If I am being honest, if it wasn’t for the fact that Ella and Andrew had appointments on the same day, it would have been longer. While we were there with the kids, Sam said, “You are over due for a cleaning. You should make an appointment while we are here.” So I did.
I had my appointment this week. The funny thing is that they never did clean my teeth!
First, they came in and updated all my medical history and medications. Then they came in and did the standard X-Rays. You know, where they make you bite that thing and point the machine at your cheek. After that, they told me they wanted to do a 3-D scan of my teeth.
They took this wand-like thing and spent some time running it over my teeth. You end up getting a picture that looks something like this:
Of course, those teeth look a lot better than mine.
They can look at just the top teeth or the bottom teeth. They can twist it and turn it around on the screen and see behind them and everything. It was pretty cool.
Then they took me out in the hallway and had me sit in a chair. They strapped my head to this thing and took what they called a panoramic X-Ray. The machine spins around in front of you and you have to hold still while it does its thing. It was weird.
The final result is something like this:
When the dentist finally came in to talk to me, I had been there an hour and a half. My teeth have never been straight. My two front teeth overlap and when I played trumpet in high school, I always played off to the side because of it.
He told me that my teeth look good “especially since it has been three years.” He suggested that my mouth would be healthier if I did something about the crooked and crowded teeth. Perhaps some of those Invisalign braces. I told him I would entertain the idea, but I know that it will cost me a pretty penny.
My teeth need a “deep cleaning” because of some bone loss. So I have to go not once, but twice! 90 minute visits! They will do one side on my first visit and the other on my next visit. While I am there for one of the visits, they will remove an old filling and put in a new one. I will need to be numbed up for both cleanings. URGH!!!
$$$$$ $$$$$ $$$$$
I guess after three years, they needed to recoup some of the money they hadn’t gotten from me!
Thankfully, my first of the two cleanings isn’t until February …
Why not close this blog with another great dentist joke?
Martin and his wife walk into a dentist’s office. He says to the dentist, “Doc, I’m in one heck of a hurry I have three buddies sitting out in my car waiting for us to play golf, so forget about the anesthetic, I don’t have time for the gums to get numb. I just want you to pull the tooth, and be done with it! Today is Friday and we have a 10:00 AM tee time at the best golf course in town and it’s 9:15 already… “.
The dentist thought to himself, “My goodness, this is surely a very brave man asking to have a tooth pulled without using anything to kill the pain.”
So the dentist asks him, “Which tooth is it sir?”
Martin turned to his wife and said, “Open your mouth and show him dear…….”
In my radio career, I have been lucky enough to work with some fantastic people. Pictured with me above are two of them. Sadly, I received word just after Christmas that the silly guy holding the coffee pot, passed away. Richard D. Haase was one of a kind.
Readers of this blog may remember that I have blogged about him in the past. Last year, I posted the following:
Richard was a fantastic mentor to me. His guidance, advice, and coaching made me a better on air personality. His love of humor, bad puns, old jokes, and silliness helped us to become instant friends. I used to love sitting in the Honey Radio office listening to him on the air. I would anxiously await the “Keith Allen” joke of the day. Sometimes there were more than one. “My part time secretary and full time airhead, Lulu, said the last time Keith was on the air he sounded funny. She thought he had a worm in his Adam’s apple!”
Later in the same show he quipped – “I’m pretty sure the year that song came out was the same year that Jon Ray (pictured to my left in the first picture) got kicked out of grade school. He was caught drawing naked pictures of Wilma Flintstone on his Etch-A-Sketch”
In past blogs I have written about Richard:
From the blog “World Radio Day Thank You” written 2-14-2018:
WHND – Honey Radio
Before I say any more, let me say that working at WHND was not work at all. It was like play. We had so much fun. Anyone who tuned in and listened to this station could tell that the DJ’s were having as much fun as the listeners. Honey was the first “Oldies” station in America. I was honored to work here and honored to work with everyone here.
Richard D. Haase: Richard D. remains to this day one of the guys who offered me some of the most amazing advice. I was probably a big pain in his ass. I was always asking him something. I had this want and need to be better. I wanted to be the best. I was forever asking him to listen to my show tapes and offer criticism and advice, which he did always.
