A Christmas Season Pictorial

Ok, it was a crazy December and I wasn't here much because I was singing with 3 choirs, getting ready for/hosting a massive party, and doing all the typical "mom" stuff that has to get done. So, I'm going to make up for it with one gynormous post...

Christmas Season started the day after Thanksgiving with getting the tree. Katie was in a pissy mood. Really, really wretchedly pissy. Fortunately, it was a nice day and we found a nice tree. It wasn't nearly as scraggly as it looks in the picture.



That night, we (sans the baby) went with my sister, her husband, and her younger son to the Constitution Plaza lighting. It's not often you find someone taller than my 6'6" BIL but 2 such people were standing directly ahead of us.



Next came the clean up of the house. This included cleaning up the grotesque remnants of the Great Pumpkin Massacre. Fortunately, the culprit was discovered if not apprehended...





It took a couple of days but I got that tree decorated to within an inch of its life. Wait a minute, maybe that's an inch over its life? Poor thing. It will go to the town to be mulched (our town will pick up your tree for free - saves on the town mulch bill!)





I posited that, if I were to find a little tree for my 3 year old that she would leave my tree alone. Coupled with a stringent "you touch Mommy's tree, you get an automatic time out", it actually worked. Fortunately, the tree was virtually free.



And, of course, the poor kid came down with her first ear infection a couple days later. (I consider us very lucky, though, to have gotten to 3 without having an ear infection!)



Visiting Santa didn't go so well though. Poor Daddy.



I never get a good picture of the party set up with all the food in place and the guests not there. Sigh. Of course, I guess if I were a little more on the ball it would help!



Once the party was over, I embarked on a mission. My mother, you see, has a habit of leaving unwanted objects in other people's homes. In this instance, she left a picture painted by my grandfather at my brother's. Ok, most of my grandfather's paintings are quite good but this one? Well, still life wasn't his genre. So, I was given the mission, which I gladly accepted with a distinctly evil chortle, to sneak this painting back into my parents' house. It took me nearly a year but it now hangs in the back of my mother's closet where, presumably, she will one day discover it. Heh heh heh...





Ok, this next one has no bearing on my December except that I took the picture in December and it captures rather how I feel about life at the moment.



Then, on the 19th, it started snowing and didn't stop until the evening of the 21st. Our snowblower, of course, is still in the shop missing a part they can't get. Now, granted, the guy came and plowed a couple of times since it was his fault the snowblower wasn't repaired (he's had it since April) but we still got stuck at the end of the driveway at least 5 times (John once - me four times - my car sits lower). All told, in our yard, we measured 16". There were about 8" when these photos were taken.





So, finally, the party's out of the way, two different Lessons & Carols services have been sung and are out of the way, it's time to wrap. Katie notices a teeny tiny present and inquires. I tell her it's for Maddie (her babydoll). She wants to show it to Maddie. Ok, I say. A few minutes later, she says "Maddie's going to stay here and look at it, ok?" "Ok, Katie." When I saw the doll later, I thought I was going to pee my pants. That package wasn't going anywhere for the watch that doll had on it!



And, on Christmas Eve, Maddie's (and Katie's) wait was rewarded. (If you or your child (or your doll) want one of these crowns - check out Marsbarn's Etsy shop! They're adjustable in size and reversible!)

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And, yes, didn't you all want to see what I look like after a long Advent of song? This is Christmas Eve.



And Christmas Day (after singing three more services that morning with rehearsal starting at 7:20 a.m.) (Greta, that's Idol Eyes and Prankster on the lid with Non-Conformist and Frostlite liner - LOL!).



I hope you all had a lovely holiday and I wish you and yours all the best for 2009!