I spent the weekend putting up the outdoor decorations. Believe it or not, no one was hurt in the process!
With the weather as nice as it was, I decided to get the lights up before it got too cold. I worked on the front yard first. We added two blow up penguins this year. I’m normally not one for these inflatables, but they were only $10 each! Sam loves penguins, so I couldn’t pass up the deal.
It looked cute with one on each side of the arch we got last year. You never really know what it is going to look like until it get’s dark, though. Somewhere between this picture and the next, I decided to put the extra tree on the front porch. Sam says it is too much. I’m not sure….
Sunday I decked out the side porch. Sam bought LED lights this year and they look extra bright. This is the easiest part of the house to decorate. I was going to change it up a bit, but decided to stay with what I’ve done in the past.
I guess I should have known that by doing the outdoor lights now (which is not odd), that Sam would start thinking about the inside. Monday I was home with the kids and they were kind of going crazy. Sam decided we needed a project to do, so I went downstairs and brought up the tree.
Bitsy, our kitten, isn’t even a year old yet. So we knew that the tree would be somewhere she’d want to explore. We decided that when we put the tree up, we’d leave the ornaments off of it. There are some fragile ones that we don’t want broken. Sam said we needed to compensate a bit for having no ornaments. So she bought a boat load of LED lights for the tree. Even after placing 900 lights on it, she still thinks there could be more!
We have a few other decorations in the basement, but I think we’re just gonna roll with what we have for now. I am not going to lie, sitting in the front room with all the lights off but the tree is one of those amazing moments I look forward to each year.
Christmastime is a happy time for me. I know it is early, but after all the stuff that has gone down over the last couple weeks – I like to be in a “happy place.”
The Family and I had the opportunity to go to the Detroit Zoo for their Wild Lights this weekend. Sam and I used to go every year. The last time we went she was VERY pregnant with Ella.
Ready to see the lights
We figured this year they were both old enough to enjoy the lights. While the weather was wet and rainy, the temperature was perfect. It was about 45, so we weren’t too cold.
Snowflake
The temperature was a positive, but so was the rain in that it was not too busy. We could casually walk and not feel like we were being rushed. We also had great views of everything. Short lines were a plus for some things.
So pretty
One negative the rain brought about was that not all of the lights were lit. I’m not really sure why. The rain wasn’t going to hurt any of it. If I had not been there before, I may not have even noticed. There were enough lights for us to enjoy and some new featured sections.
Bear chasing bees at their hive.
There was a section called something like “Underwater Enchanted Garden” that has lots of blue/green lights to represent water. There were areas with lotus flowers, light up fishes, huge whale lights, penguins and more. It was very cool. At the end of that section, you had to walk through a building where a guitar player and drummer were jamming some blues/jazz tunes. You could also get a coffee or snack there.
Beautiful tree
They had a cool area with these LED seesaws for the kids. Neither kid has ever been on a seesaw before, but it was obvious just how much they loved it!
That train behind the seesaw was something you could walk through. They also had like a plane you could go up in. There was no shortage of photo opportunities along the walk.
Such a cool picture
I am always amazed at some of the light displays they have. Some of the animals are spectacular. Look at this giant teddy bear!
My favorites had to be the foxes. These are so neat up close, but more amazing as you walk towards them.
I just love looking at Christmas lights. We all do. I am always so impressed with the displays. Kudos to those who spend the hours and days to make this happen
We usually don’t get the “staged” photos when we are there. They are usually expensive and there is always a wait to get them done. Due to the weather, however, we were able to walk right up and get a family photo in a sleigh that came out fairly nice.
What you may not be able to tell is that the cushion we were sitting in was wet. So we walked the zoo in wet underwear! Worth every second!
I hope now that the kids are older, we will do this every year!
I hope this blog finds you enjoying the remainder of the holiday weekend. My weekend, which was supposed to be very relaxing, wound up being full of the unexpected.
Wednesday afternoon, I got a call from my wife. Her dad had passed out at the doctor’s office. His blood pressure was up and down. They rushed him to the ER, and admitted him for a couple days. No heart attack, no stroke, and they didn’t find any blockages. There were a few things that neurology is going to look into in more detail. He is home now and relaxing.
