hey, isn't it January?!? ;)
D.W.Q.M.: "There's no point in being grownup if you can't be childish sometimes." -the Fourth Doctor
Ah, Christmas time-brings out the child in all of us. ;) I always feel sad when I have to start taking down my Christmas decorations. I always start late with this task-I leave them up through Epiphany (the 12th day of Christmas), but I always decide to wait to take them down after my birthday (after all, what's another six days?) Of course, then I think I need to wait until the weekend after my birthday to start. So, here I am, the middle of January, with only a couple of boxes packed up, taking a "break" from the grueling work to tell you about our Christmas in Shafer. *warning-long post ahead.* ;)
This tale actually begins on the 23rd-Al, who had to work that night, dropped off Boo on her way to work. I was just finishing up baking cookies-a batch of chocolate chips with candy trees and stockings, and a batch of chocolate and peanute butter chip cookies. My mom and I had been watching 'the Music Man' (one of her favorite movies) and were now watching 'Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory'. (*heehee* the perfect movie to watch while making chocolate chip cookies. ;) ) After they had cooled, we divided them up-set aside some to for gifts, and some to bring to Al's for Christmas. We must have set aside 3 dozen for Al. (Remember that-there'll be a quiz later.) ;)
The next day we began to get ready for Christmas-cleaning up, finishing the very last touches to the Christmas decorations. My mom and Boo made homemade hot chocolate mix which they filled into little snack baggies and placed in mugs for Christmas gifts. That afternoon we brought my mom's neighbor June some Christmas cookies and hot chocolate mix, and she had some gifts for us, too-she also fed us dinner! After visiting awhile, we headed back and watched one of the showings of TNT's 'A Christmas Story' marathon. (I love that movie!!!!) Then we got ready for the midnight candlelight service at church.
Since my mom was singing in the choir, we had to be there almost 2 hours early. Just before the service started, Boo started to get a little teary-eyed. She wanted to sit with grandma. She was able to sit with her on Sunday because there wasn't that many choir members at the service-everyone thought it was soo sweet! But since everyone in the choir was there on Christmas Eve, Boo would have to sit with me. She was at the verge of tears and I tried to convince her not to cry, that grandma would't want that because she would mess up her pretty little face. She sniffled a little, wiped her eyes and asked if she could have some make-up. (Earlier when I was putting on my makeup, I let her put on some of my lip gloss) I asked her if she would stop crying, and she nodded. I was very glad I had remembered to put the lip gloss in my purse before we left. I put a little on her, she smiled and then settled into my lap. *whew!* Crisis averted. About 15 minutes into the service I felt her head roll and discovered she was fast alseep. :) I absolutely love the Christmas Eve service at my mom's church. I'm not sure what it is-the choir and jubilee ringers, the readings telling of the tale surrounding Jesus's birth, or when they dim the lights and we all light our candles and the quiet and peacefulness that follows. What ever it is, I always feel quite happy and content at the end of the service.
After church, we gave Al a ring and she drove down from Shafer to pick us up so we'd be there in the morning. We piled our stuff, a sleeping Boo, and ourselves into her car and drove off into the night, listening to Christmas music. It was a very pleasant drive-since it was after midnight, there weren't many cars on the road at all, and you could see the Christmas lights reflecting off the snow-very picturesque.
When we arrived at Al's, she told us if any of the kids asked, Santa brought us in his sleigh. She then put Boo to bed and went to bed herself, and my mom and I started to settle down for the night...started is the appropriate word. My mom was anxious to set out some of the things she brought for the kids, so she was busy rustling around the kitchen-now, my mom doesn't always hear very well, so sometimes she doesn't realize what a commotion she makes-I went to see what she was up to, and was startled by a sleepy Kyle, who had come up from his room to see what the commotion was. He looked very distressed and said that it looked like Santa didn't come at all. Before we had a chance to tell him, Al came out and told him to go back to bed. Mom told her what he told us, and Al said that with everything that was going on, they forgot to get stuff for the kids from Santa. My Brilliant Mom, who will always be a kid at heart, had the solution. Every year they have a children's service at church, complete with a manger scene and real animals. After the service they give out bags with assorted goodies and she had picked up three of them for the kids. She also had several small stuffed animals that 'Santa' could give them. Al was like, 'Oooh! good idea!', grabbed a marker and wrote 'To Kyle, from Santa' on one, then gave me a funny 'what do you think?' look. Then the three of us gathered around the tree, and in hushed whispers and muffed giggles, sorted the stuff out. Al grabbed the kids stockings and we argued and laughed over which animal to give each child. Then Al found a cd for each of them, ripped off the wrapping paper, made sure there was no remenants of a price tag, and stuck them in the stockings. After that, we moved into the kitchen, got a plate of cookies, nibbled on some, and left a half empty glass of milk on the table. Then we decided to leave a note, and I suggested I write it because I could probably disguised my handwriting the best. Just as I was finishing it, Al said, "Wait!" and grabbed a carrot from the fridge and took a few bites without washing it. Her reasoning? Rudolf wouldnt' eat a clean, peeled carrot! I quickly added a 'P.S. Rudolf thanks you for the carrot' to my note.
