Who Wears the Pants

We all had to ask for pants for Christmas this year. Funny how it happens all at the same time. Zeke has gradually outgrown all of his remaining 12 month size pants this fall and recently I have been doing laundry at least twice a week to keep him in clean pants. Aaron's pants were in fair condition except for his typical wear pattern of holes in the left knee -- and naturally all of the left knees tore through in the same week. I have various sizes of pants in my closet, few of which actually fit, and it drives me crazy. Most of them are too big, stretched wearing them far too long (4-5 months!) while I was pregnant with Zeke.

Fortunately, Christmas pants were made possible. Zeke's grandmas showered him with pants and other clothes this Christmas. He went from 5 pants to 15 literally overnight. And they are all cute. (Now I just have to worry about keeping him in clean pajamas....) Aaron also found a pair of hole-less pants under the Christmas tree, so he has one pair that will keep his knee warm. And I went shopping today (yay for gift cards) and actually found something that fit. How fortunate we are.

Boxing Day

Aaron and I are both careful present-openers. I come from a family who respects beatiful wrapping paper, while Aaron is a man alone in a large group of gift-wrap tearers. Zeke barely has the patience to unwrap a gift, let alone do it carefully, so we encourage him to rip his paper (for now anyway, he can decide his own gift-opening philosophy as he grows older). He does really well but is so easily distracted by the toy he just received that it's hard to get him to move on to the next gift. He's probably thinking 'Don't interrupt me to rip some more paper; I'm busy with this cool thing.' Yesterday morning, the first things he saw were the box of legos we got him and the toy tool bench that Grandma and Grandpa Loertscher bought for their house. Zeke was so excited about these new toys that it took all day to get him to open his other gifts.

While we were with Grandma and Grandpa Carlile, Dynna gave Zeke a stack of three wrapped gifts. Zeke was on my lap and we started one of them. He tore into it with gusto, pulled open the box, ripped out the tissue paper, held onto the clothes inside long enough to take a picture, tossed them in Aaron's general direction, and picked up the next package to start all over again: rip, open, pull, picture, toss, repeat. When it was over I was out of breath and surrounded by wrapping paper and boxes. The clothes were cute (from what I saw of them) and it was really quite a rush -- we've never had the free-for-all Christmas morning where everyone opens gifts as fast as they can, all at the same time. Exciting, yet a bit overwhelming.

We had a fabulous Christmas this year and appreciate our generous family and friends who have given us so many great gifts.

Grass in December !?!

I picked up some grass turf repair seed late in the season this year. I put some down in the back yard but didn't really notice much difference. I don't know why for sure but I decided to grow some grass in a pot. Manndi let me use the little purple pot. I planted the seed about a week ago and about two days ago there was green and WOW has it gone wild :D. See.

Christmas Traditions

We have been thinking about fun and meaningful family holiday traditions, trying to balance our own family celebrations with those of our parents. Right now we're still heavily involved with our parents, but that only encourages our creativity in developing our own traditions amid established holiday routines.

We head out Christmas shopping the day after Thanksgiving, in the afternoon after all the terrific deals and zealous shoppers are exhausted. The Christmas tree goes up that same weekend - decorated with colored lights, a variety of treasured ornaments, and a star on the top. Some gifts are out under the tree all season and others come out on Christmas Eve as stocking gifts. Whether they are wrapped depends on the size - if it's too big or awkward, it just gets a ribbon. This year it so happens that we each have one wrapped and one unwrapped gift.

Stocking gifts come from mom and dad, not Santa. While we tell the Santa story, and Zeke is free to go whisper his Christmas wishes into that elfen ear, it's fiction. There is another true story that is much more important to tell -- about our Savior who was born and then died for us.

Christmas Day is about sharing the day with family: exchanging gifts, playing games, hanging out, and catching up. New Years is too. We go shopping for a new movie on New Year's Eve, then come home and watch it together. That tradition is truly our own, and developed almost by accident. New Year's Day is flying with Aaron's club in the morning and hanging out at home for the rest of the day.