My mother-in-law was at the ER for Thanksgiving and when she told us that she was going to drive through McDonald’s for dinner, we told her to go home and I’d bring her a plate. I packed up turkey, mashed potatoes, mac and cheese, and rolls. Andrew and I drove over to bring her the food. At the end of their street is a guy who goes all out with holiday lights. Andrew loved looking at them.
That’s not even his whole set up!!
Ella and Andrew haven’t been feeling all that great and when we woke up Thanksgiving day, we all felt a bit under the weather. We spent most of the morning and early afternoon battling fevers with Motrin and Tylenol. We watched a disappointing Detroit Lions game and had dinner. After that is when everything got scary.
Ella did not look right. Her nose and eyes were watering all day and her fever spiked again. She was far from herself. There was enough going on that I packed her in the car and made the trip to the ER.
They checked her out and said it was viral, which we kind of knew. It “has to run its course.” So we weren’t there too long. I was just relieved it wasn’t pneumonia. Her cough was awful.
We were supposed to go to the Detroit Zoo for their Wild Lights, but we were all under the weather. Thankfully, they had my order and were able to switch days for us. I’m grateful, because I would have hated to have not been able to use them.
We got our Christmas photos back and there were more good ones than bad ones. We sat with them and picked the ones for our family Christmas card. This is one of my favorite family ones:
Being inside has been driving the kids crazy. Sam had bought a few games on Amazon for Ella’s birthday, but decided to bring them out to help keep them (and us) occupied. It’s been a while, but I can honestly say that I still can’t win playing Hi-Ho Chery-O!
Today, I had to take Daisy to Puppy Training. I swear, I gave her a bag of treats during this class. We worked on Sit, Watch Me, and Touch today. The trainer started off the class with what was going to happen over the next 6 weeks. All the pups were given a bone to chew while she went over this. Daisy, of course, broke off a tooth and probably swallowed it. She was bleeding on the bone.
As embarrassing as that was, at least she didn’t pee during the class. Another dog, however, peed like three times. As the class drew to a close, Daisy started to get antsy and began to bark at the other dogs. She was pulling and trying to get off the leash. She was happy to finally leave and get in the car.
I put it on after I took this picture, but I bought her a name tag at the store. They engrave them there for you. It hangs off that loop where the leash goes. It hangs down a bit and “clangs” when she walks. It is making her crazy. It is funny to watch her try to chew at it.
The kids are feeling a bit better today, and I hope that continues with more rest. I’m hoping for some rest too!
Ok, technically, I’m not decking the halls. I’m not decking them with boughs of holly either, but I did get a few more things done over the weekend.
We have one of those fake electric fireplaces at our house. The heating element went a year or so ago, and we never did have it looked at. However, we’ve always wanted to do something with the mantle. This year, we found some really nice garland that lights up and it fits the mantle perfectly. We also got new stockings for every one and hung them up a little lower than years past. My wife just loves the way it looks.
As you may recall from a blog or two ago, we bought a new kitchen table to eat at. The old one remains in the basement where it has been for some time. When I was going through the Christmas decorations, I found some placemats we had bought when we first got together. I was finally able to put them out and used a little Christmas tree that we used to put up on the mantle as a centerpiece. I may need to throw some decorations on it.
I went to let the puppy outside and it really wasn’t too cold, so I put jackets on the kids and let the pup roam around the yard and I put the lights up on the side porch. It’s very different from last year, as the railings are no longer there. I ran lights up and down the posts and hung the big Christmas bulbs.
Since they tore up our front yard, I figured I would skip the front yard this year, but Sam had other plans. Our porch is small, so getting the lights on it is no issue at all. I have some lighted garland that I will drape over the front door. The newest addition is on the way to the house. She ordered it from Sam’s Club. It’s a huge 8 foot arch!!
I think it will look cool, even though the yard looks bad. When it snows, it will look great! This should be arriving mid-week. It is supposed to be a bit warm, this week, so I hope to be able to get it up and done before it gets too cold.