It worked!!! The kids were sooo excited that Santa came, and left them a note to boot! T, who is a huge Rudolf fan, especially liked the carrot (way to go, Al!!) T asked Boo what it was like to ride in Santa's sleigh, and Boo gave her a very indignant, "No, I didn't!" Al, who was listening from the kitchen called out, "How would you know? You were asleep!" after that we all gathered around the tree to open presents. It was alot of fun. Now it was time to get ready for our guests!
Al had invited Shan and her family over for dinner (Shan, her husband Lee, the girls, her mom and uncle). She called to say they would be over around 2. As the hour drew near, it seemed Al was constantly asking, "shouldn't she be here by now? What if they got lost? If they weren't coming they'd call, right? If they got lost they'd call, right?" I was getting fed up and told her if she was so worried, why not call and see if they left yet? Al refused to do that, and went about working in the kitchen, barefoot. (wait for it...) She was in the middle of another rant when she suddenly shouted, "Oh, my god! They just drove past the house!!!" She then flew outside, in below freezing temps, without putting her shoes on to wave them down. There was alot of commotion the rest of the day, but it was alot of fun. When it came time for Shan to leave, SumSum refused to go. At first they were going to tease her and pretend to leave without her, but when SumSum simply called out 'Bye!' from the top of the stairs, the moms had a quick conference, and decided to let her spend the night. This was my first experience as an adult watching over little girls at a sleepover. Whoa-I am made to wonder were we this tiring and annoying when we were their age? They refused to go to sleep!! We'd tell them it was time for bed, but would hear them whispering and giggling in T's room. (all three girls decided to hang out there) At one point they were afraid of monsters, so I went in to check the closet and under the bed, and removed anything from the window sill that might cast a scary looking shadow. I reassured them that my mom and I were going to be in the living room, and would keep all the monsters at bay. I don't know when they finally went to sleep, but it must have been after my mom and I, 'cause in the morning, we discovered that all the cookies that we brought for Christmas were completely gone. LOL. When I told Al, she laughed and said, "Remember Shan and the mints!" That, my friends, is another story for another time-but if you ever run into her, be sure to ask her about the mints. ;)
Ah, Christmas time-brings out the child in all of us. ;) I always feel sad when I have to start taking down my Christmas decorations. I always start late with this task-I leave them up through Epiphany (the 12th day of Christmas), but I always decide to wait to take them down after my birthday (after all, what's another six days?) Of course, then I think I need to wait until the weekend after my birthday to start. So, here I am, the middle of January, with only a couple of boxes packed up, taking a "break" from the grueling work to tell you about our Christmas in Shafer. *warning-long post ahead.* ;)
This tale actually begins on the 23rd-Al, who had to work that night, dropped off Boo on her way to work. I was just finishing up baking cookies-a batch of chocolate chips with candy trees and stockings, and a batch of chocolate and peanute butter chip cookies. My mom and I had been watching 'the Music Man' (one of her favorite movies) and were now watching 'Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory'. (*heehee* the perfect movie to watch while making chocolate chip cookies. ;) ) After they had cooled, we divided them up-set aside some to for gifts, and some to bring to Al's for Christmas. We must have set aside 3 dozen for Al. (Remember that-there'll be a quiz later.) ;)
The next day we began to get ready for Christmas-cleaning up, finishing the very last touches to the Christmas decorations. My mom and Boo made homemade hot chocolate mix which they filled into little snack baggies and placed in mugs for Christmas gifts. That afternoon we brought my mom's neighbor June some Christmas cookies and hot chocolate mix, and she had some gifts for us, too-she also fed us dinner! After visiting awhile, we headed back and watched one of the showings of TNT's 'A Christmas Story' marathon. (I love that movie!!!!) Then we got ready for the midnight candlelight service at church.
Since my mom was singing in the choir, we had to be there almost 2 hours early. Just before the service started, Boo started to get a little teary-eyed. She wanted to sit with grandma. She was able to sit with her on Sunday because there wasn't that many choir members at the service-everyone thought it was soo sweet! But since everyone in the choir was there on Christmas Eve, Boo would have to sit with me. She was at the verge of tears and I tried to convince her not to cry, that grandma would't want that because she would mess up her pretty little face. She sniffled a little, wiped her eyes and asked if she could have some make-up. (Earlier when I was putting on my makeup, I let her put on some of my lip gloss) I asked her if she would stop crying, and she nodded. I was very glad I had remembered to put the lip gloss in my purse before we left. I put a little on her, she smiled and then settled into my lap. *whew!* Crisis averted. About 15 minutes into the service I felt her head roll and discovered she was fast alseep. :) I absolutely love the Christmas Eve service at my mom's church. I'm not sure what it is-the choir and jubilee ringers, the readings telling of the tale surrounding Jesus's birth, or when they dim the lights and we all light our candles and the quiet and peacefulness that follows. What ever it is, I always feel quite happy and content at the end of the service.
