ahhh... who cares. Christmas cards already went out. They don't have to be seen together in a single picture for another 10 months!!!

The grand finale... and what a finale it was!
About 3 miles long... it took a 1/2 hour to drive through - thank HEAVEN we didn't take the horse drawn carriage or hay ride - we would've been Billows-icles.
In case you're wondering: http://www.shadybrookfarm.com/
I won't bore you with a ton of light pictures BUT I have to include Adrienne's FAVORITE... One guess.... just one....

Next morning, off to church and whenever there's a new accessory, especially a hat as fabulous as this one, there must be a picture.
The St. George Christmas Pagent!
As you may remember.... Nick was given the honor of portraying Baby Jesus back in 2008. He was on the sidelines this year... but now it was Adrienne who got a turn to shine as a star - literally!
They had the Sunday school classes queued up in the foyer... Adrienne turned the corner to walk down the aisle and she was ELATED to see everyone looking at her! TOO CUTE!!
Mary, Joesph, Jesus, wisemen, angels and stars...

...but this star was in deep space.
(and much to my horror it was NOT a quick nose scratch.... don't even ask what she did when she was done... Seriously. Don't ask. gross gross GROSS....)
Now that she can breathe properly it's time to belt out a Christmas carol!


Back at home, my dad & Greg got to work on fixing the heat kickers in the kitchen. But first & foremost, the kids had to drill holes in random pieces of wood.
Nick's thinking... "someone will DEFINITELY end up in the ER before this is thru..."

Until it was his turn...
Whoa! COOOOOLLLLL!
And to wrap up the night & the weekend... a good ol' fashioned bloody nose from jumping on (and accidentally off) the couch. Needless to say it was on Greg's watch. And no, I didn't go run & get the camera. Greg got it to stop bleeding pretty quickly. But about 5 minutes later he pooped... and all that straining got it going again. (no, not kidding) So THEN I decided it was the right time to capture the moment!
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Off to the Patterson's for our Christmas tree!
Pure maniacal anticipation coming from the backseat....
Greg had the BRILLIANT idea to let the kids sleep while we hiked around looking for that perfect evergreen. THEN we went back to the car, woke them up & dragged them across the frozen tundra. "Look guys! Our Christmas tree!"
Adrienne's excitement couldn't be contained.
Sharon had given me a head's up that the alpacas were visiting the farm this weekend so I thought the kids would enjoy seeing them.
And Nick did! He kept calling them Chewbaccas (NOT KIDDING!)... Right space epic, wrong creature... they really do look like tauntauns... right?!
Just as I snapped this picture he leaned in and asked for, "kiss, mommy"
AWWWWWW!!
Adrienne wanted NO part of the alpacas and stayed about 6' away at all times UNTIL Greg pointed out, "Look! Alpaca poo!" Then she was front & center. *sigh*
As Greg prepared to head to the Jets game (yes, he left at 10:30am in this insane weather to go tailgate for a 4pm game) we heard fire engines blaring in our neighborhood. It wasn't until hours later, as I saw them pull in front of a house down the street, that I realized the caravan was chaperoning Santa around town. As quick as possible I snatched the phone & called the local fire department explaining what a slacker mom I am and if they're coming back later to please let me know. 3 days later I'm still waiting for a call back. Oops. Sorry kids! Next year!

Adrienne was off at church with Yiayia so I dragged Nick out & about to run errands (what was IIII thinking - taking a toddler into this torrential mess?!). Just as we finished up at Foodtown we turned the corner to see SANTA making his entrance! I was STUNNED! And I was SO excited FOR Nick!! I bent down to say, "Nick! Do you see Santa?" but there was no need for words. His eyes were saucers and his jaw was on the floor. Nick was the ONLY wee-one around & Santa spotted him right away. But before Santa took more than 4 steps 2 firefighters ran up to him - his drawers were around his knees! With belt tightened he headed straight over to Nick.

