Santa Visit 2012

On Friday night we went to Pentagon City to see Santa Clause.  Nothing is easy to get to around here.  In Charleston, it was hop in your car and you're there in 10 minutes.  Here I have to leave an hour ahead of time, fight traffic, and pray I don't get lost.  

David rode the metro after work to meet us so it worked out perfectly.

Banks was telling Santa that he wants a basketball goal and a remote controlled car.

Hughes wants a remote controlled helicopter and Snakebite (remote controlled car).

I've been telling the boys that sometimes Santa brings surprises and not everything you asked for.  Hope they remember that because there are no remote controlled anythings coming on the 25th.

Collins handled Santa like it was an every day occurrence.  Of course having two older brothers that just hop right up there probably helped a little.

Friendly Beasts

Banks had his school Christmas program last week.  It was The Friendly Beasts.  He was a shepherd and was very excited about it.  He's on the back row and has a striped shirt on underneath his tunic and a dark green headdress.

I'm super proud of my shepherd boy.

Present Meltdown

I put presents under the tree about 3 hours ago.  Banks has had three meltdowns about opening presents since then.  There is only one present under the tree for him, all of the rest are for cousins.  One meltdown was about his present being smaller than Hughes' present.  Apparently, at 5 size matters.  One of us may not make it until the 25th if we continue to have these meltdowns - me or him, Santa can choose.

Also, Banks found Collins' big Santa gift.  It was poor planning and forgetfulness on my part.  I put it in our office and forgot about it.  Banks went in there which he never does.  He called my name and I knew immediately what had happened.  The only thing that I could think of was that it was for another child down the street and that I just picked it up for his mom.  Of course, then he put basketball goal on his Christmas list.  I guess Collins' big present just got moved to the group present.  Poor Collins.

Oh, and I bought a toy today that requires 18 batteries - WHAT!  So, if you're looking for something to get Hughes, get him AA batteries:)  I mean, if it takes that many batteries then I just assume you put a plug in it.

Today at lunch with Hughes the discussion at the table turned bad and I think I started it.  I was trying to make conversation with a table of 7 first graders and I thought I would ask them what was on their Santa list.  BIG MISTAKE, HUGE, GIANT

One little boy spews out the ugly truth.  You know, the one about S-a-n-t-a not being real.  He continues to say, "it really is your mommies and daddies".  Thank goodness another doe-eyed student refuted everything the kid said.  And, I'm happy to report that Hughes was in la-la land and I'm 99.9% positive didn't hear a word.  I'm also 99.9% positive that the kid with the hearing problem didn't hear him either.  So, that makes at least 2 that still believe in Mrs. Wightman's first grade class.  I now know not to bring up that conversation again.  While the boy was spewing his ugly truths, I was desperately trying to change the subject "Do you think it's going to snow over the holidays"  "What games do you play at recess".  Next time I'll just eat my sandwich and be quiet:)

Tonight, we're going to see Santa Claus at Pentagon City.  David is meeting us there after work.  Hopefully ol' St. Nick will have some wise words for my boys about cleaning up the playroom and not yelling at each other.  

And, last but not least, Collins continues to be the sweetest two-year old ever.  He deserves all the toys and presents under the tree.  Although, he does have a killer fruit snack habit and don't even mention the word "doughnut" around this boy.  He'll eat the whole dozen before you can say Merry Christmas. 

Off to see the jolly ol' fellow! 

Christmas Miracle

Before we get to the miracle part, check Collins out.  Poor guy fell asleep mid-play.  Sometimes I feel like doing that, too.

On Saturday night, we had the SKGF Christmas party downtown.  It was a nice evening of meeting David's co-workers not to mention the great food and drinks that accompanied them.

And, here we get to The Miracle - all three boys smiling and looking at the camera!!!!!  Holy Moley, the stars must have aligned because I've never seen all three with such pleasant looks on their faces and looking at the camera.  I was very happy.  And, there was no bribing by me or threats for that matter either.

These were taken before church on Sunday.  The boys sang in the children's choir on Sunday morning.  Precious songs but I'm not sure my boys sang any but they were up there and that counts!

Collins modeling our stockings for us.  I have stockings that match but Collins' stocking has yet to get his name monogrammed on it - I know, the kid is 2 but I keep forgetting!

 You can barely see them but Hughes and Banks are on the 2nd row on the bottom.  Hughes is right below the girl in the black cardigan on stage and Banks is below the boy in orange on stage.  All you can see are their heads.

Scottish Christmas Walk Parade

Yesterday we went down the Old Town Alexandria to watch the Scottish Christmas Walk Parade with the Olsens.  It was a great parade and very classy.  No Little Miss Yada Yada Yada or any queens for that matter.  Pure Scots, Pure bagpipes, lots of fun.

Banks' favorite part

Collins wasn't real sure what was going on.  It was rather cold with the temperature in the high 40's. 

Collins' favorite part

Our crew - Hughes in the navy coat, Avery in pink, Cam in orange and Banks in red.  That's Erika standing behind Avery.  The kids had the best spots and have the candy loot to show for it.

Bagpipes!

My favorite part - the dogs.  Lots of different types of dogs in the parade.

The boys thought this guy was cool.

Directly in front of us.  Very loud.  Scared lots of dogs.  Collins slept through it.

Hughes' favorite part - wolf head on a stick.

And Santa didn't roll up on the back of a Chevy.  No, Santa rolled up in the Jaguar Club.  Mrs. Claus had her own Jaguar.  Gotta love Old Town!

We capped off the morning with a lunch on King and some window shopping.  Plus the boys hardly complained about the 1.5 mile walk back to our car.  

And, to top it off, we then took our annual trip to Lowe's to get our Christmas tree.  That's right - no sentimental trek through the woods, no cutting down our own tree, no paying outrageous prices.  