One of the things I learned from him, was the importance of talking to one person. To create the illusion that it is just me and you listening to our favorite songs and hanging out together. I understood what he meant, and began to drop phrases like “everyone”, “all of you”, and “out there”. He also connected me with a mentor who would take that premise and continue to grow into a better personality, the late Jay Trachman.
Richard’s show was full of “benchmarks”. Poor Richard D’s Almanac (This Day In History), The Off The Wall Record (a rare song that he played each day), and “The Top 12 at 12” (His countdown of the top 12 local songs from a specific year). He also featured many characters on the show that were sometimes referred to and never heard (another gimmick of old time radio).
His show was also filled with insanely bad jokes. I often kidded him that even Milton Berle (who was known for stealing others jokes) wouldn’t touch his stuff. He often poked fun of the other DJ’s on the station, which I found to be a unique way of cross promotion.
There were many days that we’d sit in his office and talk about radio, computers, and life in general and we’d laugh until tears rolled down our faces and our sides hurt. Richard was a legend who had been on the air for many years, a far cry from being young! Yet, when we worked together, we were like a bunch of elementary kids laughing and hooping it up.
From the blog “Some Old Radio Stories – Part 1” written 8-21-2018:
Richard D was one of the funniest men I ever worked with. He gave me lots of direction and I have talked about him in previous blogs, as well. I was producing his show the Top 12 at 12, which was an hour of his show which featured the Top 12 songs in Detroit from local charts from different years. It was a fun show to produce. It included new stories, TV and movie clips, old commercials, info about how much things were from that year, etc…
Richard had to play the 12 songs and sometimes there was extra time and we’d give him songs that were on the charts from that week to play as “extras” if he needed them. He was doing a countdown from 1966 and I had put a Dean Martin song in there as an extra and he played it. He made some comment about it not being the greatest song or something and moved on. I went into the studio, as I often did, to give him crap.
I said something along the lines of “Why are you messing with Italians! Dean was Italian and so I am I! Look here you Old Bastid (a term of endearment), If I were you, I’d watch what you say about Dean Martin … and Frank Sinatra for that matter!” and left the room as he laughed hysterically. After the next song he said on the air, “Ladies and Gentlemen, I must offer an apology. A little while ago I played (whatever the song was) by Dean Martin and made some negative remarks about it. Well immediately after that, Keith Allen came in here with about 12 goons who roughed me up a bit and told me that my comments were distasteful. So I must now publicly apologize. I really had no idea that Keith Allen was the President of the Dean Martin Fan Club!”
From that day on, I always tried to find a way to sneak a Dean Martin song into my show, so I could say I was President of the Dean Martin Fan Club. When Honey went off the air, I received a package from a listener named Sandy (who I remain friends with to this day), who sent me a membership to the REAL Dean Martin Fan Club with a note that read: “I thought you might actually want to be a member of the Fan Club you claim to be President of….”
From the blog “More Musical Memories” written 3-2-2018:
WHND
Richard D. used to have a feature called The Off-the-Wall Record. He’d say, “To my right is a wall. On the wall is a peg. On the peg – records. When I take one of the records of the peg on the wall and play it on the air, it becomes a Tricky Dickie Off-The Wall Record”. When he did this feature it usually consisted of rare or obscure tunes. One day I gave him Stormy Weather by the Spaniels to play. He LOVED it. He told me that was one of his favorites.
He often spoke of the group the Hi-Los and told me about the “tight” harmonies that they had. He was right. Good stuff! As a fan of the big bands, I let him listen to The Spitfire Band’s version of Cherokee, which featured an AMAZING trombone part. Again, he loved it and I think of him when it plays on the iPod.
Tying in with the Dean Martin story above:
After his last show on Honey Radio, a listener suggested I play a Dean Song in Richard’s honor….I chose “I Will”. The first line of the song is “I don’t wanna be the one to say I’m gonna miss you, but I will…” it fit the somber occasion.
I found this article was posted on the Motor City Radio Flashbacks page and is from the Detroit Free Press. It is from March of 1981, one year after he took the reigns of WHND.
There were things in that article that I didn’t even know. He mentioned his accident briefly in a conversation once, but he didn’t want to dwell on it. He spoke a lot of his days at CHUM and WXYZ. I loved listening to those stories! I remember the young Keith sitting there in awe of the legend. He spoke of long lines for autographs at remote appearances, hanging with celebrities, and performing magic with vinyl records and reel to reel tape machines. I hung on his every word!
