Tis' The Season

A little Christmas meme as seen HERE

1. Egg nog or hot chocolate? Egg nog ala Tom and Jerry which is to say warm with warming libations.
2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? Depends on what he brings, but if possible, he wraps them.
3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? Pure, pristine white.
4. Do you hang mistletoe? sometimes.
5. When do you put your decorations up? Throughout the month of December. I like to get the tree up as soon as possible so as to enjoy it. I'm really taking a less is more approach with the rest of the decorations. This year it's lots of greens and lights and I am at total peace with that.
6. What is your favorite holiday dish? It's really too hard to name one. The holidays are all about tradition and what we eat and drink instills within us so many memories. It's not Christmas without a Tom & Jerry, my Mom's spinach stuffed tomatoes or my Grandma's garlicky kielbasa. I need my fairy food fix and a nip or two of my mil's Irish cream so much better than Baileys. Best years boast my Dad and Step-mom's brunches. This is one of them. Boo Ya Baby!
7. Favorite holiday memory as a child? New Year's in Door County with the whole fam. Ice skating and game playing and merry making the time away.
8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? What truth?!?
9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? Always. Usually lots.
10. How do you decorate your Christmas tree? White lights and an eclectic, adored assortment of ornaments collected over decades. Our tree literally tells the story of our life together. I know them all...where they came from, what they mean. They mean much.
11. Snow! Love it or dread it? LOVE it and never apologize for that! My girl shares my snowlust. Come to think of it so does my boy.
12. Can you ice skate? Tentatively. I don't fall as my kids point out, but I take few risks.
13. Do you remember your favorite gift? T. Bone. December 27, 2000. An angel. Our angel.
14. What’s the most important thing about the holidays for you? Making magic for my kids and memories with the people I love. Filling my hope tank and giving good will. Paying reverance to Mary and celebrating Jesus.
15. What is your favorite holiday dessert? Homemade, bite-sized Christmas cookies in all varieties except mincemeat or date.
16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? Nanny ornaments and Christmas Eve Mass and Fred and Breakfast with Santa and Advent and apparently I love them all.
17. What tops your tree? A simple golden star.
18. Which do you prefer: giving or receiving? Giving! Duh! There's nothing that feels better than knowing you have gotten it just right, or even almost.
19. Candy canes: yuck or yummy? Usually pretty yummy!
20. Favorite Christmas show? I have always been fond of Elf and The Polar Express. New to us this year and now esteemed are Prancer and A Christmas Story.
21. Saddest Christmas song? Something about Mama's shoes.
22. What is your favorite Christmas song? O Come O Come Emmanuel and Joy to the World as sung by the congregation as we turn from being reverant to exhuberant. I get chills every single year. The good kind. Also on repeat are Winter Song sung by Sara Bareilles and Ingrid Michaelson, Audrey Assad's Winter Snow, Dave Matthew's Christmas Song and Coldplay's Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas. (I'd link to them, but at present I'm hating hyperlinks.)

Fabulous, Funny and Most of All Feisty...

That's our Fred!

2 day pass

it cannot be.

over.

already.

we've joyfully begun the single digit countdown to christmas begrudingly.

yes, it's true we cannot wait for it to get here and yet we want it to take it's slow sweet time in coming.

speaking of sweet...pounds of butter became dozens of cookies this weekend.

spicy sugary gingerbread boys have been making their annual appearance since my own childhood.

this year i added my aunt's kris kringles because we all loved them, a polish jam cookie in honor of my grandma, a coconut almond number to please aunt jess, and a dutch chocolate variety for plain selfish reasons.

i'm still thinking about 1 or 3 others.

it's a sickness really.

miss bit packed up and was very pleased to visit grandma and grandpa from saturday to sunday.

she was excited to hot tub, watch movies and go shopping.

and also to have her grandparents all to her very self.

saturday t. bone played in a basketball tournament.

i was finally able to cheer him on courtside.

after 1 victory and 2 close losses, he was off to a college basketball game with friends.