Santa leaned over & said, "Merry Christmas! Would you like a candy cane?" All Nick could do was give a little nod. I reminded him to say 'thank you'. A barely audible "thanks" emerged but he was still completely stunned.
And here I am, digital camera & cell phone right in my bag & even IIIII was frozen with excitement the whole time. Only after the fact did I finally think to grab some sort of photographic device and snap the above picture and this one.
Nick wanted to eat the candy cane SO badly... but just wasn't so sure if he dug the peppermint flavor...

After naps it was time to trim the tree. Unlike the unpacking of the Christmas decorations this time they were STOKED.
They put a few 'classic' ornaments on but then they spotted my collection of STAR WARS ornaments.
Actually, the ONLY casualty of the day was Darth Vader - he got decapitated. Adrienne hung him up & 2 minutes later his body fell off. A little crazy glue & he'll be right back to threatening the balance of the Force!

In some deluded reality I handed Nick his very first ornament to hang... a Christopher Radko C-3Po. How it is still in one piece I have NO idea...

So this is how it went with Adrienne:
Adrienne, "Can I hang this one?" Me, "Sure!" She would BARELY attempt to hang it, "Mommy... I need help." "No you don't. Try again." "Mommy... I want this one to go up high." "THEN START PICKING ORNAMENTS YOU WANT TO HANG DOWN LOW!!!!!!!!"
And this is how it went for Nick:
He would keep hanging ornaments on the same branch until they all slid off and then start all over again on another branch with another group of ornaments.
And this is how it went for Greg:
He got home from the Jets game, soaked, frozen and far too sober. I told him we saved the best for last and he placed Santa (we don't have an angel) on the top of the tree.
All done!
(well, 'all done' until I get a chance to re-arrange all the ornaments the way IIII want them!)
"OK guys! Come sit on this bin so I can take your picture with the tree!"
And they did just that.
"OK, how about facing the camera this time?"
After about 6 shots, this was as good as it was going to get.
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We wasted NO time this year. December 1st & we're off to visit Santa.
Much to Greg's dismay, this year's summit went considerably better. Greg was hoping for a re-enactment of the meltdown picture from last year to use as our Christmas card.
Unlike last year's impromptu visit that left me pondering whether I was fit to ever again go out in public with little children, I was SO prepared: I pre-purchased our 'VIP Santa Pass' online so we can go right to the front of the line, I had a bounty of drinks & snacks, hair supplies, diapers, wipess, they wore Christmas-esque outfits, toys to play with while on line (in case there was a gaggle of VIP'ers).... I covered IT ALL (or so I thought).
We ate dinner at Chick-Fil-A... I'm glaring at the clock. 6. 6:10. Ugh. The line is probably back to Lord & Taylor by now... but at least they're fed. We scurry to the FAR side of the mall and there's NO ONE. I mean N.O. O.N.E. To the point that I wondered if Santa was even THERE. He WAS! And he was GREAT! Lots of high 5s all around... Adrienne was VERY excited to tell him she wanted (again) a chocolate lollipop (and here's where I dropped the ball... Last year, that's the ONE AND ONLY thing Adrienne asked for Christmas. We snagged 2 chocolate lollipops as we passed the candy shop & had Mall Santa give them to her & Nick - it never occurred to me to do the same again this year!). I reminded her that she was going to ask for a Pillow Pet. Which she did - and randomly changed her selection to a DUCK!?! (sorry kid, you're gettin' the unicorn!) Nick asked for "BLUUUUUU! NO! ORNCH!" Blue WHAT? Orange WHAT? Santa just gave him a pat on the head. Crazy little boy.
Time for the picture, Adrienne hopped right up & unto his lap. Nick said, "Ummm... no tanks!", turned on his heel & walked right back to me. Begrudgingly, we got him to stand on the chair next to Santa... and finally the girl convinced him to stand on a stool in front of the chair instead. She was playing peek a boo from behind the camera... but he remained highly skeptical of the whole situation.

The most adorable Christmas card you WON'T be getting. It was the runner up. Check your mailboxes next week for the 'real thing'.