Every day, listeners tuned in to “The Richard D Wireless Act” to hear The Top 12 at 12, Tricky Dickey Off the Wall Record, Tricky Dickey Trivia, facts from the Poor Richard D’s Almanac, and hoped to be Richard D-clared a winner. Watching him work in the studio was like watching a kid in a candy store. He was constantly moving, constantly writing, constantly thinking. He often laughed to himself just before cracking the microphone because of whatever line popped into his head. He was a master.
I’ve said before that the man you heard on the air was also the man that he was off the air. His quick wit and ad-libs were brilliant. I marveled at how his mind was able to come up with those things. In later years, I found myself mimicking his on air delivery because it was just so “personal.” He understood talking to one person and connecting with his listener. I took away a lot from his coaching and from listening to him.
Honey Radio went off the air in 1994. I was lucky enough to keep in contact with Richard through Facebook. As the years went on, life offered many changes for both of us. For me – a divorce, second marriage and new life. For him – the sad loss of his wife Pam. He spoke of her often on the show (calling her “Oldielocks”) and off air, too. In our last phone conversation, it was obvious that he missed her very much.
My heart breaks for his children and grandchildren. As a fellow Honey co-worker stated when I shared the news of his passing, “He is now reunited with the love of his life in heaven.” There is comfort in knowing this.
I hope that his family and friends will always remember the fun he had. I hope that they recall the happiness that filled a room when he was there. I hope that they remember the love that he had for each of them.
Thankfully, there are many recordings of his show available online. His voice will live on. His memory will live on. His jokes will live on (this could be a good thing or a bad thing!). You can enjoy some of them here:
What a blessing it was to have shared the same studio with Richard. I am thankful for the many laughs we shared over the years. I am forever grateful for his guidance and support. I only hope that he knew just how much he meant to me.
I’d like to think that there was an opening at God’s radio station and he needed Richard’s talent for the heavenly airwaves. I am going to miss my friend very much, but I will look back on our friendship fondly.
Hello, my friends. When I last blogged, we were gearing up for a big snow storm. While we didn’t get as much as they were saying, roads were still dangerous and as a bonus we got our white Christmas. I had to laugh at something I saw on Facebook, and had to share here. This pretty much sums up every winter storm forecast here in Michigan:
Snow was to move in on Thursday night and into Friday morning. Many patients called to cancel their appointments that night, so because of low volume, I got to stay home. It was nice to have extra family time. It is very rare to get that time.
I had already taken Friday off. Usually my boys will come over and spend the night and we do Christmas Eve morning as our “Christmas.” Because of the storm, we decided it was best to postpone things until the Monday after Christmas.
On Christmas Eve night, we usually go to Crossroads Village and do the drive through light display. It’s not too far from us and it is always a beautiful sight. On certain nights, you can board the train and see more lights, but the drive through is neat because you get to go through the little village. They pipe Christmas music through the speakers and every thing is just beautiful.
We got the kids dressed and ventured out. It didn’t take long to see just how bad the roads were. We hadn’t been out since the storm, but the roads were just awful. We take many back roads to get there and the wind was blowing across the fields and made the roads solid sheets of ice. It was actually pretty scary. I would have kept driving, but Sam told me to turn around and go back home. That’s what we did.
Earlier in the day we made cookies for Santa. Ella told Sam that Santa should drink milk from a “fancy” cup, so we put it in a wine glass. A few years ago, Sam’s sister Grace (who passed away earlier this year) made a Christmas plate. We have decided that as part of our Christmas tradition, Santa’s cookies would always be put on on that plate.
We placed the cookies on the plate and started to get things ready for the rest of the evening. We had to get the kids in their Christmas pajamas, they had to brush their teeth, and Santa had to get ready to build some stuff. After walking to the living room to gather up a few things, I walked back in the kitchen to see Andrew standing on Ella’s step stool – eating Santa’s cookies!!! Smart kid!
Once the kids were in bed, I went to work. I only had to put together a couple things, and I love being Santa. Ella got a Frozen Castle (she calls it the Elsa and Anna castle) and Andrew got a vacuum (he is all about the vacuum when we clean). They also each got a book from Santa and the rest of the gifts were from mom and dad.
