Christmas through Cade's eyes

Ahhh, Christmas morning. I remember it well.

Getting up at 3am to go through my stocking and then trying hard to put them back the way they were. Waking my mom and the bear (a.k.a. Dad before coffee) up at 5am to shred wrapping paper. The disappointment when it was all over. The realization that I had a stack of new stuff to play with. Those special sugar highs that can only come from Santa's candy.

Yes, Christmas is exciting.

Well...for most people.

Some people just can't get in the mood:

Here's the "What the heck did you wake me up so early for?"

The classic "What is this thing you keep waving at me?"
"Mom, could you please explain to Dad that a lack of expression is directly related to a lack of enthusiasm?"

"That paper looks yummy. Put it in my mouth."

"Great, now Mom is in on it. People, if you want to put something in my hands, make it one of those candies the big boys got in those huge socks."

In the background, you can see him. "Am I the only sane one in this family?"

"Do they really think a Santa hat is going to make me perk up?"

"Someday I will escape this tyranny!"

I'm sure he doesn't share my sentiment, but here it is anyway -
Merry Christmas!

Why I love Christmas

Based on the title, I wish I could post about something heartfelt and meaningful, but that's not the purpose of this blog. The purpose of this blog has always been to share laughter. So, here's a picture tour of the reasons I love opening presents at Christmas.


1. It tends to bring out the model in everyone, even those who don't normally model. Check out Chad's attempt at 'Blue Steel' and my 'Magnum.'



2. Dad gets to wear a goofy hat:


3. Obligatory pictures of people 'presenting' their gifts:


4. Action shots:


5. Pearce's reaction to his presents:


6. Pearce's reaction to his brother's presents:



7. And finally, there's always the truly spectacular moments that no one expects, but everyone can appreciate (for years to come):



In fact, I chose this moment to make a Christmas card out of (just for the fun of threatening to send it):

Sometimes, the camera gets lucky

I've been trying to get a good picture of Cole's eyes for awhile now. They are a peculiar, but beautiful shade of amber or butterscotch. It started after someone told him that people with brown eyes are full of doo-doo. The mother in me kicked in and I had to prove to him that all eyes are beautiful. Some are like black onyx, some like a dark ocean, some like a Christmas tree.

Yesterday, the sun was setting so pretty in our yard. I talked Cole into posing for me in front of a tree. I took several pictures (getting Cole to look into the sun without squinting took some time) and I finally got this one. You have to click on it and make it full size to see those eyes!!!

The camera got lucky.

When we got home from picking up Pearce, I asked him to do the same thing in front of the house.



The camera got lucky again!

The camera doesn't always get lucky...

Nice picture of a sheep bottom.

Well, unless you are my camera. I find it incredibly lucky that I have pictures that make me laugh hysterically.

Well done, camera. Well done!

Cookie Monster

I finally bought Stone a stool tall enough to reach the kitchen counter. In my mind's eye, I romanticized him helping me cook all kinds of things. Me and my little kitchen helper...

Yesterday, we tried it out for the first time. Coconut cookies. He did great pouring the ingredients into the mixer. He even locked the mixer for me when it was time to cream things and beat things. The dough turned out perfect and I got one batch into the oven. I gave Stone the spatula to lick, of course. Here are those pictures:

"Yummy!"

"Wait...how did that blob get off the scraper and on the counter?????"

"Oh well...life is too short to worry about it. Yummy..."

"Look, Mommy, it's empty! I want more!"

Now, me being a responsible mommy, I told him that he'd had enough cookie dough. We went into the living room while we waited on the first batch to finish. I left my sweet little helper on the couch to go get the crying baby. I was gone maybe 1 minute 45 seconds. When I returned to the living room, my sweet little helper was gone. It doesn't take a genius to deduce where he was. I knew I was safe, though, because I'd rinsed the scraper and it was in the sink. The worst it could be was him using his fingers.


Alas, I'd forgotten about the spoon. The one I used to drop the cookies onto the cookie pan (you can see it in the first two pictures).



How much cookie dough did he consume? I'm not sure, but there wasn't enough for a full second batch.

Darned tall stool!

Our great weekend

I don't usually write posts of events unless there is a funny moment worth embellishing (with sarcasm), but we had such a great weekend, I've decided to share some of the pictures.

On Friday, we decorated our tree. I realized after it was done that I'd forgotten ribbon and garland, but I've kind of promised the boys that I'm not going to get all stressed out about things this holiday season. Part of that promise was to leave the tree as-is after they decorated it. Interestingly, the clusters of candy canes and ornaments that are at the bottom of the tree fill me with joy. I'm not tempted at all to fix them.


Don't think that there weren't funny moments, though. Chad decorating while using Stone's kitchen stool (while the abominable snow monster tries to hog the camera shot):

The kids taking the decorating WAY too seriously:


Ahh, but then there was the finished product:


On Saturday, we decided to go to Holiday in the Park. The boys had a great time and Chad only almost got into 4 fights. Actually, I almost got into it with a woman who was using the F-word in graphic detail while talking about her 'baby daddy' and his girlfriend. She was rather taken aback when I brought to her attention the hundreds of other people around her (most of whom were under 10) . Nothing like lines and crowds to bring out the best in people. Luckily, the boys are oblivious to grown-up rudeness and had a blast.

Sunday, we caravaned to Waxahachie for Bethlehem Revisited. I highly recommend it to anyone within driving distance of Waxahachie next weekend. Katie and John met us there and John was kind enough to take pictures since I had a growth on my front.

Here we are with a Roman guard. My family looks like a Starbuck's endorsement.

Camels! They were part of the Maggi's procession through town.

Joseph, Mary, Jesus before the crowd gets there.
A merchant trying to sell Pearce on oranges with clove buds.
Pearce, Cole, and Stone trying out the olive press.

I didn't know they had cammo robes!!! Wait, could the guy on the left just be walking by at an inopportune time?Pearce showing off his mad skills (or flat head).
Cade was so engaged the whole time. Look, he's so animated!
Pearce and Cole trying to find Arlington on the guard's map of Rome.
See the guard's face? That's after trying to have a conversation with Stone for 10 minutes.

There was no shortage of fuzzy animals to pet.

John and Katie!!!

What a great, fun-filled weekend!