Let me start with Thanksgiving weekend. We kicked off the weekend with a kick-ass decision to coordinate our flight arrival in Michigan with Scott's flight from the West coast. Fannnnnntastic idea. Riding in mom's car with 4 (not small) adults, 2 kids in carseats, 4 suitcases, and 1 improperly attached, borrowed cartop carrier was a great way to get into the holiday spirit. It's all about quality family time, isn't it.
Once we got to Mom's house, though, we had a great time. The cousins spent Thanksgiving Day playing hard and making a hell of a lot of noise. When it was time to go around the table and say what we were thankful for, Carly looked down, thought about it and then grinned and quipped, "I'm thankful for coming." So damn sweet. Also sweet was Grandma Rita's attendance at dinner and the warmth & respect her great-grandchildren paid her. And, proving that her memory is not, in fact, gone, she stunned us all by inquiring about the origins of the beautiful silver on the table (it was hers). Oh, smack!
Of course, Greg again refused to let the 7 and under crowd win a card game.
Can you say p-o-o-p-e-d?
We returned home to the thick of the holiday season. It was time for me to step up and bring the Christmas treats to the 3 year-old preschool class. Last year, I royally screwed up the Easter treats and then made them worse by trying to decorate them, so I decided to stay in my comfort zone this time. And, I have enough self-confidence to admit that this includes baking with marshmallows. Again.
Sully, is that a green food-coloring stain around your mouth?
The Friday following Carly's preschool Christmas Spectacular (suffice it to say that our showboat did not disappoint), Carly and I had a very fun outing to see the Rockettes Christmas Spectacular. Carly picked her outfit (including the purse and pearls) and many of the night's details. We took the subway just for kicks (excuse the pun), we ate a massive cup of donut holes at the show, we went out for ice cream afterwards, and we thoroughly enjoyed the magic of the show. (One of us is still talking about the dancing Santas.) The main excitement for me, however, didn't really come until after the show when Carly entertained the entire ladies restroom line with her own version of high kicks and holiday singing. She had one lady in tears laughing so hard. I, on the other hand, actually a bit embarrassed and trying to calmly get the situation under control (why did I allow all those donut holes?!).
Of course, after getting her feet wet with the restroom line audience, she did the same thing on the subway ride home. This time, the crowd wasn't feeling it as much, so she decided to up the ante with some fake sightings out the window. "Look mom! I see Santa outside!!!" she said as she cranked her neck around to see who was listening. (No one.) Without much response, this quickly escalated to "Look mom, I see POOP out the window!!!!". I was mortified, but trying hard to swallow away my laughter. Well, you can imagine that this got the attention of the other riders. Mission Accomplished.
As we were making our way home that night, the snow began. WINTER STORM 2009. It was lovely, it was festive, it was magical.....while it was snowing. It killed our New England holiday travel plans, however, and let's be honest....getting snowed in with two kids and a large golden retriever loses it's romanticism after 48 hours.
If I had to pick the most excited family member....I would have to pick Sully. He is still looking for some of those snowballs we threw.
Sucks to get wet in the snow.
And, by the time Christmas rolled around, we were exhausted. It felt like we had done a lot of prep work this season. We made homemade wreaths for our bedroom doors (wouldn't advise using the glass balls that break into 8 million pieces when they inevitably fall and break), met with Santa, attended holiday parties, read endless books about Santa and baby Jesus, collaborated on gifts for cousins, picked out and decorated our tall & skinny tree....okay, this is admittedly sounding very vanilla and lame, but when you have a 1 year old and a 3.5 year old...they provide all the magic you need. And the drama. :)
Cheers to 2010!! xoxo Sara
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