Santa's Brain

The strangest thing happened today (today meaning Christmas Eve... silly blog didn't post it till much later!)... I felt like I could just read Santa's mind.  Weird.  We musta had a brain connection or something.  A temporary psychic experience. 

I could tell Santa felt like he was mostly done, ready to go, but little things were still looming.  No big deal, right?  That's what the elves are for!  Lucky Santa. Lucky to have all those helpers.  

And then, Santa had the feeling that he was so good at hiding things, that he might've lost a few.  Aww.  Poor Santa.  Poor guy.  I'm sure it'll all work out.  It's not like it happens like that every year, right?  Or maybe it does.  

Santa tries not to be stressed out, I mean it's so close to the best day of the year, right?  It says so right in the song.  But he is stressed.  Just a tad.  Have an extra cup of coffee, Santa, my man.  Not like you'll be sleeping tonight anyway. But no worries, 'cuz you're Magic.  And Magic doesn't need to sleep, does it?

And speaking of sleep... and I could REALLY feel this one....I guess I was wrong about Magic and sleep... ... Santa was just so darn tired he wanted to curl up in nice warm blankets and take a long nap.  Not the long winter's nap like in the story (that's a bunch of crap anyway, I definitely felt that thought), but just a nap.  A regular one.  But naps are like fantasy land for Santa.  Keep movin,' Santa.  Keep movin.'  No rest for the weary.  

So Santa, he's magical, right, but he's also just like a normal person.  So he made a list.  Not THAT list... stop thinking of books and stories!  So anyway, he made a list, just of things to do today and tonight... and hopefully that will keep him on track.  And then he felt a little better.  And I was happy to know that Santa felt a little better.  'Cause no one needs Santa being stressed out at Christmas time, right? Definitely not.  

So after that I tried to use that brain connection in reverse... just send a little love and support... and tell Santa that he's done a good job, that everything's gonna work out fine.  Children will be happy and Merry, family will be loving as always and Christmas 2013 will be the Best Day Ever! 

And hopefully when it's all said and done maybe he can get that nap.  Good luck, Santa!!

The Countdown to Christmas!

Even Chase is asking why Time is moving so fast... 

We are mostly ready.  We didn't put outside lights up, but ours have been not quite right for two years anyway.  Eventually we'll pick something new.  We thought we loved what we called the "Snoopy lights" as they looked like what is on Snoopy's doghouse, but it turns out they just weren't designed well and the house doesn't look so festive when half the lights aren't working.  Santa seems mostly set and the Tricker the Elf goes back nightly to report all that he sees.  

We've got a new nephew/cousin, un-named as of yet but cute as a button and doing well.  His mama had a wonderful Mother's intuition and told me on the phone yesterday that even though her doctors had scheduled her for an induction this Monday at 41 weeks + 2, she would be having this baby tomorrow (which meant today).  She said it very matter-of-factly.  And there was no reason to doubt her.  Except apparently if you're a doctor.  Honestly, with some of the things her practice of doctors was coming up with, I was beginning to think they were doctors of philosophy instead of anything to do with babies or a woman's body.   

So here's some highlights and happenings: 

Falls asleep reading as usual. 

The Rogers resting together.  

RJ's favorite game. 

Riley as her preschool holiday program. 

Close up of our tree.  We do not have a matching-ornament tree, a store-display pretty tree, an expensive-ornament tree or a "show" tree of any sort.  Each ornament of ours has a story.  We know where it came from, who gifted it, who made it or why we have it.  Most of our ornaments have been clustered up high for years, due to little curious hands.  Our lights are uneven because a child placed them on the tree.  Because of all these things, our tree is beyond perfect and representative of our family and our values.

Mom's Club holiday party.  RJ smiles on purpose now when you ask him to for the camera.  We had lots of head bumps this day as you can see. 

RJ also loves to put the pieces in Connect4.  There is not much that keeps him occupied for more than 5 minutes! 

Bring On the Snow

Not really sure where the week went, but it went!  We've had snow twice more since my last post a week ago, but it's been more like snow, then rain and melt.  Then turn nighttime and get icy, then slush.  Pretty disappointing if you're a kid and pretty disgusting and messy if you're an adult.  Yesterday's storm was wicked icy for a few hours until 10:30 at night when it strangely warmed up about 4 degrees and starting to rain, washing away the ice and allowing people like my DJ'ing husband to drive home safely.  Chase got a brief lesson in something all Pennsylvanians (and anyone North of us) need to know how to do - push a stuck car out of a snowy rut and get it moving again.  I always love to see how crappy weather can bring random people together to help someone out.  We happened to see a car or two slip and slide on our road and get stuck right outside of our house so I put my coat on and went out to join the fun.  My awesome neighbor Howie was also there to push as well as another couple who stopped their car to lend a hand.  Everyone knows what to do, jumps right in, takes a role and gets it done.  No intro, no goodbyes.  Sometimes a "thanks" but never necessary.  It's a part of the winters here like putting on a coat to go outside.  

Saturday we knew the snow was coming and so had no grand plan.  Most of us stayed in pajamas (or the interesting tank top/sweatpants/knee socks/leg warmers combination that I was rocking) all day.  The snow started and stopped for the better part of morning and afternoon and didn't get rolling until about 4:30.  The kids went out for a little but were rather unimpressed with the icy/fluff combination, not suitable for snowballs OR sledding.  Bummer.  

But our day was filled with lots of fun, and few expectations.  

After breakfast we played Restaurant.  Chase cooked, Indigo was our waitress and Riley and I were paying customers.  RJ helped by stealing food and running it back and forth across the room while giggling like a madman. Yes, Indy is wearing G.I. Joe PJ's!

Indy writes the menu on the chalkboard wall. 

Riley traced her bubble letters and then turned them into Letter Animals

Indy got to choose what we did next - make Popsicle Stick Puppets!  They were so creative, Indy made people and Chase made a Gorilla and two Army Tanks.  

We grabbed an empty box for a small stage and the kids performed their Puppet Shows.  Chase is a regular stage comedian.  

Riley played Fishing for Sight Words and thought she was being slick by telling me which ones to fish for.

Sunday morning outside their were still beautiful icy trees on the opposite side of the street.  We get hit with the sun all day so most of ours was melted.