Christmas 2008

It comes every year and will go on forever. And along with Christmas belong the keepsakes and the customs. Those humble, everyday things a mother clings to, and ponders, like Mary in the secret spaces of her heart. ~~ Marjorie Holmes

Like many families, we have a few family traditions each Christmas. I don't recall doing many of the items below as a child. What I remember is going to mass on Christmas Eve and then returning home and being able to pick one gift to open. I remember my Mom and Grandma making Italian cookies for the family prior to Christmas. I guess each family has its idea of what makes Christmas special and below are the things we do to make it special for our children.

1. The making of the gingerbread house.

2. And, for Christmas Eve, there are quite a few items on the agenda. Up first, is making cookies for Santa. Mary Grace and her friends, Paige & Riley, normally join us for this event. Usually, the kids watch Santa's progress from the Norad internet website.3. Throwing their Christmas list into the fire place. It is the final message to Santa of what they want for Christmas.3. Putting reindeer food on the lawn.

4. Watching National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation and/or The Christmas Story.

5. Last, but not least, the reading of Twas the Night Before Christmas right before bedtime. Of course, the big change this year was that both girls were helping Daddy read it for the first time. Rachel can pretty much read it independently and Anna is just mastering reading but I suspect she'll be reading at the same level as Rachel this time next year.


Christmas Day

There's nothing sadder in this world than to awake Christmas morning and not be a child.~~Erma Bombeck

The big item that both girls asked for were electric scooters this year. I wasn't too worried about Rachel riding on one but I was a bit concerned about Anna getting one. Anna, let's just say, has never developed that "maybe I should not do this" response that humans have for survival. Some day, she would make a great fighter pilot. But, until then, I have to figure out how to help her safely make it to adulthood.

Luckily, there were no accidents and no broken bones after their first day on the scooters. And, as predicted, Rachel was careful with riding her scooter whereas Anna was flying down the cul-de-sac. At one point, she almost ran into my neighbor's mailbox. I suspect we are going to age quite a bit watching her ride. Although, Jeff is already having visions of Anna riding a sport bike on a track. Gee, I wonder where she gets it from?

Gail took Anna and Rachel to see the movie Kit Kittredge; An American Girl this past summer. Gail and Harold gave Rachel the Kit American Girl doll for her birthday in September. And, Anna has been wanting an American Girl doll of her own since. Gail and Harold gave Anna Ruthie for Christmas. I have to say that I enjoy the American Girl things more than the Hannah Montana and High School Musical stuff that seems to be everywhere these days. I'm glad our daughters really aren't interested in either.

Anna, Jeff and I are all nursing some version of a head cold but overall, we had a wonderful Christmas. And, while we are always early in putting decorations up; We are also early in taking them down. Jeff has been hard at work taking care of that. And, I've been busy cleaning the house. The girls left this morning to go to West Virginia with Harold and Gail to visit family. They will return home next Saturday. So, I'm taking the time to go through their rooms and remove some items to make room for their new toys....this is something I can't do with them here as they are both pack rats. And, Rachel claims every item has some significant meaning in her life; even the toy from a McDonalds Happy Meal. Jeff and I will be working Monday and Tuesday and we leave in the RV on Wednesday for Savannah. It'll be the first RV trip that he and I have taken alone in a while. I'm looking forward to the down time and I made reservations for us to take a Riverboat dinner cruise next Friday night. I can't wait.

And, for anyone wondering, our new cat has settled into home life with us just fine. Cocoa (that's what we named him) has fattened up a bit and has had a few tiffs with our neighbor's male cat while establishing his turf. But, other than that, he has become one of the family. He's not going to be happy with us though as we'll be bringing him to the vet soon to get him neutered. We don't want to contribute to the unwanted pet population so it's something that needs to be done. We just haven't time to take him just yet.

I forgot to mention that I was on business travel for the two weeks leading up to Christmas. I was in Marietta one week and then the week before Christmas, I was in Washington D.C. Needless to say, that put us behind with things that needed to be done at home. Before leaving D.C. to return home, I did have time to visit one place that I've been wanting to see; the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. What a humbling place to visit. At various times I was moved to tears just thinking of the amount of innocent life taken in the name of genocide. It was troubling to think that mankind has and continues to do such horrific things in the name of religion, claiming land, or whatever the excuse is for the day. It is one thing to conduct war between armed combatants. And, quite the other to murder and torture innocent, unarmed civilians.