It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

Well, here we are, at Christmas week. Andy has been and continues to be very busy, as would be predicted of a pastor in Advent. Jess has been busy trying to wrap up the semester. She has one more final exam to give and lots of grading to do. Meanwhile, Simon has been enjoying learning about this time we call Advent!

Simon "helped" Jess decorate the house...this started out well, as he was awed by each new thing that came out of our decorations box...but ended in tears as he quickly forgot the pre-agreed-upon rule that "some decorations are okay to play with, but others are not" (and its up to Mommy to decide which in which). In short, he was inexplicably drawn to whatever was most fragile, and was nearly inconsolable when he was not allowed to play with EVERYTHING. Lesson for next year: Maybe we should pack two boxes of Christmas decorations...one for the kids to help with, and one to pull out after they are in bed :).

We picked out a live tree from the Lion's Club here in Rochester this year. It is lovely, and it is fun to have a live tree...though every year the increasing price tag makes me question how long it will be before we just buy an artificial one to save some money in the long-term!

Simon helped to hang ornaments on the tree--again, this was a mixed blessing. He enjoyed helping, until he decided he would rather play with the ornaments off of the tree...and he got very frustrated with not being able to hang the ornaments himself. Inevitably he would choose one with a tiny little loop to hang from, and would not be able to get it on a branch--whatever large-looped, more easily hung ornament Mom suggested was generally scoffed at.

Simon also got to meet Santa this year! And look what happened...are you sensing a theme yet? Of course, now I more fully understand why the tears-on-Santa's-lap phenomenon happens with toddlers. If they would simply tell you they didn't want to sit there, you wouldn't make them...but they get very excited at the idea of meeting Santa, and are okay sitting on his lap for approximately the length of time it takes you to get the camera turned on and ready, and then...snap! Pouts and tears just in time for the photo. (We did recover quickly from this little trauma when Mom came in for a picture with Santa, too.)

I guess given those descriptions, it sounds like this has been a trying time for Simon! That really isn't the case. Once decorations were up, and the fragile things were out of reach, he has had a great time playing with the decorations he is allowed to touch. He loves the Christmas tree lights, and for the first time we have outdoor Christmas lights, too! Andy put up a lighted wreath and some icicle lights across the front roofline of the house--unfortunately, I haven't brought the camera out in the snow to get a photo yet. So Simon is loving the lights, on our house and others, and of course can't get enough of the snow, even when its absolutely freezing outside.

He is also enjoying following along with an advent calendar (he gets a sticker every day--I decided since he didn't know any different, we could wait on filling it with candy or other goodies), and loves doing nightly advent devotions, or as he calls it, "can-dews!" (candles). We got a great kid's devotion book at church that has hidden pictures for him to find each night, and his favorite Christmas song has become "O Come, O Come Emanuel" which we sing before blowing out the candles. And then there is blowing out the candles--that is his job, and he loves it, though he has only gotten about two blown out by himself. His current style (and he is not interested in pointers for how to improve it!) includes about as much spit as air, and is often aimed below the actual flame, so it isn't terribly effective. But he either hasn't really noticed, or just doesn't mind, when one of us adds a little air-power to finally get the candles out.

We have a busy couple of weeks ahead, full of lots of church (especially for Andy--four Christmas Eve services, oh boy!), lots of family, and lots of friends...plus, of course, Andy and Simon's birthdays to boot!

Merry Christmas everyone :).

Thanksgiving Memories

Well, we are so belated in our Thanksgiving post, that it does seem like a memory now, as Christmas is almost here! We were lucky enough to be graced with a visit from the Kalizabs...or should we say Kalizabems, now that little Emelia is here?

A few photos from our wonderful holiday weekend:

Having Abbie & Izzie around meant more than a few lessons in sharing...

We made our first turkey! It may not be picture-perfect, but it certainly tasted yummy :-)

Here's the clearest shot I got of little Emelia...doing something she's very good at: sleeping while cuddled up with Mommy

Andy and Alex, mid-flight, at the park (they set such a good example for the kiddos, don't they? You could just be content swinging...or, you could try to jump off the swing instead!)

We had a fun time at the playland in the mall one evening

Just think...they went to middle school, high school, and college together, and here they are now, with 4 kids between them (plus one on the way)

Thanks for another wonderful Thanksgiving, Kalizabems!

Filing a Complaint

I am breaking or recent blog silence not to post cute photos from Thanksgiving, which we have but I haven't gotten around to downloading yet, or to talk about the grand adventure of decorating for Christmas with Simon's "help," which I've also been meaning to write about...no, I just feel the need to file a complaint with the commuting gods. Granted, I have been very lucky to have had virtually no bad weather so far this semester. But today's storm/blizzard in progress was another matter. I decided to cancel my evening class in hopes of beating the worst of the storm home. The result: my normal commute which typically takes 1.5 hours from Minneapolis to Rochester stretched out to 3.75 hours. Yep, I left when it was still daylight at 4:15, and didn't pull in until 8:00 pm. Geesh! (Of course, I am grateful I got home safely at all...but I would have preferred to do it in just a couple hours!) Last I heard, Rochester is supposed to get over 12 inches by tomorrow morning--hello winter! (Tomorrow I will try to resist filing a complaint about a big storm arriving the day my husband leaves town for a retreat!)