for Amber and Brian

Life was going along rather smoothly at my new home,

I've almost got MY person trained.
Life revolved around me (as it should). MY person feeds me, plays with me, collects my poo (she seems to really like my poo-she grabs it every time I go! I know weird ehh?)

Then this morning....

then these strange things showed up at MY house.

for a while it wasn't so bad.

These things just made a few weird noises.

little squeaks and grunts

I decided to keep guard....

you never know what might be in those things.

then one of them made a horrible racket!

so I did what needed to be done.

I switched sides.

I'll guard the quiet one.

But then the one making all the noise stopped and the other one started!

and it got a little crazy.

and MY person pulled THIS thing out.

I'm not sure what is but it sure smells funny.

especially this end...

I guess this end isn't so bad, although MY person won't let me close for long enough to get a good smell and lick.

Then there was more noise from those things again....

and MY person pulled another one out (gosh! I hope there not anymore in there!)

and then the first one fell asleep on the chair

MY chair!

The one that I'm not even allowed to sit in!

so I show her!

of course she kicked me out!

unbelievable!

and they both started making a ruckus!

and MY silly person got into this contraption

I began to get a little annoyed.

How is she going to throw MY ball?

How is she going to pick ME up and carry ME?

So the best thing for me to do is remind her whose in charge here.

so I rang my "go outside bell" and waited.

I'll let her pick up some poo. Then she'll know who's #1!

Getting my Christmas spirit on

I FOUND IT!

I decided that for me to get into the Christmas mood I needed to find my nativity scene even though I won't be putting it up (I will put it out Christmas day and just keep a close eye on it).

Well, then I had to take it out and look at it because it is my favorite Christmas decoration.

Then I thought maybe it would help get in the Christmas mood even more if I blogged about it.

Yeah, kinda lame, but did I mention this is my favorite Christmas decoration?

Like I mentioned before, it was made by a woman at my church back in Kalamazoo.

She is a weaver. She weaved all the clothes and dyed all the different wool that she uses.

This is Mary and Baby Jesus. Mary has some beautiful black curls (you can't see very well) and Jesus has some crazy hair going on.

This is Joseph. I love his curly beard.

Each Magi has a coordinating camel.

This guy has an awesome braid

Here's one of the sheep. They are very cute.



Here's a Shepherd holding a sheep.



I like him because of his very cool coat.


This is my favorite Magi. He's got some major bling going on.
Silk shirt and a little mink on his coat and hat.
Another cool thing about the lady that makes these is that she will incorporate any thing you want into your set. If you got some old jewelry from great grandma she can use it.
(last I heard she not making these anymore)



The detail is very cool. Each camel has a little pouch that rattles with something in it and a pack on their back with blankets. See the little tassels?

The donkey is my favorite (not sure why)

He even has the cross on his back (you know the legend that he didn't get that until after he carried Mary pregnant with Christ).

Yes, I'm feeling a little better about Christmas now.

And btw thanks for reading!

bah-humbug!

I'm really having a hard time getting into the Christmas spirit this year!

Yeah, I got the tree up and a few decorations.

Maybe it's because I didn't put out half of my Christmas "stuff" this year because of the pup.

I'm really missing my nativity scene. I don't dare put it out.

It's all hand made by a woman from my church back in Kalamazoo who is a weaver.

The worst part is I'm not even sure where it is. I keep it in a separate box with cedar so it doesn't get eaten by moths.

I have a vague memory of showing to the mover guy who was packing my basement up and labeling it as an item to take "extra special care of". Um, yeah....

Or maybe it's because I haven't even started my Christmas shopping yet. I have four kids who claim to have no idea what they want for Christmas.

That is disturbing on many levels.

Yes, it would be nice to believe that they are just a bunch of sweet, selfless teens who are seeing beyond all the hype of the holiday season and are realizing the "true meaning" of Christmas. They don't need the stuff...

But that's not what I'm thinking.

I'm guessing that as parents maybe we give them too much year round so they don't "need" or "want" anything.

That or they are too lazy to figure it out.

They have grandparents who like to get their shopping done before all the last minute madness starts. A list would be nice for them too.

I'm almost afraid to ask if this is this a normal teen thing? And I'm refusing to just give them money for Christmas. But the longer this goes on the more of a Scrooge I become.

bah-humbug!

Here's all that puppy wants for Christmas

"His two front teeth"

Christmas lights taste like chicken

He escapes from me for one second....

but I always know where to look first...