Now, just what I am going to do with this big thing in the off season, I have no idea!!
Before Thanksgiving, there was a perfect 70 degree day. That was the day I should have put the Christmas lights up outside. I didn’t. Thankfully, I took advantage of a breezy 50ish degree day and was outside rigging up the lights.
After I finished, the following conversation took place between my wife and me:
Sam: Uh, what’s that big bunch of wires wrapped to the post?
Me: So, there was a strand of lights where only half were lighting up. Those are the ones that didn’t light up!
Sam: That really looks bad
Me:. No one’s gonna see those from outside. Especially in the dark!!
Man logic.
I was not about to go through bulb by bulb to check them. (I actually swapped out the first bulb that was out, but when it didn’t work, I was done with that!). And I certainly wasn’t going to buy an entire new strand of lights! I had already gone through the countless strands and replaced those bulbs that were physically broken. That took enough of my time.
So behind a post, there is a bunch of bulbs wrapped together … And out of site from anyone looking at it from the front.
These don’t work!
When all is said and done, it looks good at night!
Side porch. Lit up and festive.
I really need to do more in the front of the house. I always feel like it’s not enough.
Front porch
The ground was already hard, so I couldn’t get the stakes in for the large Christmas bulbs we usually put out. So their absence already makes it look “half done.”
I really need to get a big ladder. We don’t have one. I’m sure I could probably borrow one from a neighbor, but I never ask. I would love to do up along the roof. Those icicle lights would probably look good and can’t be that hard to hang.
I saw a thing on Facebook that made me laugh. It said, “It only snows in November because people decorate early for Christmas.” Blame me if you wish, but we needed to brighten things up over this way!
There has been a lot going on in my life, some of which I have shared and some I have kept to myself. We’re all processing a variety of emotions. With the passing of my sister-in-law, there is an extra bit of sadness. Like the song says, “We need a little Christmas!” So we decided to put up the Christmas tree this weekend.
The older the kids get, the more fun this becomes. Andrew was just a couple months old last year, so he was especially excited to see the tree and the lights. He and Ella both “helped” handing me lights. They were both extra giddy.
I had the lights plugged in as I walked around the tree with them. That way I could make sure they were placed evenly and all areas has the proper amount of lights.
Andrew, as you know, is everywhere. He gets into everything! So we debated waiting until closer to Christmas to put ornaments on the tree. We also debated not putting any on at all. We did decide to put the tree topper on, and Andrew was the perfect helper!
My dad commented on a picture of the tree on Facebook. He said he was taking bets on who was going to know the tree down – Ella, Andrew, or the cat! For the record, the cat has yet to get near the tree, which is really odd.
We brought up the baby gate and set it around the tree. It’s the “look, but don’t touch” gate. The kids can still touch it, but the probability of the tree coming down is a lot less.
I decided that certain ornaments had to go up on the tree. As ridiculous as it looks, all the ornaments are on the tree from about a foot higher than the top of the baby gate and up to the top. In total, there are maybe 12-20 ornaments on there.
Every year, we got to Bronner’s Christmas Wonderland in Frankenmuth to get an ornament that represents a big even from the year. We got one for our engagement, or marriage, the birth of both kids, etc. We went early this year and at the time, didn’t really have an “event” to get an ornament for. We opted instead for a plaque for the door with a snowman family on it.
When my sister-in-law, Grace, passed away I decided I was going to get Sam and her folks a memorial ornament for the tree. I had seen a few designs in the Bronner’s catalog, and chose this one.
I had hoped to save it until closer to Christmas to give it to Sam, but I can’t control my face. Let me explain.
I took the kids with me to Bronner’s on a day Sam was home sleeping. I kept the ornaments in my car so she wouldn’t see them. Then a day or two later, she was getting ready for work and said, “I was thinking about getting a Christmas ornament with Grace’s name on it for my mom.”
I must have stood there dumbfounded. My face obviously giving away that I had already done it. Instead of just saying, “That’s a great idea. We should do that.” I knew that she would just go and do it. So I walked out to the car and brought inside.
