Holiday pictures - part two

My Mom and I have a great tradition going of enjoying a last minute day of shopping and a nice, long lunch.  

I love that Cade gets just as excited over clothes as he does about toys.

Macy enjoying her new baby doll that Santa brought her.  Santa had to look long and hard to find one that didn't poop or pee.

I love being an Aunt!!!!!
Gabriel enjoying his new book, Maisy Big Maisy Small.  Maisy is his absolute favorite right now.

We had a terrific time and a fantastic meal at Philip and April's on Christmas night.

Holiday pictures-part one

This cracks me up.  Gabriel in the goggles that came with his play weed eater.

Gabriel just wanted to get back to his piano playing.

Tia Sandy, his bestest friend.

Sandra's boyfriend, Michael, with daughters Lizzie and Grace, in a goofy but sweet picture.

The maestro at work.

Thoughts on Christmas

I'm about to do what's become a midnight on Christmas Eve tradition - watch Meet Me In St. Louis on Turner Classic Movies.  I'm not sure how this would rate with most people as a Christmas movie, but I think it's become my favorite.  Even though Christmas only figures in part of the movie, just the whole theme of family, wanting to stay close with loved ones and friends, and being thankful for what you have is really what Christmas is all about.  

On the religious side, I went through a period in my life where I really got disgusted with organized religion.  But since I was raised in the Methodist church, I had started thinking I might be interested again when I met Jav.  It just seemed very natural to convert to Catholicism when we got engaged.  We attend pretty regularly now, and I have grown to love it again.  Something about standing with a large group, all singing together and praying together just touches my soul like it never did before.  I feel so good taking Gabriel with us, and he has already learned to behave himself pretty well even at his young age.  He LOVES the musical instruments and singing.  Each time we attend, it sort of recharges my battery until the next time we go.  I'm not sure how much of the scripture I actually believe, but I understand the moral teachings and want my child to have that background.  We had a great time at the family Mass tonight (the children and youth put on the whole thing with a Nativity pageant), and will attend the very special midnight Mass again once Gabriel is a little older.  

We had a wonderful time at Jav's parents for dinner and gifts and lots of merriment.  This year was even more special because Jav's sister has a boyfriend she's been dating for a year now, and he brought his two daughters (Grace, who's 12 and Elizabeth, who's 7) to spend Christmas Eve with us.  I hope we can start to get to know them more and more.  

And I have Gabriel all worked up over Santa coming tonight.  When I told him this morning that Santa and his reindeer would come, and come down our chimney and fill his (lovely) stocking and put toys under the tree, he replied with a very serious and slow, "Wow".  I read The Night Before Christmas to him for the first time tonight just before putting him to bed, so hopefully visions of sugarplums are dancing through his head right this very moment!

Am I smarter than a three-and-a-half-year-old?

Here's a conversation between Macy and I last night while I was giving her a bath:

Me:  "Ha, I squirted you with Gabriel's turtle!"

Macy:  "Aunt Kim, dat's not a turtle."

Me:  "Yes, it is."

Macy:  "No, it's not.  It's a snail."  

Me:  "No, Macy.  Look at it closer.  It's a turtle."

Macy:  "Aunt Kim, turtles have shells that lay fwat over their backs.  Snails have shells behind them that go in a circle."

Moments of silence pass.

Me:  "Gabriel will be so happy to find out he has a snail."

Fun day in Dallas

This is all Gabriel wanted to do at Froggies.  We kept having to move little cars out of the way so people could walk by and shop.  We bought him the one police car that made noise, and told Santa he really wanted a musical instrument set.  Last night the police car started sounding sick, so Jav and I tried to perform emergency surgery this morning and apparently killed it.  I bought him an ambulance with normal batteries at WalMart today.  

I was afraid we'd be the only table with a kid at The Old Monk, but there were quite a few for lunch.

Mommy's happy because she finally got to eat fish and chips.  Gabriel's happy because Mommy is tickling him and forcing him to smile.

Of course, the minute we hit Central Expressway this happened.  What a fun day.  I hope it will become a Christmas tradition.

A mish-mash of topics

First off, 45 Christmas cards - DONE!!!  I just don't know if I want to do it again next year.  But IF  Jav can talk me into it again, I'm going to have to give up and go for the posed Christmas picture.  It's too stressful to try to get a good picture of a child (and pets) that refuse to sit still to have their pictures made.  

I've discovered a new TV show.  It's utterly unbelievable but very witty, charming and fun to watch.  Leverage - on TNT, starring Timothy Hutton (who has settled into middle age quite nicely, I might add), is like a short version of Ocean's Eleven without quite as many thieves.  Hutton plays a guy who has been wronged by his former employer and gets roped into leading a group of multi-talented thieves to rob big evil corporations.  Jav has also roped me into liking Life On Mars, about a police detective who wakes up from an accident and is suddenly in the 70's.  He's solving crimes, dealing with living in a time warp, all the while trying to figure out how to get back to the future.  Sounds corny, but it's actually been a really good show so far.  I just hope it isn't getting canceled.  That would suck.  Also, Big Love will be back on HBO on January 18th.  Yea!!!  I've missed my favorite polygamist family.  

