Christmas--- Part III

After all of the excitement of Christmas Day had come and gone, we were so blessed that the other side of our family had offered to come to us this year to save us the run back to Lewistown for a second time.  To not have to worry about the kennel for Toby, and all of the packing and unpacking was a real gift.  We had planned a lasagna supper (not just any lasagna--- the Pioneer Woman's Supreme Pizza Lasagna...the be all and end all of lasagnas in my humble opinion).  So there was limited work that needed to be done to prep for everyone's arrival.  We had a few snacks and some other goodies around, but nothing too strenuous.  And I appreciated so much that no one was expecting anything too extreme.  All we wanted was some time together, and that we certainly delivered on.

 

As soon as the kids got here, all 5 of them disappeared to play together.  I absolutely love seeing them all together, and hearing them as they laugh.  There just is nothing like it.  Toby behaved himself, for the most part.  He only found himself in his crate when we opened presents because his penchant for eating wrapping paper and stealing things away from the kids was getting on our nerves.  This was the same issue we had with him on Christmas Day, so he was no stranger to the crate during present opening time.  Lucky for us, he doesn't seem to mind his crate, and doesn't make a fuss when he is in there.

 

I should note that the girls' faces in these pictures appear a bit....stained, shall we say.  Santa, in all of his wisdom, fulfilled a request for "real" makeup for Lauren.  And my girls had just finished a session of beautification when the troops arrived from Lewistown.  We attempted removal, but without makeup remover, that stuff is pretty stubborn, particularly when applied in a three inch thick layer (which appears to be their style at this point).  Heaven help me when they're 14 and wanting to wear it in public.

 

They were a little anxious for presents!

 

I think Josh might have the best story of the day with his gift.  He has been begging Santa for a real guitar and wanting to learn how to play it.  Mom and Dad, upon hearing about this, wanted to be the ones to get it for him.  And frankly, Dad's knowledge trumps Santa's on this by a long shot.  I was hesitant to take it off of Santa's list because I knew that it was his most special request, and I feared he would be heartbroken on Christmas morning to realize it wasn't there.  When he came downstairs that morning, the first thing he did was scan the boxes for something that might hold his guitar.  And when he didn't find it, he didn't act disappointed, but I knew he was.  Having had this game played on me quite a few times where Santa would "deliver" one of my most special requests across the street to my Gram and Pap's house, I knew the angst he would be feeling.  But I went along with the plan because I knew it would be something special for Josh and his Pap to share together. 

 

Josh was really struggling because each of the girls opened three presents.  And he had one box to open.  And it wasn't very big.  Add to this that he was starting to not feel well from some death of a cold that has plagued us both ever since this particular day, and I thought we were headed for disaster in the form of a 9 year old meltdown.  But he was a great sport and just kept laughing and saying "This doesn't seem very fair, you know!"  When he opened his one box, there was a paper inside telling him that we were going to play a game to find his gift.  And so a scavenger hunt commenced that had the kids running all around the house, up and down stairs from the bedrooms to the basement and then back upstairs again about 7 times before it led him to the garage where he found his...

...perfect, kid sized, good guitar.  He and Pap spent a half hour or so in his room learning the parts of the guitar and a few simple chords that he could work on until the next time they saw each other.  Pretty much every day since, he has spent some time in his room trying to get the chords down.  He's still working to master the right touch, but he isn't giving up.   We're going to work on a lesson for him after the beginning of the new year, and likely after his schedule with the school musical has died down.  Until then, he'll have to work on Pap's lessons and keep trying to figure things out on his own.  I have half a notion to learn along with him on the guitar that Mom and Dad got for me for my birthday ages ago that I couldn't ever quite seem to get a handle on.  Nothing about it came easily to me.  So I'm thinking maybe Josh can teach me what he learns and maybe we can practice together.