Big box store prices = Right tree for me

Put it in the books - great family day.

Oh boy, the boys are gonna get it . . .

So, I just finished cleaning and organizing the boys' playroom.  It takes me about an hour and a half to get it completely clean just the way I like it.  Unfortunately for me, the boys don't necessarily see why their toys need to be organize.  One day they'll learn that it's easier to find a specific, tiny, little tip of their beyblade or the head to their Lego man if they just keep their toys organized.

I started this solely for The Great Toy Clean Out that I participate in every year.  The boys have no clue that I do this and I can't remember a time when they've come to me and ask where so-and-so was after I have gotten rid of it.  I donate a lot to Goodwill.  If my boys aren't playing with it then off it goes.  My mindset is that another child would love it so why hoard it.  Don't get me wrong, somehow they still have a lot of toys but they're just things I know they play with:  Legos, Transformers, Bionicles, cars, games/puzzles, superheroes, costumes, etc.  

Back to my morning, as I was cleaning up I eyed the couch.  For some reason, the boys love to take the cushions off the couch, shove toys underneath it, and dump other small toys on top of the bare seat portion.  (FYI - the boys are getting a tent from Santa and I hope that means they'll leave the couch cushions alone)  I crawl over to the couch to start cleaning up that area and I notice that there is some trash behind it.  I moved the couch over and I find . . .

three wads of chewed-up bubblegum!!!!!!!!!!!

I mean, they are too old to do something like that!   I couldn't believe it.  My precious boys spitting their gum behind the couch and thinking it's okay to leave it there.  Do I just have slobs as children?  What have I missed teaching them?  They know what a trashcan is.  They know how to use it or,  apparently,  they don't know how to one.

Lucky for them, it came up from the carpet with no problem.  But now I have to figure out how I'm going to handle the situation.  

Do I - 

a) ask them What the hell were you thinking?

b) ban gum for life?

c) try to have a rational talk on why we don't throw gum on the ground?

d) tell them Santa is not coming?

I vote for a, b, or d.  C just seems to reasonable.

And, one last thing.

Dear Boys,
    When you are in your 30s and have your own houses and are barely able to keep your house presentable, Dad and I are going to come over and spit chewed-up gum behind your couches.
                                                                                                      Love,
                                                                                                      Mom

As they say, payback is a bitch.

Thanksgiving 2012

Thanksgiving is over.  I accomplished my goal of having barbeque, cheap mexican, 420 (beer), and oysters.   

The boys and I went to St. Matthews on the Saturday before Thanksgiving.  Unbeknownst to my mom, I was traveling with a sweet, little fluff ball as a companion plus three children.  The boys did terrific down, as well as, the dog.  Bill & fam, Kent & fam,  plus us all gave Mom a shishon (half bichon frise, half shitszu) for Christmas.  I'm thinking she half loved us for doing it and half hated us for doing it.  Mom has wanted a small dog for a long time and couple of years ago I made a push for it to Dad.  He vehemently shot me down and told me in no certain terms that if I showed up on the doorstep Christmas morning with a puppy then he was going to disown me.  I decided that I liked belong to my family so I decided against the dog.  I warned Mom multiple times that she was not getting a dog but she thought I was trying to fake her out.  You see, this is how Mom and I worked.  She tells me what she wants and then I come to Dad with the great idea.  This system started when I learned to use the credit card.

Anyway, back to reality.  Mom finally got her little dog and I think they're going to be a great pair.  So, to wrap it up, I have technically given mom two dogs within the last 11 months - Charlie and, now, Suzie.

While in St. Matthews, my friend, Suzie, not the dog the human, came to visit with Conley and Chandler.  The boys and I had a great time playing with our friends and we were sad to see them go.  

Bill and I built a fence on the side of Mom's house to contain Charlie seeing as he was visiting neighbors that aren't a big fan of his.  And, the boys played and played with their cousins.  

On Wednesday, we headed to York to meet David.  Very luckily for us, our neighbors and friends in Virginia come to Charlotte every year for Thanksgiving so David was able to catch a ride down and Andrew picked him up for me.  We gorged ourselves for three days on fabulous food cooked by Mrs. Pat and Aunt Nancy.  We had a great time hanging out with family and on Friday we steamed oysters at the lake.

 Collins sporting his first Christmas outfit of the season.

David and Hughes were exploring the point for a little while . . .

 

until Collins decided to join, too.

Love Him!

 and, Him, too!

Not to leave you thinking Banks was left out - he was in the leaf pile having a blast.

This is the only picture I have to prove that we have a new baby on the Holman side.  Deyna had a sweet, little boy in October and I don't have one picture of him from Thanksgiving.  Probably because I was trying to hold him the entire time to soak in all that "baby-ness" and trying not to think about how big my baby was!

Bellied up to the bar - would rather have hot dogs and macaroni and cheese instead of oysters - go figure?

Banks preferred to park it right in front of the tv.

David and one of his hometown bestfriends, Ron, with Banks and Ron's son, Furman.  The dads were in charge of the smores and nobody got hurt.

And, why does this picture make me think that Collins is going to have a great nickname in college?

This time last year I was nursing a Disney hangover.  Life changes and moves on and it doesn't make it any easier but it does make you appreciate the time that you did have together.  Last Thanksgiving I somehow convinced my parents to join me and boys for a trip to Disney World.  We left David studying for finals.  They were going to leave mid-week and go to the Iron Bowl but decided to forego the game and spend the whole week with me.  We had turkey subs from Publix for our Thanksgiving day meal and I will always remember that week as being one of my happiest.

I had the greatest Dad.  Who other would forego the Iron Bowl to enjoy Disney with his grandsons?  I miss him so much and today is just one of those days.