Me: "Puppy.....!"


Ace: "What? I'm not doing anything!"


Me: "Puppy! Are you chewing on the lights again?!"


Ace: "Um...I have no idea what you're talking about."



Me:"Give me those lights! I already had to take them all down once!"



Ace:"I didn't do it I swear! I don't know what you're talking about"

Me: "I'm gonna kill you if you break those again! Let go NOW!"

Ace: "Stop! don't take them away! I was just whitening my teeth! I swear!"

Ace: "This doesn't mean I'm not getting any Christmas presents does it?"

The Christmas Pickle and our other silly traditions

When Nae was in the fourth grade I was visiting her classroom just before Christmas break.
The teacher asked the kids to share what their favorite family Christmas tradition were.
I'll never forget the look on Nae's face when she looked to me for an answer.

The truth was we had none.
Zero. Zilch.

I wasn't raised with any traditions.
I'd had Nae young, got married, had another baby, went through nursing school, worked full time had two more kids. Life was a blur at that time.
I was 26 years old. I had trouble planning my meals for the week.

But after listening to those cute little kids proudly describe the special things they did around the holidays I knew we needed to find some traditions.
And fast!

So I started talking about it with the kids.

Now I will warn you these are pretty silly traditions.
There are no deep meanings in these.
It's just what we do as a family.

Christmas ornaments:
I don't know if you'd count this as a tradition but I do. Each kid has their own Christmas ornament box. Every year I buy a new ornament or two for each kid that has something to do with what they are interested in that year. Because I only have one ornament from when I was a kid, I wanted for my kids to someday leave home and have a box full of ornament and memories.
When we decorate the tree it makes it easy for the kids to hang their own ornaments and reminisce.

Christmas Eve PJ's and Secret Santa:
One year I thought it would be nice to have new PJ's for Christmas morning. I wrapped them and told the kids they got to open one gift Christmas Eve. I know, it was kinda mean. They were not thrilled with their PJ's but then to my surprise the next year they asked if we could do that again. So now every year we do the same thing. The kids joke about how they don't know what the gift is. They act all excited and silly. The only twist now is when we have others with us on Christmas Eve, guess what they get. Yep, new PJ's. Now that the kids are older they have also added Secret Santa on Christmas Eve. The kids draw names just between themselves at Thanksgiving and open that gift the night before Christmas.

Monkey Bread and A Christmas Story:
We all get into our new PJ's and make monkey bread, drink egg nog and watch the best Christmas movie ever.
Yes, A Christmas Story. I think everyone in my family can recite that movie by heart. And if you haven't seen it...then you're lame! I can't imagine there is anyone living in the USA who hasn't seen it but if you haven't just go to TBS on Christmas Eve, they play it nonstop, back to back all day and night long (yes, it's that good!).

Santa comes:
Yes, Santa still comes at our house. When my kids got to the age where they notified me that they didn't believe that Santa was real we had a little heart-to-heart (or shall I say a veiled threat). This is kinda how my end of the conversation went: "Honey, you can believe whatever you want-- but Santa still comes to our house and brings all the presents. If you decide to tell your brothers or sister what you believe-- then you will get nothing from Santa--oh, and did I mention that Santa brings ALL the presents?"

It worked for me.


The Christmas Pickle:
I'm a little worried that this might be a little anticlimactic....so many have asked. Back during that first year of trying to find some traditions, someone told me about the Christmas Pickle. I had to search forever to find one. Now a days they are everywhere and come with a little card describing some "pickle legend" or something.
I don't know anything about all that.
All I know is that I hide the pickle on the tree Christmas Eve and the kid who finds it first Christmas morning gets a little extra present. In the past I've given candy or an special ornament. This year I will be kicking it up a little with a gift card (gotta keep the teens engaged).

Christmas Strata:
Every year I make a strata for breakfast Christmas morning. It is the same recipe of strata that was served at my bridal shower. It's nice because I can make it the night before, set the table and not have to do anything in the morning except enjoy the family.
I will admit for years the kids hated strata and complained constantly. A few years ago I told them that I would make something different. "You can't do that!!! It's our tradition!!" Now they all claim to like it.

So there you have it. Every year I am threatened with bodily harm if I forget any of our traditions (really).

It just goes to show you that your traditions don't have to be fancy or elaborate. Just as long as they are special to your family.

I would love to hear about your Christmas traditions (I would love to keep adding more)