LJ's birthday party was a mountain of fun. He chose Spiderman for the theme - to my knowledge, he has not watched an episode of Spiderman, so I don't know how he decided on this theme. It became clear that he did not have a concept for super-heroes as he and PJ would put on the Spiderman-mask party favors and chase each other around yelling "Grrrr". After a few days of this, we explained super-heroes, real-life names, and arch-enemies. LJ was super-pleased with all of his party-attendees (Grandma, Grandpa, MawMaw, Jfer, Bekah, Uncle B, Aunt M, Cousin E, other Uncle B and Godmother KK) and had a great time turning them all around while they, with blindfold, tried to pin-the-mask-on Spiderman. The poster still hangs on his bedroom door.
Thanksgiving was great! We had the usual (now traditional) Thanksgiving foods and the NoJos regained the Turkey Bowl title. The Jos were without their London (now, Hong Kong) kids and the addition of Jimmy (a student we work with who joined us for the day) and the inches that JRod provided were not enough to bring them another victory. It was Miles' first Thanksgiving and we all enjoyed celebrating with him. The moment I sat down to eat the fine feast, I realized that my throat was killing me and thus started a week-long cold.
Finals, the end of the semester, My U of P class, various Holiday parties and lunches, and RJ's extended family Christmas party kept us so busy that I was a week behind of Christmas cards, Christmas decorations, and gift selecting. One day, LJ got in the car after school and told me that they did a play in school that day. I asked him what the play was about and he said, "Mary and Joseph". "Oh," I say, "what part did you play?".
LJ: "I don't know who I was."
Me: "Did you say any words?"
LJ: "I said, 'I don't have any room for you, but you can sleep in my staple."
Me: "Oh, you were the inn keeper. And, it is 'stable', not 'staple'."
LJ: "Yeah. Tomorrow, I'm going to try for Joseph."
Hilarious.
A few days later, RJ took LJ to school and picked him up - and LJ said, "Daddy, you didn't come see my play." We had no idea we were supposed to come see this play. I had previously grilled LJ regarding if they were practicing for a performance, or what? Everyday, he had come home having played a different part, so it didn't seem they were planning to perform - and it was not on the December calendar. Turns out, we had gotten a note - one of the myriad of notes they give every day - that on 4 different days they would be doing the Nativity and we could come watch, if we wanted. So, we went to the next 3 as it seemed parents were going every day...plus, he was a different part every day!
We went up to my brother's house the week before Christmas and we all celebrated my Mom's 80th birthday! ALL of my family was there. Every sibling and every spouse and every child. This is a rare thing. My brother and his family did a SUPER job of organizing the festivities and we had a terrific time. We stayed 4 nights (in a lovely new hotel) and just had a really nice visit.
Once we got back home it was laundry, grocery shopping, Christmas shopping and baking as Christmas was only 2 days away! It seemed like a mad rush, but it was all great fun. LJ and I spent the day before Christmas baking goodies and cookies for Santa. We went to Children's Mass at 4:00. After that, we went to On the Border for dinner. This stems from On the Border being the only place open on Christmas Eve 4 years ago. Then we came home and the kids opened the one gift they are allowed to open on Christmas Eve - new pajamas. They put them on and then they put out milk and cookies and went to bed. Then, RJ and I wrapped all the Christmas presents while we watched A Christmas Story on TV. We actually made it to be by 11:30 this year...no toys to assemble.
Saturday morning, Uncle B and I went to spinning class (RPM), so that was nice. Saturday was playing, visiting and naps.
Sunday everyone (except me and the kids) slept until 9 – can you believe the luxury?!?!? I was up posting for the U of Phoenix section I started that day. At 2:00 we left for our Polar Express train ride. This is what we bought Grandma and Grandpa for Christmas. We drove 2 hours – the kids in their pajamas – to ride a steam engine with a Polar Express theme. They did it up great! There were songs, Christmas carols, chefs dancing in the aisle, kids in pajamas, hot chocolate, cookies, etc. We were taking Santa back to the North Pole and at one point Santa came through our car and handed each child a reindeer bell. When we got to the North Pole, it was all light up and decorated for Christmas. On the way back from dropping off Santa, they read the book to the kids. Everyone seemed to really enjoy it!
All our company left on Monday and we spent the last week of 2009 hanging out and playing. I caught the cold I was destined to catch as PJ and RJ have had one for what-seems-like forever. New Year's Eve, M and B arrived to help us ring in 2010. We ate a dinner of crab melt sandwiches, fennel and cabbage cole-slaw (which I chopped with my new food processor) and strawberry tarts. Thanks to a Max and Ruby episode, LJ had declared he was going to "stay up late and eat cookies". He even knew he was going to stay up until "both hands are on 12". Great. I didn't even want to stay up THAT late...ringing in the New Year on the East Coast is good enough for me! We decided to put the kids in their PJ and drive to look at Christmas lights...hoping PJ would fall asleep and go to bed without realizing LJ was not going to bed. This worked. But, LJ stayed up until midnight and appears to be fairing better than the rest of us. M and B are off to their annual get-together with their college friends and PJ and RJ are napping.
Here's to a GREAT 2010 - and I intend to do a better job of blogging!
1 comment:
Reading this blog post made me excited for a new year!
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