 

And so, this ends our Christmas adventures for 2015.  It was a great year and a very blessed Christmas season for us.  We had very happy kiddos, very happy gift recipients on both sides of our families despite all of my struggles to find the right things for everyone, and somehow everything managed to get done.  I finally gave up my fear of the rolling pin and learned how to make cut out sugar cookies (the big soft ones that I've always wanted to learn how to make), although icing them beautifully with royal icing wasn't exactly my gift.  I did finally figure out a trick to flood them with one color icing and then hit them with festive sprinkles before it hardened as a special treat for this party.  And that is how I believe I will be doing them from now on.  They certainly weren't the prettiest cookies you've ever seen, but they did disappear from the cookie tray before any of the others.  We cooked lots of yummy food and some new things that will absolutely make our Christmas rotation from now on--- especially the smoked salmon that we made for Christmas Day.  Wow.  Jason outdid himself on that.

 

To end the holiday, Josh and I both ended up sick, and spent nearly the entirety of the 27th on the couches.  I am pretty sure it was Lauren's virus that got us both, but my defenses were definitely down from a lack of sleep and too much stress and just being overloaded.  So it was no surprise.  Dad always said, "If you don't slow down, God's going to slow you down."  And He sure did.  I accomplished absolutely nothing on Sunday-- dinner was leftovers, no laundry done, no cleaning up done.  We just rested and napped and snuggled under the blankets.  And that was just fine with me.  I woke on Monday feeling much better.

Home for Christmas

The kids were my "helpers" at the office during the morning on Christmas Eve while the girls were off enjoying their day of preparations. We had a ball. We got Josh an Egg McMuffin and the girls a donut from Dunkin, and we enjoyed the morning together at the office. There were lots of blank Word documents created. Lots of shredded papers and lots of cups of water from the water cooler. But it was a hoot. 

The weather was so unseasonably warm that the kids went out to ride bikes in the afternoon after we got home while I did some cooking prep. We had roast beef for dinner and then got ready for church.  What to wear to Christmas Eve church in 70 degree weather was a real quandary...and the girls' Easter dresses were actually in the running until the last minute. 

Josh sang a solo during the service. We were so proud of him!  He handled a very packed church like a champ.  We had worked hard on learning it at home, but thankfully Miss Shirley was the accompanist for the service because, well...this piano player is rusty and wouldn't have handled the crowd with the grace that our 9 year old did. He absolutely made my Christmas with his song. It was called "A Shepherd's Heart" and was beautiful. 

When we returned from church, Clocky had made his return to the North Pole but had left some new Christmas pj's for the kids. I was grateful for this because somehow, outside of the realm of my OCD, the kids have begun crafting their own "pajamas" out of whatever they can find. Mostly I have been too tired to fight it. Pink fleece monkey print pj pants with a tie dye tshirt...sure. Football print lounge pants with a minecraft tshirt...why don't you just write my ticket to the funny farm right now. At least this way, thanks to Clocky's generosity, our Christmas pictures do not make it appear as though we are homeless or have no clue how to match. 

We set out our cookies for Santa and then hit the hay. Josh felt very strongly that I ensure that Jason didn't stay up late to make sure we would all be asleep when Santa arrived. 

And arrive, he did. 

Joshua woke me up at 0 dark thirty (aka 5 am) to go open presents. It may be unconventional and perhaps cruel, but I made him wait until I had gotten a shower to go downstairs. I find it unthinkable to wake any earlier than my 5:00 normal wake up time to get ready before the kids on Christmas. To add to his torture, the girls didn't wake up until after 7:00, so it was a painful

wait for him. 

The opening of the presents was done in a flash and then came the near panic attack about finding the living room floor again. We started putting toys together immediately and finding space for things in the playroom. This Mama likes things picked up and has little patience for clutter, even at Christmas.  Especially at Christmas. There is just so much stuff!

I loved watching the kids' faces as they opened things- not just the items they had asked for, but especially the ones that had been selected for them unsolicited. Mara loved her tea set and Lauren loved her makeup set. Both received immediate attention from them. 

I have no words. 

Josh has been asking for a bookshelf for his room for the better part of a year. And he was in love. He quickly set out to fill it up with his books. 

We welcomed Jason's family in the afternoon and had a wonderful time exchanging gifts with them. We had a great meal together and enjoyed a few slushes...what's Christmas without whiskey slush?  I can't answer that question because I don't want to know. 

To say our hearts were full was an understatement.  We are so blessed. So loved. And not just with earthly things. The idea that God put on skin, became one of us and humbled himself for someone like me is almost too much to comprehend. But I am so grateful for the opportunities I have had to reflect on that this Advent season. God has given me perspective when I most needed it. 