then me and my boys went to a holiday party and t. bone spent the night.

sunday me and my girl had a date.

we headed to the children's theater for a holiday play.

after the show, we stopped for a hot chocolate at the bustling downtown coffee house and sat watching the skaters as we sipped.

miss bit wanted to go to the van and get our skates despite the fact we weren't really dressed for the rink.

instead we took the long way home to ooh and aah and tra la la la over the houses all aglow and vowed to visit the rink real soon....listening to the king sing blue christmas made me finally feel all red and green with seasonal spirit.

while we were away, the boys did a little shopping and watched a little football.

or lots of football...dinner wasn't even started when we got home after 6:00...ahem.

one and all were happy that aunt jess stopped in at just the right time to join us.

it was t. bone's advent ticket choice: chicken wings with the special sauce st. nick brought, oven fries and sauteed spinach, and we all enjoyed it.

we all enjoyed the meal, the time with family and friends, and the weekend that is to say.

Grateful Friday

Today I give thanks for...

An engaging book to listen to while I walk. It prompted me to bundle up after dinner last night and go for a walk in the cold dark. I took it mile by mile and ended up going 4.
Listening to a Diana Krall Christmas album on the way to work this morning. There's no way not to slow down and soak in her sultry voice. Miss Bit was even entranced and dreaming of one day being able to play the piano like Diana.
Getting my favorite hand and foot lotion from a friend this week.
Watching Prancer with my girl the other night while the boys were at basketball and then remembering to read Reindeer Moon with her the next.
Also remembering that Christmas as in the Christmas season doesn't end at midnight on the 25th. We have 12 days for the epiphany to carry on and on.
Surprising the kids with a baggie of homemade favorites in their lunches after a long afternoon of baking. I'm getting a reputation with their friends.
Staying up late when everyone else is tucked in bed...just me and Peanut who watched me bake and begged for buckeyes eventhough he doesn't like peanut butter or chocolate.
Miss Bit finding the letter Fred typed for Santa last night since it was too windy to get back to the North Pole. She couldn't believe he could write so much and would know how to email.

Peanut watching over Joe the other day while I cleaned out his bowl.

T. Bone has been a voracious reader the past couple weeks. Wherever he is, his book is nearby and he's constantly boasting, "Guess what page I'm on now?"

Modeling Aunt C's sparkly scarf. Miss Bit approves.

Miss Bit's breakfast of perfect choice.

Tom & Jerry's and egg nogs.

Mercury glass and sparkling crystal.

Christmas lights and candlelight.

handmade snowflakes and homemade cut-out cookies.

hugs and kisses.

The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year

Miss Bit and I took the long way home after dropping T. Bone at school this morning. It was a peaceful and pretty route. We were just cruising along the river road singing away until we spotted some big old Tom turkeys strutting on a lawn. She said with a sigh of relief, "I'm sure glad they didn't get eaten for Thanksgiving." The chorus coming through the radio rang, "It's the hap-happiest season of all," yet Miss Bit looked so suddenly sad. Then she said rather than asked, "But we only eat the old ones that are about to die right." Sure, right.

I was out to do a little shopping later in the day and I couldn't believe how crabby everyone was...shoppers and workers alike. One clerk stuffed my large purchase in a very small bag. I couldn't grab the handles on either side kind of very small. You know it? It didn't take long to bust out the bottom leaving me in a precarious position. At least 9 people passed me in aisle 9 before a nice man offerred to help me contain the contents. Guess what was going through my mind? You got it..."And hearts will be glowing." Tempers too. As I was leaving the store, the bell ringer with the red bucket uttered an expletive at me for not depositing any spare change with my free hands and all. "With those holiday greetings and gay happy meetings." I'll keep to myself what I wanted to tell him.

Then I stopped at 4 different markets trying in earnest to find candied cherries for a cookie recipe. You would have thought I was asking for an obscure treasure based on the looks I received. And don't ask for any tissue paper with your gift. That's even more rare than sugared fruit. You're lucky to get a roomy enough box. "It's the most wonderful time of the year."

