December Happenings & Video

Warning... long post. If you don't feel like reading just scroll down for the video.

I have been neglecting my blog! So much has been going on but I have had no time to write! Monday we had NO SCHOOL (dance dance dance cheer cheer cheer) so I had a BONUS DAY to do more catching up on things around here. Soooo, the boys are momentarily entertaining themselves so I will tell a little bit about the past few weeks.

* Christmas is here! It really is the most wonderful time of the year. It's just sooo much fun. I love everything about it! I love the pace of it all, the whirlwind of everything happening leading up to the big day. Plus, it gives me a great excuse to do one of my favorite activities... SHOPPING!

* We kicked off the season with a trip to Bronners in Frankenmuth. We do this every year. Our hotel had a pool and the boys had a blast swimming and hanging out in the arcade area. The next day we went to Bronners and spent a few hours shopping for Christmas items. The boys always pick out an ornament to take home. This year, Luca chose a red truck, Adrian chose a hockey player ornament, and we chose a Chinese flag for Eden. We also bought another piece to our Christmas village. This year we added "Mrs. Claus' Northwood's Nursery" and some small excessories. The crowds were not bad at all which was a nice surprise!

* A few days later we started decorating our house. It took about three days to complete. This year instead of hauling up all of my boxes up from the basement, I only brought out a couple at a time. This really de-stressed the whole house decorating day. Luca and Adrian helped trim the tree in our den. We put all of the collectable and child made treasures on this tree. I just love it.... my favorites are the ones they have made at school. Ron was busy hanging lights outside and getting the village set up. We have another tree in our living room. This is our more formal tree with silver and red. I have a collection of Beyer's carolers that I set up on one of my fireplaces and also on my table in the foyer. I love these and have been collecting them for quite a while now.

* We have attended a number of Christmas gatherings. There was the Clarkson Roundabout. We met at my aunts for appetizers, went to my other aunt's for dinner, then to a third aunts for dessert. Everything was so yummy and it was nice to see everyone's Christmas decorations. I went to a cookie exchange with my friends from work. I took the easy route and did the Break and Bake Smore's cookies. I had to make EIGHT DOZEN so homemade was just not an option for me. A couple of nights ago we attended Adrian's hockey Christmas party. The boys were so cute and sooo excited. I had to cancel our yearly Christmas Caroling night at my house due to a major snowfall (hence the snow day today) and many guests being too sick to come. Bummer. I know it sounds dorky but it really is a lot of fun. I love seeing some of the expressions of people when they come to the door. To help ease the disappointment of canceling the party we had a mini Christmas party at home just us. I made some Christmas cookies and the boys got to open one present.

* Referrals arrived over a week ago but I didn't have the time to even post it. China Center of Adoption Affairs sent referrals for people logged in through December 14, 2005.... only 6 days worth. Good thing there are lots of distractions and happiness around me to get too down about it. Did I mention how HARD IT IS TO WAIT???

* The Christmas excitement continued when we went to visit Santa. The night before we decided to make cards for Santa. I brought out paper, markers, stickers, etc. Adrian got busy right away and made a nice card. Luca starting working on his then decided, "I better buy Santa some chocolate." He somehow knew that a card just wasn't going to cut it this year. After all of his antics this year, he better butter Santa up a little. :) Our trip to visit Santa was not uneventful. I rushed home from work, bathed both boys and got them in their Christmas outfits, left the house and stopped to have Luca pick out a chocolate bar for Santa, and rushed to meet my parents and sister's family at the mall. The boys looked beautiful. My two nephews are so amazingly adorable. Our goal was to have the boys each visit with Santa then have all four boys sit on Santa's lap for a picture. When we got there Santa was on break so we waited in line. All the sudden we all spotted him coming down the escalator. It was so cute! All the kids were cheering and Santa was waving. Santa got off the escalator and headed straight for Luca. Luca, without skipping a beat, yelled, "Santa I want the real Buzz Lightyear, a Woody doll, and a Spiderman on a motorcycle!" He had been rehearsing it for days and the first eye contact made with Santa he belted it out. He wasn't taking any chances. Santa shook his hand and then headed for the big chair. If there is a test for children to see who is naughty or nice it should be the line for Santa. Mix dress clothes, a small confined space, waiting for your turn (a skill some adults have trouble with), and a level of excitement that is off the charts and you get a potential disaster. All things considered the boys did really well. Luca kept us laughing because each time he caught a glimpse of Santa he would yell (loud enough so that my sister who was on the opposite side of the line could hear), "SANTA, LOOK WHAT I BROUGHT FOR YOU!" He would then wave the candy bar in the air. Once it was time for their turn the enormity of it all took over and they became shy. I couldn't even get them to smile... as you will see in the video. We then managed to get all four boys on Santa's lap for about 10 seconds... not long enough for the girl to even snap a picture. Good thing we got one on our camera. After visiting with Santa we all got some dinner, took a carrousel ride, then did a little shopping. Luca got thirsty so I got some lemonade for him which he ended THROWING UP ALL OVER HIMSELF about 2 seconds after he drank it. He was covered head to toe.. and did I mention he was wearing his Christmas outfit? About midnight and needed a breathing treatment and then again I woke up at 4:00am with my poor baby standing in my bedroom with vomit all over him. Have you ever cleaned a trail of vomit from a bedroom, down each step of your stairway, and into your bedroom at 4:00 in the morning? It's not fun. I was on alert for our annual Christmas time barf fest (more on that another time... let's just say it wouldn't be the first.. or second time we have all gotten a stomach bug at Christmas) but no one else got sick. It must be a Christmas miracle. Luca was fine by the next day thankfully too.

There are only a few more days until Christmas. We have our school Christmas parties, a couple of last minute gifts to buy and then it will all be over... all too soon.

Here is my rough draft Christmas video. Still lots more to add though!