It was nice to see the tree lit, with presents under it, and the baby gate out of the way!!
Honestly, I anticipated that Ella would be the first one up on Christmas morning, but instead, it was Andrew. We actually had to go in and wake Ella up. She seemed uninterested in getting up until we reminded her that it was Christmas and Santa had come.
Andrew loved his vacuum and played with it all morning. It was a hoot to see him “cleaning” the rug!
Ella loved her princess castle and when she got a princess dress, too, she had to put it on!
She was so into it and had all her princesses playing on the castle. I was lucky enough to capture this very cool picture of her playing –
I just love it! She had no idea I was taking this.
We were invited to Sam’s folks for Christmas dinner, which is always nice. My mother-in-law always puts out a big spread with ham, turkey, scalloped or potatoes, macaroni and cheese, and a ton of desserts. My nieces and nephew were there, so the kids all got to play together. It’s always kind of crazy with all of Sam’s siblings there, so I neglected to get any pictures.
Andrew gave us a memorable moment while we were there. Sam’s folks have one of those thin Christmas trees. Andrew, of course, is always curious. While my back was to him, he grabbed something on the tree (probably the string of lights) and started pulling. Naturally, the entire tree came crashing down on top of him!! When I turned around I couldn’t even see him! Thankfully, only one ornament broke. That boy is something else!!
I’m not sure when we left but it was later in the evening and Sam and I were talking about being a bit hungry. We decided to be like the Christmas Story family and we ordered some Chinese food and grabbed McDonald’s for the kids. As crazy as it sounds, we may need to do that every year because it was delicious.
On Monday, the boys came over in the morning. I made up some chocolate chip pancakes, sausage links, eggs, toast, and coffee for me. Ella and Andrew don’t see their big brothers often enough, but they seemed glad to see them.
My dad and Rose came over a bit later and I was glad that my dad got to see all his grandchildren. He brought Ella a Little People Barbie apartment, which is huge and now serves as a “neighbor” to Elsa and Anna’s castle. He brought Andrew some waffle blocks and a bowling set. The boys are older now, so the each got an envelope with cash, much like his mother (my grandma) used to give my brother and I.
As crazy as it was to get everyone together, I am so glad to have gotten this picture with my dad, Rose, and the kids.
As I stated in my Facebook post, it is never long enough when we get together, but I do treasure the time with them.
I am so glad to have had time with my wife, my children and my dad over the holidays. God willing, we will all be able to do it again next year.
It will be a white Christmas for us this year! Thanks to the winter storm that is rolling through. Snow continues to fall and the warning remains in effect until after midnight.
I was a bit worried that I would be driving home in the middle of the storm this morning. I knew that road conditions were going to be awful. Thankfully, enough people cancelled their appointments that I got to stay home.
It has been nice to be with my family. Earlier today, Ella and I watched A Charlie Brown Christmas then I made chocolate chip waffles for breakfast. Afterward, I whipped up some chocolate chip cookies – for Santa.
Sam got all the gift wrapping done. The kids are down for a nap. I have some laundry to fold, dishes to wash, and a few things that need cleaning.
I didn’t write anything ahead for the holidays. It’s been fairly busy here. However, I figured while it was quiet, I would take this opportunity to say thank you for following my blog. I am so glad to connect with you here. Thank you for sharing yourself with me through your writings. Even though we have never met face to face, I feel as though I know you.
From my family to yours, I wish you the Merriest Christmas. I wish you a holiday season full of many blessings, family, and friends. I wish you peace and joy. I wish you health and happiness in the new year.
Thank you again, my friend. May God bless us all in the time ahead.
We’re supposed to get a huge snow storm here over the next few hours. I was hoping to find a second to write a Christmas wish to my readers, but I am not sure I will be able to. I found this poem and thought it was worth a share, just in case I don’t get the chance to write something more personal.
Christmas Magic
Are we too grownup to feel a thrill As we light the Christmas tree? Are we immune to cookies, Christmas cards and Christmas glee?
Are we too adult to “Ooh” and “Aah” At the Christmas candle’s glow? Are we blasé about our gifts; Do we shun the mistletoe?
Are we too mature for carols, For merry or for jolly? Do the decorations leave us cold, The ornaments and holly?