One more Christmas post to share from our Richard celebration from the 26th.  Maybe I will be able to keep this hot streak alive with another post tomorrow!

Christmas-- Part One

I'm really hoping to stay on top of Christmas posts and get them up before, say, Easter this year.  I know-- it's good to have goals.  Our Christmas celebrations began the weekend before the actual holiday with our annual Richard Family celebration at Stacie and Noah's house.  It was a wonderful day, full of lots of laugh, and lots of music, and lots of silliness.

 

You couldn't help but be laughing as soon as you walked in the door.  Stacie's idea to turn this into an ugly sweater party was a terrific one.  Not only did we all have a blast shopping for/or decorating our own ugly Christmas sweaters, we thoroughly enjoyed seeing what each other had on.  We had everything from Ralphie's bunny suit from "A Christmas Story" to Gizmo from the Gremlins, to ones that lit up and ones that were just too ugly to explain.  It was an absolute riot.  Never challenge a Richard to a contest involving creativity.

 

We ate way too much- but everyone had made such delicious things to share.  Abby and Scott took the prize for their smoked salmon which will now definitely be making a rotation into our entertaining menu.  It was so good! 

 

The kids had a wonderful time playing together-- in fact, we saw very little of them until a herd of them went running past on some sort of a spy mission, or to refill on fuel of cookies or snacks.  They really seemed to enjoy each other.  While I don't mean this to sound as it may, we were all grateful that the kids were old enough now to be able to play on their own a bit more, without needing us quite so much.  Not that we aren't all missing having babies at the parties, but there are certainly advantages to having older children who can fend for themselves a bit.

 

There was a chugging competition for the decision as to who would be the proud caretaker of the Queen Titihaha statue for the coming year.  The rules are that she has to have a prominent location in your home for the course of one year, and then must be passed on in some way to another family member.  When she passes from one to the other, there needs to be a story or a poem about her adventures for the year.  This year surely did not disappoint.  Noah and Stacie had written quite a story about her year in the Hollow, and we all laughed hysterically as Cory read it.  I can't wait to hear how she makes out in Perry County for the year with Cory and Shannon and the boys.

 

Just for something fun, we also set up a photo booth for everyone's enjoyment, and it turned into some great pictures that I think we'll all get a kick out of.

 

Here's the rest of the day in pictures for your enjoyment...I'm sure they don't capture all of the fun, but suffice it to say that it was a fantastic day spent with some of the most special people on the Earth, as far as I'm concerned.  I've always looked forward to the opportunity to spend time with my family, and as it gets harder and harder to get the whole crew together, it means even more to us when everyone prioritizes the time to be together.

 

This was the perfect start to a Christmas season that had left me feeling a bit out of the spirit of things.  And it was just what I needed!

 

The chugging contest, although none of them knew what they were trying to win.

 



Jason was such a good sport about the sweater contest-- and took it up quite a step with his Ralphie costume from "A Christmas Story".

I wish I could post the video of Dad and Uncle Butch's version of "White Christmas".  It was hysterical.  Both of them made this party so much fun this year.  And their sweaters were "top notch".

 

 

The straw that broke the camel's back.

The month of December has had me at its mercy since the puke in the car incident after Thanksgiving. A combination of too much going on in too many different directions, my role as mediator in affairs that I would have rather been left out of altogether, difficult situations at the office, and schedules for the kids that just won't relent--- it has all just been too much. Add to it the normal December hustle and bustle of activities, gift buying, decorating, and baking and I have just about been at my knees. Joy has been elusive...and peace, well, it hasn't been near. 

I have had a completely new understanding lately about how much of kids' celebrations and activities revolve around food. And until your kid is one who is limited in his ability to participate in such things, you never even have cause to notice it. Poor Joshua has been breaking my heart lately in his reactions to his food allergy limitations. In the past, he has been satisfied to have me bring an alternative for him that is safe. But over the past few weeks, he has been acutely aware of the fact that he is different. And it is breaking his heart...and mine right along with it. I am getting questions about why people have to always have food around and why it has to be so difficult. Why people always have to know he has a food allergy because he brings his own food everywhere we go?  Why it can't go away.