 On the movie front, we've had Ironman from Netflix for almost a month now and can't seem to find time or energy to watch it.  Which is totally ridiculous, but true.   

And we're taking Gabriel to the best toy store in our area, Froggies, tomorrow to pick something out.  I'm hoping I can steer him towards a train set, but I really need to step aside and let him choose.  I think we're going to have fish and chips at The Old Monk for lunch afterwards if he's still in an agreeable mood.  With this weather we might even be able to sit outside.  

Holiday music 2008

This year I've been listening to all my favorites, but I've especially been needing to hear the "heavier" holiday music.  I listened to "The Nutcracker" while out running all over the metroplex yesterday.  It really did lift my spirit and give me energy yesterday.  Something about Tchaikovsky's music really gets to me emotionally these last couple of years.  I haven't seen the ballet in quite a few years now, but I hope to take both my niece and my Goddaughter within the next few years.  I have two favorite parts that are almost total opposites.  One is "Coffee", probably the quietest part of the work, and very exotic-sounding.  The other is the "Pas de Deux" between Clara and the Prince, which is sweepingly romantic and grand, and always gives me goosebumps.

The other CD I really enjoyed today was Handel's "Messiah".  If you need to get over the stress of shopping, making lists, and the pull that we all sometimes feel away from the real reason we celebrate Christmas, then this deserves a good listen.  It definitely helped me feel some deeper feelings and lifted my heart above the retail overload I'd been feeling.    

And finally, I bought a CD for Gabriel to have in his room.  It's a compilation with one disc that has original classics and another with modern artists doing remakes of the classics.  We haven't listened much to the second disc.  But there are some real gems on the original one.  Frank Sinatra singing "Jingle Bells" is Gabriel's favorite, mainly because of all the jingle bells at the beginning of the song.  There's also Burl Ives singing "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" and Elvis doing "Here Comes Santa Claus".  But one I didn't even see when I bought it is Judy Garland singing the original version of "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" from the movie Meet Me In St. Louie.  It's so wonderful and poignant and nostalgic.  In listening to this one song you remember what it's like to be a child at Christmas again, anticipate seeing friends and family for the current holiday, and feel very sad about the people you've lost over the years.  That voice of hers packs quite a punch.  

I have a new poet's works to explore.  W.S. Merwin, who is now an environmental activist as well as an essayist and poet, was interviewed on Fresh Air today.  Not only did I love the poems he read, I loved his philosophy on life, the environment and even getting older.  The hostess, Terry Gross (consistently one of the best interviewers I've ever heard) delicately asked how he was handling getting older and possibly having his body start to go out on him now that he has turned 80.  He said his main worry right now was his eyesight.  But then he talked of once having a dog that was blind, and every time he gets depressed or anxious about his failing sight, he remembers her amazing courage and it inspires him to move forward with less fear.  I was blubbering as I remembered my Henry and how his fearlessness still inspires me all the time. I also loved what he said about life and having respect for all life on this planet, no matter how small.  

Here is his poem, December Night:

The cold slope is standing in darkness

But the south of the trees is dry to the touch

The heavy limbs climb into the moonlight bearing feathers

I came to watch these

White plants older at night

The oldest 

Come first to the ruins

And I hear magpies kept awake by the moon

The water flows through its

Own fingers without end

Tonight once more

I find a single prayer and it is not for men

It won't be funny anymore

We happened to catch Weekend Update on SNL last night, and saw Amy Poehler's farewell speech.  She was the only remaining funny thing about the show, so I definitely won't be tuning in until they change the cast up.  We're gonna miss her!

Which type of person are you?

Fruit or Vegetable?

This is not meant to be a derogatory question in any way - I mean it literally.  I have a hard time eating fruit.  I have to make myself eat my 3 or so healthy servings a day.  My orange juice always tastes good in the morning, but I go down hill from there.  Summer is a little better, because I do love berries and melon, so I have a much larger selection to choose from.  Winter is rough.  The only way I'll eat apples or pears is if I can have cheese or peanut butter with them.  Otherwise they make me queasy.  Grapes also make me queasy.   I've never been fond of oranges, but I do like the much smaller and easier-to-peel tangerine.  In fact, I sometimes find myself craving tangerines in the wintertime, probably something to do with a vitamin C deficiency. 

I am definitely a vegetable person.  I LOVE them.  Raw celery, cucumber and celery chopped up in salads; roasted asparagus, sauteed Brussels sprouts, okra gumbo, different squashes, etc..  My mouth is watering thinking about it!  I grew up eating the standards:  green beans, peas and corn, and a few stranger ones like yellow squash and okra.  Somewhere around my late 20's I discovered there was a whole world of vegetables waiting for me to discover.  I'm currently trying to learn to love greens like Swiss chard and kale, but I've got a ways to go.  

My husband, on the other hand, is like an exact opposite of me.  He easily eats 4 or 5 pieces of fruit a day, and has since he was a kid.  He is SO a fruit person.  But vegetables don't come easy to him.  The great thing is he will try anything I put in front of him, and normally is surprised to find how much he likes it.  

I guess we were meant to be together.