I’m glad it’s inside and I’m glad it is on the tree. Grace already has a special place in our hearts, and now she will have a special place on our tree every year.
If my tree being up brings snow your way, I’m sorry. We needed something help brighten the season, even if it is early.
Another thing I saw on Facebook this week said, “Don’t you just love it when the Christmas tree is the only light in the room?”
To say this weekend was not a hectic one would be a lie. In all honesty, the entire month has been busy for Sam and me. Sam has been running back and forth to various doc appointments and helmet appointments, plus helping her folks out with her sister. Both of us are running on little to no sleep. How we are making in through our nights at work and our days at home, I really have no idea.
Sam was up early on Saturday. I cam home and slept about 3 hours before having to get up and get my son. I picked him up at his mom’s house and then we drove to Sam’s parents’ house. She was there with Ella and Andrew helping out with her sister. I picked up Ella and came back home.
It was beautiful on Saturday! There was a lot of sunshine and it was close to 80 degrees. Ella wanted to play outside, so she ran around the yard playing with her toys as Dimitri and I worked on a couple projects. The biggest project was the swing set that Sam bought for the kids. It took about 3 hours to put together and I was pretty impressed with it.
Back in the day, I remember my dad having to dig or drill holes for the swing set poles to set into. Then he’d have to pour cement in them and it had to dry before we could use it. This set was neat. It had “shoes” that went on the bottom of each leg. There was a stake that you “screwed” into the ground and then you bolted the shoe to the stake. That thing is solid, let me tell you! I was pretty impressed.
Ella loves going to the park and swinging on the swings and Andrew had never been on one. We ordered a toddler swing to go put on it (it came with one) so both kids could swing at the same time. They absolutely loved it!!
The kids got to swing for a bit and then we went in and had dinner. We all went to bed early, because we were all wiped out.
Sam had to work Sunday, so she was up for a bit and then went back to try to get some sleep. So I decided to take the kids for a walk before it rained. Ella wanted to take her baby doll for a walk too. So I loaded up Andrew in the double stroller and she grabbed her baby doll and we walked the neighborhood.
What made me really smile was to see the people who were passing by in cars looking at Ella, waving at her and smiling. It was awesome. She really enjoyed being able to walk her baby. After we got home, we played outside for a while. Andrew was so interested in everything. He loved just playing around on the blanket out on the lawn.
I had planned on Dimitri staying until the evening, but I guess he had some dinner to go to. So Dante’ came to pick him up and take him to the dinner. Dante’ is working a lot and going to college, so it is rare for me to see them both together. Even though it was just for a few minutes, it was nice to have them both there. I had to fight them to get them to pose for a picture!
Dimitri helped me put the swing set together and also helped me take down the remainder of the Christmas lights. Yes, I know, it is almost May! That should tell you just how crazy life has been our way. On the days I wanted to get out and do it, it was either freezing, raining, and most recently – snowing! I’m glad they are finally down!
He also helped me move some furniture around. Andrew is having some separation issues. It has been a challenge to do anything without him attached to us. If we are not in the same room with him, he loses it. He’s never really slept well if it isn’t in our arms or in our bed. So we moved the crib to our bedroom, got him his own sound machine, and hoped that he’d start sleeping in it.
Yep. That’s his crib … at the end of our bed! I’m really hoping that he gets into that crib sooner than later. Sam and I would welcome a night of sleep without getting a helmet to the head or kicks in the stomach.
Finally, some big news that is NOT family related…
As a life long Detroit Tiger Fan, it was very cool to hear that Miguel Cabrera joined an elite club on Saturday. He got his 3000th hit! Miggy has certainly made baseball fun to watch here in Michigan. Now, we just need to get back to the World Series – and win it! Congrats, Miggy!!
Another Christmas has come and gone. I hope that you had a Christmas full of wonderful memories! This Christmas was full of a lot of joy for us, but there were some things that left me sad. I will attempt to recap and keep it as happy as possible. Many of my Facebook friends have already seen these pictures, but that’s ok.
Thursday, December 23
After working the night before, I slept for a couple hours and went and picked up my son. His brother was working that night and was coming up after work so we could celebrate Christmas Eve Morning together.