Fat chance! We’ll never grow too old To love the Christmas magic. A year without a Christmas Would be boring, even tragic.
So bring it on! The candy canes, The feasting and good cheer; O Christmas, lovely Christmas, You’re the highlight of the year!
When we first got Twinkles, our Elf on the Shelf, from Sam’s mom, I wasn’t sure that we’d be up for creating something new for it every night leading up to Christmas. Over the last month, I discovered an Elf on the Shelf Facebook group with ideas and stumbled across many on the internet as well.
I won’t lie, it has actually been very fun to do every night. Ella loves waking up and searching for her elf. Twinkles will be heading back to the North Pole on Friday night to help Santa get ready for his ride and deliveries. I’m sure next year she will have as much fun or more!
We may or may not have to recycle some of these ideas in years to come. Here are a few of my favorites from the past few weeks.
Twinkles the action hero! Zip lining to the tree.
TPing the tree! Festive, right?!
Sam gave her some wings!
Ella had been talking about paper snow flakes. I got to make a mess and she loved it!
When we were all sick, it only made sense to give Twinkles a cold, too!
Sam grabbed Ella’s princesses and they had a little dessert party.
Twinkles threw “snow balls” at all of us in pictures on the wall!
She obviously had so much fun with the “snow balls” that she challenged one of Ella’s Barbie dolls.
When Ella woke up, I didn’t say anything. I was making her chocolate milk and she looked up and saw Twinkles. She looked at me, then back at Twinkles, then back at me and said, “Daddy! Twinkles is in my chips!” Priceless.
Last night, Sam sent me this at work in a text message that read, “See? I can be creative, too!” I laughed out loud!
I may have to start planning next year’s Elf things ahead! This was fun!
We took Ella and Andrew up to Cabella’s after their dentist appointment to get pictures with Santa yesterday. I thought for sure that I had posted some of my childhood Santa pictures before. However, after glancing through some of my past Christmas themed blogs, I discovered that I hadn’t. For what it is worth, it was a quick glance, so there is the possibility that I missed them. If that is the case, I apologize for repeating.
I thought it would be fun to check out some of these amazing photos from the past –
I cannot be sure which of these photos was taken earlier, but I think it was this one.
My dad wrote on the back of this that I am “about 2 years old.
My all time favorite photo with Santa is this one, in which I am wearing the craziest pants ever.
I joke all the time that the reason I am crying is because of those pants! I am probably 3 here, but I cannot be sure.
After that time, my folks probably decided to wait a few years before trying to get a picture with Santa. The next one that shows up is from when I was 6 years old, and it is with my brother and I.
I’m sure that we probably had more taken of us, but I have no idea where they are. Maybe a family member has a copy of one somewhere, but I don’t think I do.
I don’t know that we really ever took my boys to get their photos with Santa when then were tiny. So Fast Forward to 2009. Dante’ would have been 7 and Dimitri is 2 in this one. My brother actually took the above photo and put it in a frame with this one of them. It’s cool to see just how much they boys look like us.
One year later, we took them again to get photos at the mall. I remember this Santa. He was SO good!
I want to say that this Santa was the same Santa that appeared at an office networking party my morning show co-host, Stephanie, and I emceed in 2007.
He sure looks like it to me. If it is, the picture above would have been taken 3 years prior to the one with the boys.
I found this one after I posted this blog! This must have been a year or two after the boy’s previous picture. They used to like their hair “spiked.”
Some of my favorite Santa pictures were not professional ones at all. Ella was born just before Covid hit at the world shut down. A good friend of mine was out doing an appearance as Santa and stopped by the house. I blogged about it here:
Jan was such a great guy. He passed away not to long ago. I can never thank him enough for making a special trip over for Ella. I miss him.
Andrew was only about 2 months old at Christmas last year. We went to Cabella’s and Covid was still a worry. They had a bench in front of Santa for the kids to sit on. There was no way he was going to be able to so that, so the entire family got our picture with St. Nick!
Ella knew that after her dentist appointment yesterday we were going to see Santa. She was very excited. We arrived about 30 minutes early for our appointment. I didn’t matter, there was no one there when we arrived and we were able to get right up for pictures. When Ella saw Santa, she yelled, “Hi Santa!” and ran up and gave him a hug! The photographer deserves kudos because she actually snapped a picture of that.