I spotted a gingerbread house class thru parks & rec and they just HAD to go. My parents took them and had a BLAST!
Yiayia, the family's long-time gingerbread house builder, had better watch out. They're going to be building fortresses around your gingerbread houses in another year or two!
Backdoor Guests are Best!
(especially when the back door is made of graham cracker & royal icing!)
Since Scrooge was at work I busted out all the Christmas decorations. Oh what FUN we're going to have..... Umm, 'WE', no not really. Bubble wrap & Christmas coloring books. That's all they cared about.
I really tried to show them how to twist it so dozens pop at once. Neither wanted any part of that technique. Nick decided to inspect his thoroughly before beginning the popping process. Adrienne got the hang of it pretty quickly though.

When success finally arrives he wastes no time in reveling, a hint of a smile & right back to work.



Bubble Wrap - 1, Nick - 0
All that popping proved to be just too much for him.

Powernaps all around and we're ready for our dinner guests: Yiayia & Tori

After 3 days of staring at the gingerbread houses we finally let them have at it (Yiayia had to see them first!).
I was impressed with Adrienne's no-nonsense approach to devouring it.

Right for the Star Bursts...

So much for the roof over Nick's head...
Appetite for Destruction

Tori kicked the party up a notch when she started doing whippets...

Wherever Nick went, Tori went. She was having a hard time keeping up with him as he bounced around - when she finally did she grabbed him by his (nonexistent) lapels & SHOOK HIM DOWN! I managed to snap the picture just as she let go - you can still see the grip marks in his shirt.
And not that I have a video of it.... BUT she's SO protective of Nick that when Yiayia was eating his peanut butter tasting belly Tori went right up to them, shoved Yiayia's hand away and kept trying to pull Nick off of her lap!

There have been videos that I've watched COUNTLESS times. This one may trump them all...

How many Greeks does it take to change a poopie diaper?

Must've been a doosey. Nick went for cover.

Jets-Patriots Game
Brady & his hairplugs ain't got nuttin' on Gang Green
(uummm, ok, maybe they do... but STILL! you can't tell me the Pats have cuter fans!!)

Nick's latest phase: Saying "all done!" or "i don wan it!!" but then screaming bloody murder when you take his plate away. After about 6 rounds of this I was done & tossed his dinner in the garbage.
What Nick learned that night: When I say I'm going to throw away your food I really mean it.
What we learned that night: He really REALLY doesn't like chicken pot pie.

Sorry this is so dark - I took it with my cell phone... They were fighting over a FABULOUS new addition to their kitchen - a MICROWAVE! And let me tell you - it's AWESOME! I even have fun playing with it.
Anyway... watch how Nick elbows Adrienne out of the way... and then the stomp fest Adrienne has about it.

December 7th... Nick's first night in a big boy bed! Adrienne walked in, took one look and said, "This looks GRRREAT!" Well gee, thanks. Anyway, they had a blast testing it out.

Trying to get a picture of him solo to commemorate the night, he wanted Blue's Clues to have a turn in the spotlight. So every other picture had to be of Blue.

So he was just a LITTLE wound up about it.

Night #1 Took about 6 rounds of him hopping out & asking one of us to lay with him. He finally passes out.
12:30am - he fusses - I go in & lay with him for a few minutes - he falls asleep - I go back to bed. 1:30am - "MOMMY!! MOMMY!!" He's standing in the upstairs foyer after going into Adrienne's room - the poor girl is sitting up in bed asking why Nick is waking her up - I apologize, get her back to bed then I go in & lay with him for a few minutes - he falls asleep - I go back to bed.
2:30am - he fusses and is kicking the crap out of the wall - I go in & this time I stay until 4:30 when I finally, for the last time, crawled back into my own bed.
Night #2 a few little fusses, nothing major, but he woke up at 5am.
Night #3 went REALLY well. Until he fell off the head of the bed at 4am. Not that he cared. He was asleep when he fell, he was still asleep when I put him back in. (not to worry! I got a headboard for him today!!