Christmas Day

Christmas morning, before stockings or gifts, we went to Mass. Then it was time to play with Uncle Marc and Pop and see what was under the tree....

James got his very own copy of Goodnight Moon. Charles strutted his stuff in his green football PJs and new Jets hat. There are more pictures, but they are on Marc's camera, so that will be for another day.

Skating on Christmas Eve

My brother Marc came to visit for Christmas and took us skating in the NGA Sculpture Garden on Christmas Eve.

Marc had last been iceskating in 1983!

James, Cecilia and I watched, took pictures, and handed hot cocoa over the wall to the skaters. Thomas has a black and grey coat, and Anthony has a black and red coat. Maria is asking to go back on her birthday next week.

Trees of Christmases Past

This morning the kids asked why we wait until it is so late to get our Christmas tree. Bill remembered that once his family started getting a live tree, about when he was in 7th grade, they waited until it was close to Christmas to get it. I remembered that, while we did not celebrate it ourselves, our family always waited until after the Posadas began to shop for a tree.

This inherited inclination to put up the tree close to Christmas rather than Thanksgiving directly led to our new tradition of cutting the tree ourselves. One year, when there were only 2 scraggly, over-priced trees left in all of Manhattan, KS, Bill and I were given directions to a local tree farm. It was such fun choosing which tree to cut and then running into the barn for hot apple cider while the farmer shoved the tree sideways into the trunk of Bill's Accord that we have looked for a tree farm everywhere else we've lived.

One year there was a hayride with the twins on the way out to the trees. Once, Bill held the tree up while I cut it down. In Hawaii there was a tree shortage that made the national news. We had a Charlie Brown tree that year. One year the kids hid in the van while Bill went to get the tree. They were afraid of the farm cat. And this year we let everyone who wanted a chance help cut the tree down. There were mud puddles and toasted marshmallows and an open fire. And new family memories.

Dental woes....

The child with the cavity did not get to take his picture with Flossie the parrot (who is hiding behind Maria's hair).

Christmas Recital

Maria-"Silent Night", "Angels We Have Heard on High", "The First Noel"

Thomas--"We Three Kings of Orient Are"

Anthony--"Carol of the Bells"

Thomas and Anthony Duet--"The Holly and the Ivy" (they are counting, not singing)

O Come, Thou Wisdom

Week 3 plans:
-Light the pink candle for Gaudete Sunday
-No feasts fall this week, but today begins the "O" Antiphons!
-"Pizza and Penance" tonight at the chapel on post.
-The kids' piano recital/Christmas party
-Daily Mass and an Advent lunch followed by cookie decorating for the big kids at a friend's house
-Cookie decorating for the littles at our house
-Last batch of tamales to make and give away this week
-Could Christmas be as bright without shiny white teeth from a trip to the dentist?
-Trip to the tree farm to cut a tree
-Week 14 (of 32) of school with a concentration on reading the Advent books
-JOY! The first shoots from the bulb planters poked through the soil today!

Tag und Tschuss

The year that Bill was gone, Ali Shoupe practically lived at our house. She was my neighbor, my math student, my right arm, my babysitter, my buddy and my adoptive sister. Charles called her "Mommy Ali", and Anthony wanted to marry her. And today, the day before her flight home to Germany, she came and spent a few hours with us letting the kids climb all over her and updating us on all that's happened since we saw her family last. From when we picked her up at the Metro to when we dropped her off again she was beseiged by children and requests that she come live with us when she's 18, 24, 30, or with her husband when she gets married (and to hurry up and do that and have a baby too). It was a very quick "hello" and "goodbye" visit, but it was great to see her.