Dear Santa
We took the boys early in the month to a fun breakfast with Santa hosted by one of the community churches. The boys enjoyed the free food, cookie decorating, ornament making, chance to see Elmo and, of course, the chance to tell Santa what they wanted for Christmas.
This is the first year any of them has expressed a desire for a specific Christmas gift. In the line to see Santa were tables with little printed wish lists that you could fill out for Santa to give to his elves. The boys dictated, and I wrote down what they wanted. David John asked for an Abby Cadabby doll, Elijah asked for cookies and slippers and Gabriel asked for slippers, cookies, milk, juice and water. I wondered what Santa might think about these sparse requests. Frankly, I'm surprised he didn't refer our family to social services. Any child who has to ask for water for Christmas must be deprived. I was tempted to write a disclaimer stating that I really did provide adequate nutrition and thirst-quenching drinks on a daily basis. Despite being a little embarrassed, I did feel grateful that my boys were not greedy and didn't want anything terribly expensive. My gratitude deepened when I heard the little girl in front of us telling her sister what to write on her list. "I want a smart phone, a Coach purse and some serious bling." Maybe having four boys is not such a bad thing...
Party Like it's 1985
Marc went to our friend Kevin's birthday party with an 80's theme. I put together this gnarly outfit for him last minute. We also provided a very 80's gift of some He-Man coasters that I made. We couldn't find a babysitter (all of our friends were out of town or at the party) so I stayed home but Kevin got a kick out of his gift and Marc's get-up got 2 votes for best 80's ensemble so all-in-all a good night. :) (For the record, Marc offered to stay home and let me go to the party. He's a totally radical husband.)
Sock it to Me
Benjamin is crawling, cruising and scooting everywhere. One of his favorite things to do is locate a sock of any variety (dirty, clean, tube, ankle- he's not picky) and then chew on it until it is a disgusting sodden mess. While he is chewing, he searches for other socks until he has gathered a little collection of the toddler socks that are perpetually strewn about the house. Since he doesn't want to put any of his socks down, he gets around by keeping his torso and arms still while propelling himself forward across our wood floors using only his toes. The result is quite hilarious and just cannot be communicated with a picture. We invite you to come over any evening and witness the sock-eating ritual. Then you, too, can enjoy watching Benjamin who looks like a baby-shaped vacuum being moved about by some unseen force and picking up socks in its wake.
We have learned recently that not only are socks good for chewing on, but they are also quite handy for effectively stopping large pieces of machinery. One of Benjamin's Halloween socks, aware that October was over and knowing that it was destined for a long wait in a storage container, chose to wriggle its way under the washing machine instead of going into the washing machine. As a cry for attention, perhaps, this sock managed to scoot all the way to the back of the washing machine where it was sucked post-haste into the engine causing a loud "pop" sound and the immediate cessation of the washing of laundry. We were not aware of the emotional distress of the sock or its misguided plot. All we knew was that we could not do laundry and that David John had chosen the very same day to have a record number of potty-training related accidents. We attempted to discover the cause of the sudden breakdown over a couple of days while a wonderfully odiferous collection of pants and underwear accrued in our basement sink. Finally, we called a repair man who charged us $150 to fish the baby sock out of the gear box. I think sock therapy would have been cheaper.A Christmas Miracle
As most of you know, Marc was born on Christmas Eve (I won't say how many years ago) in Jerusalem. However, his birth by his patient mother who had to be carried up the stairs (whose idea was it to put the maternity ward on the second floor?) and try to communicate with an Arab woman who could only say "Bush!" instead of "push" is not the miracle I am talking about. No, this was the miracle of the ice cream cake. Each year, I get Marc an ice cream cake for his birthday. This year, we had a party on December 22nd so I went out to get the cake the night of the 21st. I took Benjamin with me. When we arrived home, I was bringing in both the baby and the cake when the cake slipped out of my hands and tumbled through the air. The big plastic dome top came off as did the plastic bottom, but somehow the cake stayed with the cardboard liner. The miracle was that the cake landed right side up with only one barely noticeable nick in the frosting.
The birthday party was very fun with homemade pizza, popcorn, candy, fruit and root beer (Marc's favorite things). We also played chimes and had a Marc trivia game. His friends learned that Marc can do an awesome velociraptor imitation. They also learned he will not do it at parties.Christmas
Here are the four boys and me in our new Christmas pajamas at my parent's house. We had a great time while Marc, as usual, worked.
I am happy to report that Santa did bring David John an Abby Cadabby doll as well as Elmo slippers. Gabriel and Elijah received Lightening McQueen slippers and special cookies from the North Pole. Santa decided to let us provide the milk, juice, and water. It was Benjamin's first Christmas and he enjoyed the paper and boxes as well as the new binkies and binky clips that Santa brought.
We opened presents at home with Daddy today. Our boys are very fun to give to because they express extreme satisfaction with everything from new socks and pants to awesome new toys. I am always filled with gratitude for my little family and sweet husband at Christmas time. This year, when I arrived home after the drive from Fairborn, Marc had this beautiful vase of lilies waiting for me. Each time I walk into the kitchen I breathe in the sweet smell. They make me think of the new year, a new start, a new chance to love and live and grow.