She made sure that he knew she wanted a “princess castle” for Christmas and then she sat on his lap. We placed Andrew on Santa’s knee and the tears started! The photographer snapped a few photos and we got the best one. It’s totally ok that he was crying. Like father, like son, right!? Ella never has cried when she has seen Santa, which still amazes me.
I think it came out cute. Maybe next year, they can talk about Twinkles, our Elf on the Shelf, and about how she reports things to him at the North Pole.
It is hard to believe that we are just 4 days away from Christmas. Someone observed that time moves a whole lot faster in December if you are an adult. This is so true! As a kid, it seemed to crawl by as we waited for Christmas.
SNOW!
This weekend kept us pretty busy. We got about an inch of snow on Saturday night and when Ella woke up she saw the ground was covered. So after breakfast, the kids and I suited up in snow gear and went out to play in the yard.
It was fun to see Andrew all bundled up. He looked so funny trying to walk in his boots and snow pants. The snow wasn’t “snowman” ready, so we really couldn’t build one. But we did get to run around and throw snow at each other. He really had fun once he got over the “awe” of it. Ella? Well, she just loves to run and jump in the snow.
Cookie Time!
Our Elf on the Shelf, Twinkles, had the idea to decorate cookies this weekend.
She is obviously a Sam’s Club member!
The kids had a blast decorating them.
Ella had her “Bucket O Princesses” with her as she decorated hers. Andrew was eating them as fast as he decorated his …
Picnic
Yesterday, Ella wanted to have a picnic. So we put a blanket down in the living room, I whipped up some grilled cheese sandwiches, and they had a picnic.
Note the “Bucket O Princesses” are with her at lunch, too! LOL!
I probably should have thought about giving them applesauce pouches. That blanket needed a good wash after the picnic was over.
Say “Ahhhh”
This morning, when Sam got home, we had to take the kids to the dentist. Ella did ok, but there are things that she won’t let them do. Sam went back with her and I guess she started to freak out about getting an X-Ray. We will probably need to see a pediatric dentist who may be able to get her calm enough to get them. Andrew had no issues at all, He was a champ.
After our visit to the dentist, it was time for a visit to Santa. Ella was so excited to go see him. More on that in my next blog!
One Final Story
Last year my dad got us an Amazon Echo. You have to link it to an Amazon account, so I linked it to mine.
Sam and I decided that we were not getting each other anything for Christmas this year. I decided to get her something from the kids. So I took $20 I won on an instant lottery ticket and put it in the account I used for my DJ business (so she wouldn’t know) and ordered her something on Amazon.
She was standing by the fireplace yesterday where the Echo is yesterday. She see’s something that pops up on the screen.
She asks me, “What did you order from Amazon?”
“Nothing,” I said.
“According to the Alexa, you have something arriving Thursday that YOU ordered,” she says.
“Don’t worry about it!” I told her, hoping she would drop the subject.
She didn’t drop it and says, “We don’t have the money to spend. Did you put this on your credit card?”
“No. It’s not anything big. It’s something from the kids to you.” and I explained that it was from the lottery ticket money.
She finally drops the subject, until today.
“By the way, I know what you have coming from Amazon,” she slyly says.
I look at her flustered. “Every time I try to get you something as a surprise, something spoils it!”
She then says, “What made you think to get that?”
I don’t say anything. I told her to just act surprised when she unwraps in.
Then she laughs and says, “Yeah, I don’t know what it is. But I was hoping you would tell me by telling you I knew what it was!”
“Wife Trickery” at its finest!! Man, I almost told her what it was! Somehow I think she knows what it is anyway, but we’ll see.
Bing Crosby has been called the “Voice of Christmas.” Rightfully so. There were many years that Bing’s music was the background soundtrack as my family and I opened gifts.
His versions of White Christmas, Jingle Bells, Mele Kalikimaka, and Santa Claus is Coming to Town are holiday staples. You simply cannot turn on the radio during the holidays without hearing them. Today, however, I share with you a Bing song that is less familiar, but has a powerful message.
Give The Secret of Christmas a listen:
It’s such a simple song. But there is one line that just rings true all these years later:
“It’s not the things you do at Christmas time but the Christmas things you do all year through.”
