Classic Christmas: A Bike and a BB Gun

Maeve finally warmed up to Santa

First time she's ever sat on his lap - she came with letter in-hand
This is an old-hat for Cam!

The hustle and bustle of the season came and swept us away with it. We enjoyed our traditions and marveled at just how truly blessed we are.

The reaction to the BB Gun and the Bike

The only thing on Maeve's list this year was a bike with a seat for her babies.  She reiterated over and over that the baby seat was to be in the front and the bike should be purple.  Gotta admire a girl who knows exactly what she wants!  I was a little nervous about this specifics when Santa texted me a picture of the bike a few weeks earlier. The seat was actually on the back of the bike and it did have some purple accents on it, but it was not solid purple.

Maeve was the first one up (besides me who inherited a huge case of Christmas Eve insomnia from my older and always excited sister).  She came down the stairs holding on to the rail with one hand and sucking the two fingers of her other.  About midway, she realized I was staring at her and asked, "Did Santa eat his cookies?  Did he drink his milk?"  Then she made her way all the way down and stepped into the living room where she saw Santa's artistic display of gifts.  There was no missing the largest gift - the bike.  She stepped closer to it without touching it and ever so softly noted, "I wanted the baby seat in the front."  She then realized she could not dig into any more excitement without her beloved sidekick so she turned around and said, "I gotta go wake up Cam. Come on, Mama."  The disappointment only lasted for that brief moment as I assured her Santa was thinking of her safety when he put that baby seat on the back.    

Our gifts  - paperdolls, Coke bottle
Maeve had to make something for me too - a stamped piece of art!

Cam's big ticket request was a BB gun. He was overjoyed as he stumbled down the stairs to find Santa had left one just for him. He declared, "I think mine is bigger than Bubba's!" (Bubba aka Clayton is his teenage cousin whom he adores). He continued to proclaim as he picked up his gun, "Mama, you gotta take a picture and send it to Aunt Laura!" He went on to explore the rest of his prize possessions and saw Santa had cleverly unpackaged and left in his game area. I thought I heard him say, "I got some wrapping to do." It wasn't long before he came down and presented a hastily wrapped present to me- the paper dolls I had help him cut out a few days prior. I was touched by his kindness and realized that he was catching the Christmas spirit of "better to give than receive." Precious moment that I will always cherish. Not long after he presented my gift, he went missing again and came down this time with another item hidden underneath an untidy wrapping job. It was for his daddy- an empty Coke bottle souvenir  that had been in his room. He told Tony that he could use it to pour fresh Coke into. Mine and Tony's eyes met each other and we relished in the tenderhearted child that we get to claim as our own.

The tenderness of the morning came after his touching Christmas Eve prayer, "Thank you for my gifts.  Even if it is not what is on my list, I know I am going to like it.  And, God, please let Jesus get a present too."  Little did he know that he had given us presents that we will always cherish.  And I am certain, Jesus is pleased with the gift of unselfishness that He received from Cam this year.

At his school party

Sweet friends

Posing on Presents

Hello Kitty

Noisemaker fun

The Silliest Smiles

Christmas Eve at the live Nativity

Time to Play

Coming up with a gameplan

The first day out, we planned a three girl play date which included the other part of Maeve's trio- Dani Kate and Anna Belle. I enjoyed watching them interact and play so well together. Watching them made me realize just how grown up they are all getting. I am so glad she has such good friends to enjoy at school. They really look out for each other. And, from what I understand, they travel in a pack at school. When you see one, the others are very close by!

Princess DK Beauty, Princess Maeverella, and Princess AB Repunzel

Lunch - pb sandwiches in the shape of a tree and a star, cheesesticks, fruit, and cookie dough

Princess Shrinky-Dink Time

Worn out after a whole lot of playing (DK went home to rest)

I Know Six

On 12/14/12 our country learned of a great tragedy. The senseless loss of children and teachers in a school in Connecticut left us all speechless and heart wrenched. I could barely bring myself to watch any of the news coverage as my thoughts immediately went to "what if" this kind of thing happened at my school, in my classroom.

I know, without a doubt, I would do whatever I had to do to keep my students safe. I realized that perhaps this was the first time I have ever really thought about my job as a place where we could be caught in the line of fire. Hearing of the love and sacrifice of those teachers and school administrators made me so thankful to be among the ranks of them. I spent the weekend preparing my heart and mind to be able to answer the questions from my classroom of innocent eight year olds. My strategy was to follow their lead, which is complete role reversal of a typical day.

And that is exactly what I did. Although they walked through the doors with a an armed sheriff standing guard and their classroom door was closed and locked at all times, not one of them voiced a concern. We did hug each other tighter and enjoy each others' company a bit more than we take the time to do regularly. And I know some of them knew the details of the tragedy, but, like I said, no one questioned or mentioned the first thing about it. I know, deep down, whether intentional or not, their silence was a way to protect the innocent who had been sheltered from the scary details. We relished in holiday excitement mixed with learning just as every elementary student should be able to do.