Grandma's Glasses

I was reading something for work one morning recently, and Zeke was playing by himself. I looked up at one point to see him getting grandma's reading glasses out of the drawer. I told him to put them away, but the next time I looked up, there he was, using them to 'read' something. I just sat quietly, enjoying the moment. When he repeated this new trick a few days later, I ran for my camera.

Most of the time the glasses were around his neck rather than actually on his face. After all, that's where Grandma wears them...

Unfortunately he wasn't entirely gentle with them. And naturally they were well fingerprinted when he was done 'reading.'

The Power of Cheese

Zeke and I went to the grocery store to get cheese early last week. I let Zeke hold it while we were in the store and on the way home. About halfway home I heard a 'mmmmm' sound from the backseat and I was really impressed that he had seen the cows in the fields from the window and was moo-ing. Then I looked in the rearview mirror and saw the package of cheese in his mouth and I started to wonder if maybe the 'mmmmm' was because the cheese was so delicious. I checked out the situation when we got home and sure enough he had chewed right through the package and eaten some cheese. Our little sharp tooth.

Aaron's Got An Airplane

After several months of minimal airplane-related purchases, we decided to get Aaron an airplane for Christmas. His very first plane, the NexStar, had a very spectacular and unfortunate demise over the summer, and our Christmas airplane is a NexStar replacement. Sort of. Aaron just bought the pieces he needed (since the wings survived the crash); the new parts are blue and the wings are a contrasing red.

Because we don't have our own hangar yet, Aaron engineered a hanger to keep planes out of our living space but leave them accessible for frequent flying. A little plexiglass, a little PVC pipe, some rope, and lots of help from Aaron's dad and we have a platform that can be hoisted into the ceiling of the garage. Now the airplanes are in the air all the time!

We took them down yesterday to go flying, and the system worked like a charm. One really fun part of the design is the clear plexiglass platform, which allows us to see the planes when we're right underneath the platform.

Minty Fresh

I received Junior Mints in bulk from my mom for my birthday, and we have been enjoying them very much over the past month or so.

Zeke seems to have inherited a love of mint - especially mint with chocolate - from both parents, and he has enjoyed the Junior Mints right along with us. Right after this picture was taken he ran off with the whole box and I had to chase him down.

In addition to being a tasty treat, the box of mints also doubles as a fun toy. It rattles when you shake it! Bonus if the box is open because Junior Mints explode everywhere and Zeke gets to watch Mom pick them all up.

'Tis the Season to Be ... Stressed?

Does the holiday season stress you out?

Stop stress before it gets out of control!

**Share your work with your friends and family -- get those 'must do' tasks done faster, and spend more time with the people you care most about
-Make cleaning and decorating the house a family affair
-Go Christmas shopping with friends
-Throw a joint party with friends instead of each of you planning your own

**Stick to your routine -- this applies to all ages!
-Eat regular meals (not just snacks)
-Get enough sleep (and make sure the kids get their naps)
-Exercise - even just a few minutes makes a difference
-Make time for yourself

**Make a plan -- and schedule in some flexibility
-Make shopping lists
-Plan times to shop, cook, clean, and wrap and deliver gifts
-Decide what your top priorities are and schedule them first; fit in others as time permits
-Expect delays when you (or others) travel

**Don't overschedule yourself or your family

**Take a break when you're feeling overwhelemed, irritable, tense, stressed out, or unhappy

Who knows, you just might enjoy the holidays more this year!

You can find these and other great tips just by searching the web. My sources include Mayo Clinic, Navy safety center, and fun.familyeducation.com.

Go Take a Good Walk

I took Zeke for a walk today. Pretty amazing that it's December and still warm enough to go out walking with a little one. We put on our sweatshirts and Zeke wore his hood and we were really quite comfortable, although our cheeks became a little rosier than normal. The afternoon sun felt wonderful. There's just something about getting outside and breathing fresh air and doing something good for my body that makes me feel better about life and relieves some of my stresses. Today I let myself get lost in my own thoughts, resolving and letting go of the problems at work, although sometimes I choose to think of nothing but my breathing and the rhythm of my feet. My own natural therapy, I suppose - somehow as my heart rate returns to normal, I'm calmer than when I started.