Holidays

I haven't been blogging on purpose because I wanted to include pictures so badly, but I think I donated my battery charger (for my camera's dead batteries) to the Migrant Center by mistake.  We had two battery chargers and I was fed up with too much stuff one day and threw one in the give away box.  Unfortunately, I think I did that twice.  So they both are there.  I think they're open tomorrow, so I will go and see if I can buy one back.  Dang.

Christmas time was magical.  Andrew got the idea from a friend at work to get a bunch of jingle bells and run around outside the house on Christmas Eve.  His friend, Scott Hall, told him this hilarious story about getting bells every Christmas Eve and running around the outside of the house, jingling bells, as the children were drifting off to sleep.  He said about the last year he did it, he had older kids and younger ones and he was outside jingling Santa's sleigh bells when he heard his older boys saying, "Shut the f*ck up!  Santa's coming!  Shut the f*ck up!!!"  And he went inside, defeated and told his wife, "Man, we're some parents . . . our kids are dropping F-bombs on Christmas Eve."  Anyway - I didn't know that Andrew was going to do this, so the girls and I were laying in bed and I was telling them that they better get to sleep so that Santa doesn't pass up our house, because we're still awake, blah, blah, blah, mostly just saying shhh!  Enough talking . . . let's go to sleep . . . etc., etc., when all of a sudden . . . we heard the jingling of bells.  Francesca and Cecilia flopped down on their pillows, paralyzed in silence.  Cecilia actually got a little nervous and insisted on lying on my stomach, but Francesca laid down and didn't move or speak for at least ten minutes.  I was speechless, too.  I thought, "Who is that?  Andrew is working late, Granny and Grandpa wouldn't come down here and do that without telling me?"  I had basically decided that it was some crazy neighbor that ran around jingling bells on Christmas Eve.  Francesca was in knots with anticipation.  It was totally awesome.

On Christmas morning, Granny and Grandpa came down to watch the opening of presents.  Santa came through with the Thomas Action Canyon, which takes up half the living room.  Its disassembled in the top of the closet now, and hopefully it will stay there for awhile.  They love it, but its not exactly a creative toy.  Well, I guess they got creative with it when they crumbled dried flower petals all over the tracks and said, "Its snowing!"  But other than that, the electric train goes around, and around, and around.  Cecilia shared her ice cream and she was really happy about it.  The best things in life are simple.  By the end of the day, up at Granny's house, the girls were playing with bubble paper and boxes and having the time of their lives.  Its not what you spend, that's for sure.  I think we've definitely geared down Christmas.  We did the Angel Tree at Family Food Town, because I really want it to be about giving, not getting, but I think they're still a bit young to get that.  They're still in the ego-centric stage.  For some bizarre reason, I thought it would be a good idea to take them to Murdock's to choose a gift for each other and boy was I wrong.  They just showed me everything they wanted, which was everything.  Francesca chose a gift for Zenon, but he was the only one on her list.  I was hoping I would be at the top of her list, but hey.  

New Years was really nice.  Andrew got home early at 4:00 with Pablo's Pizza, so I didn't have to cook.  Not that I don't like cooking, but I think I'm totally burned out by dinner with a 3 and 2 year old.  I realized yesterday that I dread dinnertime and I'm thinking, why?  I like cooking.  I have tons of great food at the house.  What's the deal?  The deal is this:  I cook for an hour or so, set table, light candle, serve food and eat alone.  Andrew is still at work and Cecilia and Francesca may or may not eat.  One bite and "I'm too full!"  Or, "No! Yuck!"  Its exhausting.  Even when Andrew brought home pizza, they ate a few bites and then all hell broke loose for whatever reason and Andrew is like, "Girls!  I thought we would have a nice dinner together, since I don't get to eat dinner with you usually!"  And I'm thinking . . . think again.  And I know that it is just the age.  Dinner won't always be torturous, right?  I won't always have to spoon feed my children, pretend like each bite is a train or a bike or a bus or a plane, right?  Look at me - I can feed myself.  So surely they will want to do it, too, someday.  

I can't help but feel a little sad that the holidays are over.  There is a house in Sobre El Rio with the most beautiful Christmas Lights and this beautiful sparkly sign that says, "Peace on Earth."  We drove by it on the way home from Granny's all the time and it made me a little sad to see that it wasn't lit up tonight.  But we have tons of birthdays to look forward to in January.  

I'm hopeful that 2009 is going to be a fabulous year, full of peace and love and evolution galore.  Ah - galore.  The other day, Cecilia was settling down on my lap to nurse and she said, "Ninny Time galore!"  Where does that kid get her material?  She is hilarious.  I think I'm going to make a little pouch and wear it around my neck, with a little notebook and pencil inside, so I can write down the hilarity, because I always think I'm going to remember, but then I don't!  Argh!  Hopefully tomorrow's post will have pictures . . . keeping my fingers crossed that the battery charger is for sale $.50.