"There'll be parties for hosting...marshmallows for toasting and caroling out in the snow." What snow? It's been hovering around 50 degrees all week long. It's been so warm that ski club is cancelled Friday and this morning Miss Bit and I spotted a duck swimming around the pond that was...is to be the ice skating rink. I saw someone running along the lakefront in shorts and a tank this morning.

Weather aside I know it's Christmas time because the cards have started to arrive in the mail. What is the point of a picture card with thumbprint sized pictures that are impossible to make out? Do these well wishers want to be sure that recipients know of all the year's travels and milestones? I look forward to nice family picture so to you offenders I say remember less is more. "When friends come to call."

On My Mind Monday

Oh, life is like that. Sometimes, at the height of our revelries, when our joy is at it's zenith, when all is most right with the world, the most unthinkable disasters decend upon us.

- Ralphie

A Christmas Story

Miss Bit and I finished watching this movie after school on Friday. There were lots of other things that I could have or should have been doing, but they all paled in comparison to cuddling up on the couch with my girl and a bowl of popcorn. As long as I have many more simple shared moments like this one, I'll have all the revelry I need this Christmas season and then some.

2 day pass

the weekend was filled, festive and fun.
t. bone managed to come home from ski club friday night with no money or injuries, all his gear and two badly aching feet.
after an advil, some ice and a few cuddles he was feeling better.
miss bit came home from her spa birthday party with blue finger and toe nails, a headful of sassy curls and a much coveted green feather.
i didn't even recognize her when i went to pick her up and that is the truth.
i saw this joyful little girl dancing her heart out in a circle of friends, and i wondered who she was with envy.
luckily, turns out it was my lil.
very first thing saturday we made our way north to drink hot cocoa with clouds of whipped cream, eat copious amounts of bacon and spend a little time with some of our favorite friends, and santa too, of course.
the big guy remembered us from year's past making quite an impression, at least, on the parents.
this year the youngest amongst us came amply prepared.
last year he presented santa with a marked up toy flyer.
this year he brought along a big book filled with trains he wants for his tracks.
santa was ever engaging and patient too.
t. bone sat upon santa's lap and cried, "woo hoo."
when he told santa he wanted a new snowboard, santa asked, "have you looked outside?'
outside where the sun was shining high over the still unfrozen lake.
it looked more like spring than almost winter even if it was only 19 degrees.
we stopped for a little christmas cheer in the regal great room before heading home.
next year we all agreed we need to stay the night in order to prolong the fun.
we rushed home and were still too late to get miss bit to her friend's birthday party.
hubby was kind to race her the 30 miles to the waterpark.
she only missed cake, but i'm pretty sure she was still full of breakfast: strawberries and bacon, and had no room for dessert.
t. bone also had a birthday party to attend which involved watching our indoor soccer team play and pizza.
these kids...i'm telling you they never have anything to do.
my brother and sil came for an impromptu gathering.
we enjoyed their company and our favorite takeout tacos.
my boys left before my alarm went off for sunday morning basketball.
two more victories were earned and celebrated.
while miss bit attended sunday school, i went for a long, fast walk along the lake and around the lagoon.
it was 47 beautiful degrees so i had plenty of company.
hubby took advantage of the weather and finished decorating the outside of the house before chilling with t. bone to cheer on our still indefeated football team.
when i came home with my bit who had played the afternoon away at her self-proclaimed bff's, i could see as i turned onto our block...this is his best light job ever.
the house was a glowing although not in the griswold sort of way.
i brought home some very pretty paper snowflakes my craft queen of a friend kindly made for me and a hot, greasy pizza ready to be eaten.
after dinner, me and my girl trimmed the tree while the boys lounged on the couch serenading us with christmas carols and kindly directing us to bare spots.
no one has found the pickle yet.
may never.
the rest of the house is already in bed after the go go go weekend.
i'm sitting here enjoying our tree of memories and the peace and quiet of a sleeping house.
i'm literally too mesmerized and too tried to get up and go to bed.