I have tried my best to answer all of those things the right way-- to tell him God makes no mistakes, so if he chose to give him a problem with peanuts, then there is a good reason for it. That there are so many other kids with issues far greater than his who are in hospitals or unable to go to school at all.  To be grateful for all of the things he can have and not focus on the one thing he cannot. But when push comes to shove, and you find yourself time and again having to say no to all of the things that your friends are doing, it just stinks. Sucks actually.

Just this week there have been 5 separate incidents requiring us to either pinch hit, make special arrangements or just decline attendance in something. A gingerbread house for school, a party at church, even our family Christmas party...all complicated. And that's only the tip of the iceberg. 3 of them happened today and I find myself really heavy hearted about it. I want to be able to fix it-- to do something that will help him-- but I find myself exhausted, out of time and stuck. And perhaps tonight I am feeling just a bit sad for my son.  So when the kennel told me tonight that they will not be flexible on the time we can pick Toby up on Monday morning-- I did what anyone would do when that last straw snaps.  I sat on the stage at Upward basketball practice and had a good cry. Never mind the 20 other people sitting around me. Never mind the chaos of the gym. It kind of matches the chaos in my head. 

Praying for the peace and joy that I know God promises us in this season to find its way to me. 

Things That Happened Over Thanksgiving

This post may resemble a disjointed list more than anything like a thoughtful journal entry. And I suppose that's what I get for being a little less than regular with my posts. But I will say that I am so grateful for the nice break we all had to celebrate Thanksgiving with our family. 

Celebrations started on Monday with Mara's party in Nursery School.  I am the class parent for her class, which truly meant nothing more than organizing a very short list of snack foods for their party and baking a batch of chocolate chip cookies because that is something the Pilgrims and indians clearly would have had at their feast. At the party we made hand print turkeys ans pilgrim hats and enjoyed everything you can remember about a preschool Thanksgiving party.  It was adorable and I loved the chance to get to know the other kids in the class and watch their teachers do their thing. 

Wednesday was the day of parties for the big(ger) kids, and we were lucky to have Daddy along for the fun. God bless his heart- he had no idea what the noise level or typical chaos rating was going to be for 15 kindergarteners and 23 3rd graders who were juiced up on a combination of carbohydrates, chocolate and anticipation of their break. I suggested Jason take an appetizer of Excedrin migraine before we got into school. All went well- including a major pinch hit for us in Josh's class where we needed to replicate chocolate fondue that was nut safe. It wasn't quite as cool as the other kids', but Josh rolled with the punches like he normally does. 

As soon as we got the green light to head out, all of us piled in the Suburban and pointed it toward Lewistown. The kids were thrilled to be going to stay over for a few nights. Toby was spending his first trip at the kennel. The kids wasted no time once we got there, and Mom's house went from tidy to a train wreck in under a half hour. There were games,tea parties, Nerf wars, puzzles and art projects for days. 

Our Thanksgiving dinner was delicious- as always.  And we all enjoyed the unseasonably warm weather and went for a walk after we cleaned up the kitchen. It was lovely!

Friday came too fast and soon it was time for us to head home. I had a goal of getting our tree up and trimmed before we had to retrieve our retriever at 5:00 pm. This plan likely would have turned out great if it hadn't been for Lauren's bout of car sickness as we pulled onto our street. I then spent an hour cleaning barf out of the car, while questioing my rationale for allowinf goldfish crackers to be the snack for the ride home. We tossed her car seat and all of its vomit soaked nooked and crannies. Then, we were challenged by a pre-lit tree that was no longer lighting, which required us to unwrap all 8 trillion lights from the tree. It wasn't a "ho ho ho" moment, let's just say.  By some small miracle, we ended up getting the tree done with 15 minutes to spare before taking off to get Toby. 

I think it is safe to say that the kids were theilled to have him back home. 

Saturday was a special day for Lauren because her Daddy had decided to take her to see the Nutcrackerin Williamsport. We got her all dresed up, did her nails ans curled her hair for the occasion. It was precious. 

And just because we didn't have enough going on, we had a mattress delivered for Mara on Saturday to move her into a big girl bed. She was so excited. 

It was a full weekend, no doubt about it. 