My dad and Rose came over that afternoon. Neither had met AJ yet, so it was extra special to have them here. When then walked in, Ella ran to them SO excited. She was so happy to see them. She loves them both so much!!
There is something that is so amazing to me to see my dad hold his grandchildren. There is a special light in his eyes. There are almost tears. It is so special. He always kisses them gently on the head and talks to them.
Dad and AJ
Ella was all about Grandma Rose that night! Grandma made her a Mickey and Minnie blanket, which she just loves. One of my favorite pictures from that day is the two of them snuggled up on the chair with her blanket.
Ella and Grandma Rose
My Dad, being the silly guy that he is, heard Ella saying some of the alphabet. He immediately thought of “Violent is the Word for Curly,” the Three Stooges short which features the “Swingin’ the Alphabet” song.
B A Bay, B E Bee, B I Bicky By …
So Dad had to sing it to her …
Dad’s chart was a bit off….
I was glad to get the chance to visit with them, and I am glad that three of his four grandchildren were there for him to see. Papa and Rose were very good to all my kids!
Dad and me – wish the lighting had been a bit better
Dad and Rose left around 7, and Dante’ called about 8 to say he’d gotten off work and was on his way. I was exhausted and was actually on my way to bed when he called. He asked me to stay awake, so I did. He came in and gave he the biggest hug. We had some leftover pizza, so I told him to dig in and not stay up too late!
As I crawled in bed, my heart was full.
Christmas Eve
I’m sure the day is coming when the kids will be up at like 4am to open presents! We were blessed that they didn’t wake up until after 8am! I had to laugh, though, because ever since we put the tree up, there has been a gate around it. It served two purposes. First, it kept that cat out of the tree and second, it kept Ella from pulling on the ornaments and the lights.
When she woke up and came out the the living room, she walked over the the tree and saw all the presents under the tree – and no gate. She literally just stood there – not really sure what to make of things.
Ella – perplexed
After a few minutes, Sam said it was time to go in and wake up the boys. They were already going to be leaving earlier than I thought (so Dante’ didn’t have to drive in the dark), so we wanted to get things going. We told Ella to go in and wake them up.
She ran into their room yelling, “Wake up, Bruh! Wake up, Bruh!” It was quite funny to watch my older boys stir in bed … all they wanted to do was stay asleep. Dante’ asked to sleep for another 30 minutes. I told him, “You’re sister isn’t going to wait 30 minutes and wants to open presents!” Against their wishes, they crawled out of bed and joined us in the living room.
Last year, we had to help Ella open her gifts. She wasn’t quite where she understood how to do it yet. This year, however, she was able to jump right in and rip open her gifts!
Ella – wearing the very cute PJ’s that Sam’s dad got for her
It’s neat to see how the various kids react to Christmas now. Dante is 19, so he’s very laid back. Dimitri is 14 and it depends on what he’s opening as to how excited or how much emotion he shows. Ella, she’s excited for everything. Andrew has no clue as to what is happening.
The boys
The boys are SO hard to buy for. They never seem to have any real ideas for me. Dante’ is kind of at the “gift card/money” stage. He’s happy with those. Dimitri really liked this golf game I had for the Xbox, so I made sure to get it for him to play at home.
Par for the course …
Ella, being the helpful big sister, helped open up AJ’s presents.
AJ watching sissy open gifts for him
Of course, I had to put together Ella’s basketball hoop, so she could slam dunk a few before dinner.
Two points!
After a hearty breakfast, the boys went into their room and played games for a while. Knowing that they were going to be leaving early, I made sure that dinner was done early. Keeping with my family tradition, I made ravioli with my homemade sauce. I made sure to send a jar home with the boys, as Dante’ loves it.
Personal note: I used a bit too much wine this time. I felt that it was sweeter than normal.
About 3, the boys had to leave to go home to their mom. Ella was napping when they left. When she woke up, I picked her up out of her crib and as we passed the boy’s room, she said “Bruh”? “Bruh”? It ripped my heart out. All she wanted to do was see her brothers! Sadly, I don’t think they really know how much she loves them and how important they are to her. This was the saddest moment of the entire weekend for me.