Read that again.
Everyone is a bit nicer, more loving, more generous, more compassionate, and just overall – better people at Christmas. Imagine if we acted like we do at Christmas time throughout the year!
My friend, that is my challenge to you today and in the year ahead.
The Secret of Christmas
It’s not the glow you feel When snow appears It’s not the Christmas card You’ve sent for years
Not the joyful sound When sleigh bells ring Or the merry songs Children sing
The little gift you send On Christmas day Will not bring back the friend You’ve turned away
So may I suggest, the secret of Christmas It’s not the things you do At Christmas time but the Christmas things you do All year through
In trying to find a picture to use for this blog, the above one came up in a Google search. I could see me and Sam filling up multiple volumes with just the things Ella says. Just within the past 2 weeks, there have been plenty of potential entries. Here are just a few:
Manger Stories
Ella loves Little People by Fisher Price. She has a ton of them. We recently received this manger scene as a gift. When you push the button on the top (where the angel is in the photo), it plays Away in a Manger and the star lights up.
Manger Story #1:
Ella keeps pushing the button and playing the music. I said to her, “You must really like that song. You are playing it a lot.”
She looked at me funny, looked back at the manger, back at me and simply said, “Daddy, I’m turning on the light for Jesus!”
Manger Story #2
You may recall that Sam’s sister, Grace, passed away recently. Ella and Grace were very close.
Ella was playing with the Little People from the manger set. So Sam placed the angel on the roof.
Ella: Mommy why you put the angel on the top?
Sam: So she can watch over everyone and keep them safe.
(There must have been some conversation about angels living in heaven.)
Ella: Angels live with Jesus? Like with Gracie?
Sam: They do.
Ella: Mommy, that means Gracie is an angel too! Oh mommy she has a beautiful crown! And beautiful wings!!
Sam posted this on Facebook with the story: “This girl melts my heart!
She sure does!!
Keeping the Peace
Sometimes, Ella makes me laugh so hard. A fine example happened a week or so ago.
Sam and I were in the kitchen talking while I was making dinner. Ella comes up the step into the kitchen from the living room and says loudly, “Just stay calm, everybody!”
Now, I could see if Sam and I were arguing or in a heated discussion about something, but we were literally just talking. This was so out of the blue and random! Both of us looked at each other and started laughing. We have no idea where she heard this from.
There was no indication that she had done anything wrong, or that she broke something, but we walked around the house anyway to make sure everything was ok!
Please Shut Your Mouth!
Remember how as a kid you would put your fingers in your ear when you didn’t want to listen to what someone was telling you? Ella has no issue just letting you know she’s done listening.
From my wife’s Facebook:
When I’m telling her something she doesn’t want to hear Ella’s new thing is to say “Please stop talking to me mommy!”
So tonight I decided to listen to her. I started talking to Andrew…
Me: Here Bubs, let’s get you some chocolate milk. What a bummer I can’t ask Ella if she wants any.
Ella: Oh, mommy, I want chocolate milk.
Me: Here Bubby. (Hands him chocolate milk in sippy cup)
Ella: Mommy! I said I want chocolate milk too!!
Me: Oh, I thought I wasn’t allowed to talk to you.
Ella: Mommy, I love you so much! You’re so special to me!
As my wife said in her post – We are in so much trouble with this one!
Jewish Italian?
One of Ella and Andrew’s favorite shows to watch on TV is Blue’s Clues and You. Sadly, it doesn’t come on as often as I’d like (Because they play Paw Patrol for HOURS at a time!). We set the DVR to record episodes and watch them whenever we want.
They have been running many holiday themed episodes of the show over the last week or so. One of the episodes (pictured above) is based on the neighbor’s celebration of Hanukkah. Sam and the kids were watching it tonight as I drove into work. Sam calls me to tell me about the following conversation:
Ella: Mommy, where is our menorah?
Sam: We don’t have one, baby.
Ella: Why not?
Sam: Because we are not Jewish.
Ella: Why not?
(Long Pause)
Sam: When Daddy gets home – ask him!
Maybe Josh and Blue can help me answer …
Ella, you are such an amazing little girl. We are so blessed to have you! Thank you for being such a wonderful part of our lives!
Various Ramblings of a Nostalgic Italian 