Halloween 2015

I should start by saying that I pretty much hate Halloween. For a food allergy mom, this whole holiday is mostly like walking on a tight rope over the Grand Canyon with no safety net under us. Just for fun this year, we had the added equivalent of a 30 mph wind blowing while on the tight rope due to the Auvi-Q recall that happened merely days before the big Trick or Treat night festivities. Given that I pretty much hoard Auvi-Q's on Halloween and stuff as many in my pockets as possible, I was a little unsettled to know that these little lifesavers weren't a reliable source of comfort if the unthinkable had happened. I say all this to explain why I have been right on the edge of a nervous breakdown for the past few days, and then have been passed out due to the exhaustion of it all the past two nights before 8 pm. Please don't judge.

The kids, on the other hand, had a blast. Apparently they were too hopped up on sugar to notice my panic. We had made plans to attend a local Trunk or Treat that the church that is associated with the kids' school puts on on Friday evening. This is known to be a major to-do in our area. And before you give me any credit for overcoming my anxiety about the plethora of mini Snickers and Reeses cup covered little fingers at this event for the sheer joy of the children, please know I agreed to this out of purely selfish motives. Jason and I wanted desperately to attend the PSU game on Saturday and feared we wouldn't make it back in time to take them out on Saturday. So we stood in line about an hour and then the kids had a blast gathering candy through about 50-60 trunks and numerous stops inside the school. It was awesome and tons of work went into making it so much fun for the kids.   Jason's sister and her husband and his son, Gage, came along with us, so that was a treat. 

Saturday morning we were barely out of our sugar coma before it was time to take off for Happy Valley. I will say any lack of enthusiasm I was feeling for the whole idea was quickly remedied when we started kicking some Illinois behind. Seeing a shut out was a treat!  Josh was along with us for the game and we all had a great time. 

We made it home long enough to get the kids back into their get ups and head out to trick or treat around Turbotville. I will admit that Jason and I were dragging by this time, but we powered through. There were no broken hearts that there were many on the streets around our house whose lights were not turned on.  The kids filled their bags again and seemed to have a ball. 

We are happy another Halloween is in the books with no use of any of our (might not work) Auvi-Q's or the $800 worth of Epi-Pens I have had to purchase over the past few days to replace the recalled Auvi's. Judging by the size of the kids' treat bags it appears they will have more than enough candy to last them through  Easter of 2018. I will be clutching my epinephrine until then. 

 

Happy Nerf-Day, Josh!

I suppose I count it a victory that for the first 8 years of Joshua's life, I have gotten away with having a nice, small party at our house to celebrate his birthday.  This year, he has been begging us for a party with his friends, and he wanted to have a Nerf War.  Thankfully, we were able to  turn the church  gym into a Nerf War Zone for Josh and his friends.

 

I had absolutely no clue how to go about this- so I did what all Moms would do in this situation and consulted the all knowing Pinterest. Thankfully, Josh was not the first nearly 9 year old who was interested in a Nerf war. And so I began spray painting every stray cardboard box I could find and started stockpiling Nerf darts as though we were on the verge of Armageddon.

We found eyewear that we gave each of the kids so that no one would have the proverbial "you'll shoot your eye out" experience. Luckily no one had eye issues, but we had two dart marks on cheeks from a stray bullet. Nothing requiring 911 though, which seemed to be a win. 

It didn't take the kids long to get going. And once they did, they battled hard for a solid hour before we took a break for snacks and cake. And then they were right back into the battle again. All of the parents enjoyed watching them all having fun together. 

This was all of the boys behind their fort. They all took our boxes and arranged them into a fort for the boys and one for the girls. 

I was so grateful for so many people who helped to make this possible. My mom and Jason's mom were so helpful- cleaning up and packaging leftover food so that we could get it back home from the church. And I can't say enough about the other parents at the party who helped to clean up, break down tables and chairs and even mopped the floor for us. It was so above the call of duty, but was so appreciated.

I think Joshua had a very special friend party...and now we are done with that until he turns 16, right?  We will gather with family this coming Sunday on his real birthday, so we are looking foward to that as well. Much to celebrate with our almost 9 year old. I will spare you the sap until Sunday...but I make no promises about how thick it might get at that point.