A Christmas Eve tradition for Sam and I has always been to do the Drive Through Holiday Lights display at Crossroads Village. For $10 a car, you get to drive through and see the many Christmas lights that they have on display. When the kids are older, we plan on going and doing the Christmas train ride, which is truly amazing, but for now, we just drove through.
When we arrived, we got Ella out of her car seat and let her sit on Sam’s lap as we drove through. She was so excited. As we got close to the lights, she’s yell, “Here we go, Mommy! Here we go, Daddy!” It was so cute. Sam made the comment that she loves seeing things through Ella’s eyes. This is so true! We’ve been through there every year, but this year was so much more exciting because of Ella!
Sleigh ride!
We thought about driving downtown Flint, which has some great lights, too. We decided against it, as it was getting late and the kids were tired. We went through out bedtime routine and got the kids to bed just in time for me to play Santa. I had a few things to put together so that they were ready for they kids when they woke up Christmas morning.
Christmas Day 2021
Sam wanted to be in the living room so she could record Ella seeing her presents, so I got her out of bed and asked Sam if she was ready. She said she was, so I sent Ella running into the living room. The video is priceless. The smile on her face is something I will never forget. We got her one of those Little People Jungle Rainforest things. It came with animals and makes noises and everything. It is HUGE and takes up a good part of the living room.
Here’s the monkey!
AJ’s Santa gift was a very cool floor chair. It allows him to sit up while on the floor and it’s a lot better than those Bumpo seats.
Sitting pretty
I love that both kids had “Santa” jammies for Christmas morning. Sam and I actually got matching PJ bottoms to wear that morning, too. AJ was wide awake and just taking in all the sights. I love this picture of him and Sam. What I love about it is that just above Sam’s right shoulder is a picture of Ella on her lap and in this picture AJ is on her lap.
One of Ella’s favorite gifts was a Leap Frog Tea Party set. The pot talks and it came with cups and cake.
Must be good tea!
I joked many times about having tea parties with my daughter. I am excited to say that we’ve had our first already and I am looking forward to the next one!
Yummy!!
It was daddy’s turn to help AJ open gifts. So I grabbed his stuff and we opened them up. I was as surprised as he was! LOL. Sam got him a very cool “Floor time” pillow with lights, sounds, and more.
Wow!! What’s this, daddy?
It made him like floor time a lot more….
Mesmerized
Before we all showered and got dressed to visit Sam’s folks, we attempted to take a family selfie. We have a camera that I could have set up with a timer and all, but with my cell phone, I could snap 5-6 pictures in the time it would take to get one on the camera. Good thing we went with the cell phone – because it only took us about 57 tries before we finally got this one.
Merry Christmas!
Since it was AJ’s first Christmas, we had to be sure to get a picture with him in his “First Christmas” outfit. Sam came up with the silly saying on the board and it made me chuckle!
Got him smiling and everything!
After the kids napped, we went to Sam’s folks for Christmas dinner. Sam’s mom put out an amazing spread with turkey, mac and cheese, mashed potatoes, and so much more. I’m not sure why we didn’t get any pictures while we were there, and I am sad that we didn’t. We are so grateful for them and enjoyed family time together.
After we got home and got the kids in bed, Sam and I crawled into bed. Before I drifted off to sleep, I thought back over the many memories that were made and thanked God for the many blessings that He has given me. I am truly a lucky man.
December 26
Having the Christmas tree up was driving Sam crazy. Not because it was up, but because we literally had to move Ella’s toys out of that corner of the room. All of her toys were moved in front of the fireplace and it just seemed like we were always tripping over them. Long before Christmas, it was clear that on the 26th, the tree was coming down!
I spent the morning taking down ornaments, unstringing Christmas lights, folding up stockings, and putting them all downstairs until next year. Before I finished, there was one picture we had meant to get of Ella that we hadn’t gotten. So I hurried out to the garage and got the props ready before Ella and I walked the neighborhood. Here is the picture we had hoped to get earlier in the season ….