Of course it wasn't just my teacher mind that thought if the "what ifs." My mommy mind instantly tried to go there, but I blocked it out as best as I could. I did so so that I could be the happy, smiling teacher my students are used to spending the day with- I needed to be a constant, a comfort for them. So, it wasn't until the school day was over and my two babies were tucked tight into bed that I allowed myself, my mother self, to go there. When I stumbled across one of the numerous Facebook posts, I was halted in my tracks. The wall I tried so hard to maintain over my true emotions came crumbling down as I read this about knowing six:

Time to Shine

December brings with it performances. This year at church we did a little interpretation of what the animals at the stable were thinking of their up close and personal view of the Savior's birth. Cam was the dove who was high in the rafters and Maeve was none other than the cow!

Two of the animals in the stable

The costumes for the animals were simple, but my two animals have such big heads that we had to squeeze them on and make a chin strap. Amazingly, my two were the only ones with this problem. ;-) Cam memorized his lines and said them slowly and clearly. Maeve had practiced and practiced her "mooing" but when it came time to do it, she chose to suck her fingers instead. I couldn't believe she was the one with the stagefright!

Not sure why this was has a green hue - he was a little nervous,
but not that much!  

So proud of her brother's performance

Cam also performed at school with the first and second graders. It was the night of what would have been Granny's 91st birthday. I know she was watching him and so proud of his sweet voice. I bet she especially liked "Ring Little Bells." The tune was stuck in my head for days.

We even took in a performance of the Nutcracker with Moo

My Three Loves

Since I can't really freeze time, I thought at least I could take advantage of a little photo opportunity.  The day of the SEC championship, I loaded up Cam, Maeve, CoCo and a vintage wagon just a few minutes before gametime and headed out on the quest to capture the essence of my six year old, three year old, and my ancient weenie dog who was almost 13 at the time these photos were taken.

Mission accomplished!  Look at my amazing memories - pictures are my own version of a time capsule!  Thanks Hailey for your talent and your patience.

Three Beautiful Smiles

Love their gazes in this one

Bean is a bit miserable in this one - but we got all the props in that we wanted!  

Freeze Please

No, I am not talking about the weather as we are enjoying 60s and 70s in December.  I am talking about time.  I have been reminded over and over again this season that having a six year old and a three year old in the house is very special.  They are relishing each tradition:  hanging the stockings, decorating the tree, spotting "Happy Birthday Jesus" lights, hearing familiar Christmas songs, and catching their breaths when they see presents.  Maeve asks on a daily basis, "Is it Christmas?"  She was convinced the morning after I had wrapped a few presents and put them under the tree that it surely was Christmas when she woke up and found presents under the tree.  Cam enjoys hunting for Elfis each day.  Overhearing him quietly talking to the little elf that visits Santa each night reminds me just how sweet it is to be six.

The first gifts of the season

Puppet show with B

Elfis brought cans of snow!

Cam's snowman

It was a little messy for Maeve, but she dug around in it too.  

As I put up Christmas pictures from years past, I realized that I wanted to take so many pictures of them this year.  To bottle up my toothless boy and my messy haired girl so that I can always remember them just like they are now.  They make my life hectic and nonstop from sunup to sundown.  Sometimes I feel like I have no brain because of all the extra thinking and details I have to attend to.  But I know I would be lost without them.  I am glad that I don't have time to do all the things on my wishlist - I have little socks to match and endless toys to carry back up stairs.  I have bookbags to unpack and lunches to repack.  I have books to read and covers to tuck.

Thank you, Lord, for this precious time.  These surely are the days!

Parade Watching

Mama missed it this year, but Daddy made sure they got to be there!  

Two Front Teeth

After the first one was gone 

Cam lost his two front teeth in perfect time this year - just before the Christmas season.  He let the first one wiggle and hang and hang and wiggle until he woke up one morning with it gone.  I was in his bed.  It literally just fell out.  The one that was left looked rather pitiful as it shifted over and looked like it was smack dab in the middle of his mouth.  Tony joked and said that he had his application ready at the Waffle House.

The next was quite the opposite from just letting loose.  On Thanksgiving afternoon as he and Carson were playing on the trampoline and me and sister were just settling into a food coma and perusing the sale papers, we heard a siren coming across the yard.  I recognized it immediately as not being Maeve, but one of mine indeed.  He bursts into the house screaming for me and that his tooth has been knocked out and that he was bleeding!  I lead the bloody mess to the sink and calmed him down.  I finally understood what all the panic was over:  he swallowed his tooth and was afraid the tooth fairy wouldn't come.    A very dramatic scene for a six year old boy - perhaps his two worst fears all in one - swallowing something he wasn't supposed to and needing painful procedures or medicine to fix that mistake and missing out on an opportunity to get some money for his wallet.  No wonder he was freaking out!

He finally gained his composure and was ok from the shock of it all.  His smile was much better as the no-teeth-at-all look was much better than the snaggle one in the middle.  And, the Tooth Fairy actually gives out more money for a knockout!

Toothless grin after he realized he was gonna be alright

He can have that classic wish:  "All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth!"

Thank You for Everything

Thank you for the world so sweet.

Thank you for the food we eat.

Thank you for the birds that sing.

Thank you, God, for everything.