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Santa has washed his suit and hung it by the fireplace to dry...another holiday season behind us. Every year, they seem to pass by more quickly...

*Santa clothes knit by Laura Kochevar of Felt Inspired--visit her Etsy store at http://www.feltinspired.com/

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I started to take ornaments off of our tree today and I found this guy hanging on one of the branches:

A few weeks ago, we all visited my good friend Laura at her apartment (the kids think apartments are REALLY cool). We decorated her tree and baked cookies. I commented on this ornament because he is a little Costa Rican dude (a "Tico") and Laura and I served together in Peace Corps Costa Rica--20 years ago! This little ornament brought back many memories of Costa Rica, coffee season, and a simpler, more spiritual Christmas.

I don't know when she snuck this little guy onto our tree, but what a fun surprise to find him hanging there today as I start the process of taking down the tree! Thanks Laura!

The reason I haven't been blogging...

First...we gutted our kitchen and I've spent most of my "extra" time sweeping, mopping and trying to make dinner without a stove. No, Christmas time is NOT a good time to rehab your kitchen, but it sure is a great gift to ourselves!

The night before everything came down, I let the kids draw all over the walls. Mostly, they just wrote notes to the contractor, who is starting to feel like part of the family....



Second, I got a new camera and I'm having quite a difficult time learning to use it! (It's another perfect gift though!)

Christmas 2009

One of my favorite Christmas traditions is watching my kids give the gifts that they have chosen to one another. Usually, this happens early on the 24th because they just can't wait until Christmas Eve! This year, Joey and Sammy picked out the same gift for each other (on different days).

A little Christmas morning frustration....I snapped about 30 pictures at church and sadly, this is the best of the bunch!

Countdown to Christmas

The other day, I was talking to Sam about Christmas. We had a real heart-to-heart about giving, receiving, being kind and spreading Christmas spirit. After our talk, he looked up at me with his big, blue innocent eyes and said "Wow, and I thought Christmas was all about presents."

While I know that Sam is 6 (a somewhat greedy age) and always good for a laugh, it bothered me that he seemed to have no idea about the true meaning of Christmas. I decided it was time for a Christmas intervention.

As a child, I always had an advent calendar to count down the days until Christmas. That tradition has been passed on to my children by my mother, who gives them an advent calendar each year at Thanksgiving.

This year, in addition to the advent calendar, my kids will be counting down to Christmas with a "giving tree."

On the tree are 24 paper bags filled with pieces of paper that describe small ways my boys can take part in the spirit of the season by giving or sharing with others. I tried to make this fun while also focusing on doing for others.

Today, the boys opened bag #1 and were given gratitude journals. On each day of advent (and hopefully thereafter), they will jot down 3 - 5 things each day that they are thankful for. I was surprised when they ran to write in their journals immediately after getting them! Filling in the journal is their "ticket" to take a bag off of the tree.

Each day's "task" is simple, but meaningful. For example, on Day 2 each boy gets a candy cane and one for each of them to share with a friend at school.

Later this month, they will have a chance to order a "cup of joe" for a soldier overseas, make a bird feeder, send a surprise gift to a far-off relative, make a thank you card for the crossing guard, take cookies to the fire station, etc.

There are only 1 or 2 bags that have a little piece of Christmas candy inside--mostly because I was running out of ideas! I really hope my boys enjoy preparing for Christmas as much as I enjoyed preparing for Advent!

Like many moms, I often plan family outings that I think we will all enjoy and that will also add to my childrens' "memory box" of childhood. I always start our family adventure with picture perfect mental snapshots of how these outings will go. My expectations can often cause disappointment later. Fortunately, I'm able to move beyond the disappointment by replacing those snapshots with the "home movies" of how life really unfolds on a family outing--tantrums, bloopers and all.

So yesterday we set out on one of our family outings. Having spent Thanksgiving with my parents at their cottage in northern Wisconsin, we decided to stop to cut down a Christmas tree on the way back to Chicago.

It was cold. It was wet. It was muddy. The kids were tired...dead tired, and yet I insisted and persisted. It could still be a picture perfect day.

The good thing is, there were LOTS of trees to pick from. The bad thing is there were LOTS of trees to pick from.

We couldn't drive our car to the trees because we don't have 4 wheel drive, so we huffed to the furthest corner of the mud pit farm to find our special tree.

When you're at a Christmas tree farm, it's hard to have perspective. It's really hard to tell how big your tree (and your space at home) is! We ended up with a big tree...a really BIG tree...so big, it's going to need a serious shearing just to fit through our door!

Of course, we had to haul our tree all the way back to our car through the mud we had already slid through. My muscles still ache from carrying the tree "just 100 more yards." (I kept telling the kids it was "just 100 more yards" to keep them moving forward.)