Hauling her Christmas tree
It’s back to work tonight for me, at least for a couple days. Looking back over this holiday weekend makes me smile. There are so many wonderful memories forever saved in snapshots that I will look back on often. Life is good. I am blessed.
Three more days until Christmas. I don’t even know where the time has gone, but the holiday is FAST approaching! This past weekend I was pretty busy, and at the same time there were plenty of wonderful family moments together.
After working four days and coming home, I feel like the kids have grown and are doing things that they weren’t just a day before. I’m not sure if it is the fact that he recognized my voice or my face, but AJ was smiling and babbling so much this weekend. Those baby smiles are exactly what I needed this weekend.
Saturday night, Ella and I were playing on the floor and Sam reminded me that I’d wanted to build a “fort.” So I pulled two chairs together and grabbed a comforter and tossed it over the chairs – instant “fort.” As a kid, I used to love when we’d sit in the fort and read books. Ella loved coming in … and going out. She was in and out and in and out. Believe me, it wasn’t easy to get her to stay still long enough to take a selfie…
This weekend we gave both kids a bath. Sam grabbed Ella and AJ’s bear PJ’s and gathered them up to read….
What book did we read first?? Well, of course, it had to be….
On Sunday, we placed a Meijer order for groceries. On Christmas Eve, it’s sort of been a tradition to have ravioli for dinner. Grandma always made them, and it is a tradition that I have tried to keep going. I refuse to use sauce in a jar for the holidays, so I made a list of everything I needed and spent the afternoon making sauce.
If you are new to this blog, let me explain. I have been trying to duplicate my grandma’s sauce for years. I have gotten close to doing so, and I have yet to master it. In doing so, I have kind of come up with my own sauce. I don’t tweak too much every time, because I don’t want to mess it up too much. This time around, there may be just a tad too much wine in it. Oh well….I will make a note of it and try again ….
While the sauce was cooking, Sam gathered up all the presents to wrap them as Ella took her afternoon nap. It’s always interesting to divide up the gifts. Ella and AJ will get TWO Christmases. We wake up Christmas Eve morning with my sons and open gifts, and then we wake up Christmas morning and open more. Sam bought some two sided wrapping paper from Sam’s Club. Being the smart woman that she is, she wrapped the gifts to open on Christmas Eve with one side and the Christmas Day gifts with the other side. She is brilliant!
After the sauce had simmered about 6 hours, Sam and I decided we’d take a short trip up to Frankenmuth to drive through town and look at Christmas lights. We put on the Christmas station, loaded the kids, and went for our drive. When the kids are a bit older, we want to go and just walk around town. We will definitely pile the kids into one of the horse drawn carriages and ride around town! For now, we just drove around.
We stopped at Bronner’s, which had all their lights outside lit up and it’s always neat to just drive through the parking lot. We weren’t the only ones who were doing it either. They have plenty of things around the parking lot that can be good for picture taking. I was afraid that Ella might run into the road/driveway that was by some of those, so instead, we went to a few that were well inside the lot. She loved it!
We had a feeling that winter time was going to drive Ella crazy! She loves to be outside. There is only so much that she can do in our house. We’ve been trying to limit her TV/Screen time, so she’s getting bored. Before I laid down for a nap before work, we grabbed her boots and coat and we went for a short walk around the neighborhood.
There is still a little bit of snow on the ground, but it will more than likely be gone by Christmas. We left without her gloves, so her hands got cold when she was picking up the snow. As we walked, she realized that we were at the house where her hound dog friend is usually outside during the summer. She kept asking where the doggy was, and I had to tell her it was probably too cold for her friend to be outside.
I was really surprised that she remembered the house!
When we got home, her hands and nose was a bit chilly, but she warmed up quick as mommy had lunch ready for her when we arrived.
There was a knock on the side door before I headed off to bed. The UPS man brought the kids a package from my brother. He had told me to watch for it. Inside were pajamas for AJ and a HUGE Daisy Duck stuffed animal for Ella. I had called him a week or so ago and told him that she was all about Daisy. She was so surprised when she saw it. I wish I had gotten pictures of her initial reaction. She had hands over her eyes and was so surprised. Then she grabbed it and hugged it!