After church, we gave Al a ring and she drove down from Shafer to pick us up so we'd be there in the morning. We piled our stuff, a sleeping Boo, and ourselves into her car and drove off into the night, listening to Christmas music. It was a very pleasant drive-since it was after midnight, there weren't many cars on the road at all, and you could see the Christmas lights reflecting off the snow-very picturesque.
When we arrived at Al's, she told us if any of the kids asked, Santa brought us in his sleigh. She then put Boo to bed and went to bed herself, and my mom and I started to settle down for the night...started is the appropriate word. My mom was anxious to set out some of the things she brought for the kids, so she was busy rustling around the kitchen-now, my mom doesn't always hear very well, so sometimes she doesn't realize what a commotion she makes-I went to see what she was up to, and was startled by a sleepy Kyle, who had come up from his room to see what the commotion was. He looked very distressed and said that it looked like Santa didn't come at all. Before we had a chance to tell him, Al came out and told him to go back to bed. Mom told her what he told us, and Al said that with everything that was going on, they forgot to get stuff for the kids from Santa. My Brilliant Mom, who will always be a kid at heart, had the solution. Every year they have a children's service at church, complete with a manger scene and real animals. After the service they give out bags with assorted goodies and she had picked up three of them for the kids. She also had several small stuffed animals that 'Santa' could give them. Al was like, 'Oooh! good idea!', grabbed a marker and wrote 'To Kyle, from Santa' on one, then gave me a funny 'what do you think?' look. Then the three of us gathered around the tree, and in hushed whispers and muffed giggles, sorted the stuff out. Al grabbed the kids stockings and we argued and laughed over which animal to give each child. Then Al found a cd for each of them, ripped off the wrapping paper, made sure there was no remenants of a price tag, and stuck them in the stockings. After that, we moved into the kitchen, got a plate of cookies, nibbled on some, and left a half empty glass of milk on the table. Then we decided to leave a note, and I suggested I write it because I could probably disguised my handwriting the best. Just as I was finishing it, Al said, "Wait!" and grabbed a carrot from the fridge and took a few bites without washing it. Her reasoning? Rudolf wouldnt' eat a clean, peeled carrot! I quickly added a 'P.S. Rudolf thanks you for the carrot' to my note.
It worked!!! The kids were sooo excited that Santa came, and left them a note to boot! T, who is a huge Rudolf fan, especially liked the carrot (way to go, Al!!) T asked Boo what it was like to ride in Santa's sleigh, and Boo gave her a very indignant, "No, I didn't!" Al, who was listening from the kitchen called out, "How would you know? You were asleep!" after that we all gathered around the tree to open presents. It was alot of fun. Now it was time to get ready for our guests!
Al had invited Shan and her family over for dinner (Shan, her husband Lee, the girls, her mom and uncle). She called to say they would be over around 2. As the hour drew near, it seemed Al was constantly asking, "shouldn't she be here by now? What if they got lost? If they weren't coming they'd call, right? If they got lost they'd call, right?" I was getting fed up and told her if she was so worried, why not call and see if they left yet? Al refused to do that, and went about working in the kitchen, barefoot. (wait for it...) She was in the middle of another rant when she suddenly shouted, "Oh, my god! They just drove past the house!!!" She then flew outside, in below freezing temps, without putting her shoes on to wave them down. There was alot of commotion the rest of the day, but it was alot of fun. When it came time for Shan to leave, SumSum refused to go. At first they were going to tease her and pretend to leave without her, but when SumSum simply called out 'Bye!' from the top of the stairs, the moms had a quick conference, and decided to let her spend the night. This was my first experience as an adult watching over little girls at a sleepover. Whoa-I am made to wonder were we this tiring and annoying when we were their age? They refused to go to sleep!! We'd tell them it was time for bed, but would hear them whispering and giggling in T's room. (all three girls decided to hang out there) At one point they were afraid of monsters, so I went in to check the closet and under the bed, and removed anything from the window sill that might cast a scary looking shadow. I reassured them that my mom and I were going to be in the living room, and would keep all the monsters at bay. I don't know when they finally went to sleep, but it must have been after my mom and I, 'cause in the morning, we discovered that all the cookies that we brought for Christmas were completely gone. LOL. When I told Al, she laughed and said, "Remember Shan and the mints!" That, my friends, is another story for another time-but if you ever run into her, be sure to ask her about the mints. ;)
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