So my mental snapshot of cutting down a beautiful Christmas tree and lightly pulling it through the crunchy snow will be replaced by a more realistic memory of dragging an oversized, exceedingly heavy tree through lots and lots of mud. But we laughed...a lot. And at the end of our mud-filled journey, we were welcomed into this little log cabin filled with candy canes, hot cocoa and treats for the kids.

I'd say that's one for the memory box.

A few of my favorite Christmas moments...

Delivering Christmas goodies to neighbors and friends.

All the grandkids!

Merry Christmas!

Our downtown tradition...

Yesterday, we took an early evening trip downtown to make our annual trek to Macy's to see the lights, the windows, the trees and Santa. It was LATE, but surprisingly, we didn't have any meltdowns (until we got home that is).



First, we went to see the Jolly Man. Joey even made a friend in the 1 1/2 hour long line.




This was, by far, the BEST Santa we've ever seen. Nonetheless, Lily wanted NOTHING to do with him.

He quizzed the kids..."Are you brushing your teeth?" (An easy one to start with.) "Well of course we are!



"Are you picking up your toys?" (That's a bit trickier.) "Most of the time."




"Are you eating your vegetables?" (Sam's totally busted and of course, Joey's the one who calls him on it in front of Santa himself!) "I eat my vegetables, but Sam's a picky eater!"



So of course, the question to follow...


"Are you getting along with each other? You don't tattle on each other do you?" (Both kids remain silent.)



Then, we went to have dinner in the Walnut Room. Sammy pouted, because 1. it was late and 2 we didn't get to sit by the big tree. Rob confessed he felt the same way.



It was still a beautifully decorated setting for a holiday meal.


A fairy visited our table. Sam was completly into making a wish and getting "stars" blown into his hair.




Joey wasn't having anything to do with the fairy. (I think the fairy should have curled her hair and put on a wee bit of makeup. She wasn't looking very "fairyish.")



After dinner, we went outside to look at the windows.



A lovely ending to a lovely evening!

Where's the Elf today?

To tell him or not...that is the question. Do we tell our 8 year old Joey the truth about Santa? We were all set to tell him this year (if he asked, that is). And, since he had started inquiring a bit, we were sure this would be the year.

But we succumbed to the appeal of the "Elf on the Shelf" tradition. An impish little elf (actually a plastic and felt doll that does not, in any way, shape or form, appear to be real), sits on a shelf (or in a plant) somewhere in the house and watches your children so that he can report on their behavior to the big boss, the fat man, Santa. The elf changes his location every night after he returns from reporting to Santa (except when mommy and daddy forget to change his location).

I thought for sure the whole elf on the shelf thing would tip Joey off. I mean, really. Come on.

Much to our surprise, the elf has strengthened Joey's belief in the jolly old elf himself. How do I know? He simply asked me..."Mom, did you move Stanley (our elf's name) last night?" I replied, "no Joey, I didn't." I wasn't lying...I didn't do it. Rob did.

So Joey's response was a hearty "I knew it. I knew it was all real! The elf, Santa. It's Christmas magic! Really it is." So now, I don't have the heart to tell him the truth. He's only 8. what's wrong with just one more year...

Zoo Lights

Another of our family traditions is a visit to the Lincoln Park Zoo and the Zoo Lights display every year. The zoo is all decked out in lights for the holidays. It's a beautiful sight on a cold winter night.

Christmas Day 2007

On Christmas morning, the boys ran down the stairs with their usual enthusiasm. The boys really took their time opening presents this year--they seemed to enjoy each and every gift they received.






Unfortunately, I was enjoying the day so much, that I failed to take many photos!

Merry Christmas to all!

Christmas Eve 2007

This was a very special Christmas Eve--our first with Lily Rose! Lily was a trooper and stayed up until all of the presents were opened.

Aunt Kathy, Uncle Vic and Uncle Mike came to join us for the evening.

Thanks for the bus Grandpa! I love it!

The boys (and now Lily too) receive a pair of pajamas every year on Christmas Eve from Mom and Dad (another tradition carried over from my childhood). Here they are in their 2007 jammies:

Okay, I may need to throw the whole "jammie theme" out the window as Joey is getting older!

It was a wonderful evening with lots of laughs and lots of noise!

Downtown Chicago at Christmastime

Every year at Christmastime, our family takes a trip to downtown Chicago to soak in the sights and sounds of the season. This is a tradition I had as a child--one that I chose to continue for my own children. The details of our visit rarely change: a trip to and dinner at Macy's (and usually a few last minute gift purchases), a look at the "Big Tree" from the 7th floor, a visit with the Macy's Santa (only the years the kids insist), a walk outside to see the animated windows at Macy's (done in reverse order this year), a trip to the tree and train at Daley Plaza and finally a quick snack of sugared almonds. We might add something to these stops, but rarely will we skip a stop.

This year, the kids DID want to see Santa. Unfortunately, the elves and the gremlins must have been fighting because the photo gremlins stole our photo. We could have done a retake, but Lily wasn't up for another sit on the funny man's lap.