It really was the cutest thing!!!
HA! I just looked at that picture and in it, you can totally see how I messed up hanging the stockings! Last year, we had 5 (Me, Sam, Dante’ Dimitri, and Ella). This year we added the small “My First Christmas” stocking for AJ. I use those 3M hooks to hang the socks. Somehow, I marked off 7 spots instead of 6, so there are three on one side of the fireplace and three on the other and a big space in the middle. URGH. I must have looked at it 5 times before I actually attached the hooks, but I never realized there were 7 spots! THAT is why I rarely build anything from scratch …
3 more days …. I’m looking forward to the holiday….
I feel like I haven’t really blogged about “life” lately. I kinda feel like I haven’t really even had a minute to sit down and write. Between wacky schedules at work and an even wackier sleep schedule, writing has been a challenge. So here are some highlights from the past couple weeks….
Right after Halloween, Sirius XM radio launched a bunch of their holiday channels and the Christmas music was readily available.
I took advantage of a rare 60 degree November day and put up the outside Christmas lights. I know, I know, people think I am rushing the season. The truth is, I don’t like putting them up in the cold. They have been up for a couple weeks now, and the only time I have turned them on is to make sure they looked ok.
The side porch takes the most lights. I always check the strands before stringing them up to make sure they work. For some reason, one of the strands had a cluster of lights in the middle that didn’t light up. Both ends lit up, but not the ones in the middle. I went through and tested bulbs, but couldn’t find the problem. So I put them up anyway! I just made sure the unlit portion of the lights was covered by lights I knew worked!
We don’t do much to the front porch, though I’d like to. I got razzed about how I didn’t get up and string lights on the roof by some friends. I’ve never been a fan of heights, so, these are the highest my lights will go. Besides, I only have a three step ladder!
Baby Milestone
AJ celebrated being one month old a week or so ago. It is amazing to come home from work and see just how different he looks to me after only one day! He is much more alert and his sister just loves him! He is starting to take notice of a lot of things around him. Recently he discovered the mobile on his swing.
Holiday Tradition
Every year, we take a trip up the Bronner’s Christmas Wonderland in Frankenmuth (“The World’s Largest Christmas Store”) and get an ornament for the Christmas tree that represents a big event from the past year. Sam and I have one for our engagement, our first Christmas as husband and wife, when Sam was pregnant with Ella, Ella’s first Christmas, and now we needed to go and get one for AJ’s first Christmas.
Obviously, life at our house is pretty crazy with two little ones. We had planned to all go to Bronner’s as a family day trip. AJ was napping and Sam suggested that Ella and I go, since we knew exactly what we wanted. There is an ornament that is exactly like Ella’s except it is blue for a baby boy.
Finding the ornament took all of 5 minutes. The line to get it personalized was long and we stood in line for almost 30 minutes (Thank goodness I had the PBS app on my phone, so Ella didn’t lose her mind waiting!). I had pictures of Ella’s ornament and how they did hers, and we wanted AJ’s to be done the same way. Ella and I walked around a little bit while they worked on the ornament. There are plenty of photo ops throughout the store and outside.
It was close to lunch time, so we snapped a couple pictures, picked up the ornament, and drove home. I hope to be able to take a drive up there one night when the lights are all lit up and grab a couple pictures.
Later that day, I took advantage of nap time and brought the tree up from downstairs. We’ve been trying to decide where to put it this year. We’ve moved everything around in our living room two or three times due to the addition of Ella toys or furniture, so it was unclear where it would go. There is a little nook in our living room where we had moved a lot of her toys, easel, toybox, etc…. We decided to find somewhere else for those things and that the tree should go there.
So, the tree is up and the lights are on it. However, we will decorate it this weekend or next weekend. I did have some help with the lights as I put it up …
…and, of course, little brother had to get into the act …
I’m excited for the holidays this year. Ella is at the perfect age for unwrapping presents! It is going to be a fun holiday season ….
Various Ramblings of a Nostalgic Italian 