snuggling with santa

Want to know how I know you're the coolest kid on the block?  Because you cut Santa's hair.  No, I'm not talking about me.  Actually I think I'm pretty far from cool but my good friend Felicity is one of the cool kids.  Felicity has cut my hair since I was seven years old.  TWENTY THREE years and running I have been following her around all of Gwinnett and beyond to get my hair cut.  I have put off getting my hair done while we were stationed in Maryland and California until I flew home to Georgia just to get my hair made over.  She is quarky, funny, totally aweomse and when I grow up, I want to be just like her.  :)  Anyway, I digress.... she cuts Santa's hair.  It is totally awesome too!  In exchange for his hair being cut he shows up to her annual Christmas party and brings presents for ALL the kids.  Not only does he bring presents, he gives each kid as much time as they need on Santa's lap.  He listens, laughs, takes pictures, talks to parents, and makes each child feel loved and appreciate from the moment they sit on his lap.

I wasn't sure how meeting him this year would go over with Izzy.  Sometimes she is weird with people and other times she has never met a stranger.  I was hoping and praying that by talking about Santa each day leading up to the event would help ease her mind.  We looked at pictures, sang songs, and talked about what Santa does.  So the big night comes for Santa's arrival at Felicity's house.  I was nervous.  Enter Santa.....




Izzy looked, stared for a few minutes then walked her little Christmas dressed hiney right over to him, pushing her way past all the kids standing around and gave him a big ole hug!!  It was priceless.  Santa stopped what he was doing and hugged her right back.



As Santa made his way to his chair.  Izzy sat across from him patently waiting for her turn to sit on his lap.  I'm not sure what she was going to tell him, if she was going to say anything at all.  She sat and sat and watched other kids get their time with Santa and leave with a gift.  After about the 5th kid, she started getting antsy.  She almost had a break down.  Then it was her turn.....  she crawled in his lap.  Curled right up in his armpit, rubbed the fur on his coat and just snuggled.  She didn't say anything.  She just sat in his arms and cozied right up.  She probably could have sat there all night.  Once Santa realized she just wanted to cuddle he started to talk to her.  Asked her if she has been good, what she wanted for Christmas and to take good care of her toys.  She agreed to all.



The picture above was just before Izzy almost lost her schmidt if she wasn't next to see Santa.  




I was also invited to sit on his lap.  He was awesome.  I'm sure glad I didn't break his leg but he asked me what I wanted.  I was dumbfounded.  What should I say.... so I said clothes! CLOTHES!?!  Out of all the things I could have said,  I said clothes.  I'm definitely not the cool kid.  hehehehe.



Izzy walked away from Santa excited about her gift.  A webkinz reindeer.  Again, he was the coolest and Felicity is awesome for having such cool clients.  I am thankful we got that time with Santa.  I'm hoping she remembers this next year.  Santa isn't scary.  He is totally awesome!!

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Now that everyone is off from work until the new year.  We have been busy.  Cookies and playing.



Actually reading the recipe card out loud for Oma.  




Izzy has also discovered my piano. She loves to think she is playing a song from the sheet music in front of her and singing along.  She makes me sit and listen and sometimes dance.  Her little fingers peck away at the black and white keys like she is a baby Mozart.  She likes to listen to me play but she LOVES her music better.



Yup, those are big girl panties.  We are slowly trying to get potty trained.  She likes the panties but not the potty part.  She hasn't peed in the potty but has pooed.  It's a good start.  I'm proud of her.




We have a whole week before Santa arrives.  I can't wait to travel to AL to visit family and for Izzy's Christmas party tomorrow with her little friends and for more nights of just being with family.

the christmas shuffle

So we've made it.  We've made it to the place where things smell perfect, family roams the house, lots or smiles and hugs, many laughs and lots of traditions.... we are home.  



 Not only are we home, we are home for Christmas.  We are in the land where every room has it's own Christmas theme and every nativity scene is missing baby Jesus until Christmas morning.



We are among our favorite people and I am trying to soak up every second of it.  Every moment I'm awake I want to be visiting with someone.  I can't wait for tomorrow when everyone is finished with work for the rest of year and we get to play every day.  As for now, we are enjoying our evenings with Oma and Papa.  Izzy is helping around the house while I make sure she only plays with the things that don't scream "I'M TOTALLY BREAKABLE SO PLAY WITH ME!!!"





I cherish the traditions my mom has made for me and my sister.  Now I can understand why they were so important to her.  I hope one day Izzy will also treasure the my efforts to create new traditions while still holding on to my families yearly celebrations.  I haven't quite figured out what our traditions will be but I will find one.  I do know.... we will always frost Christmas cutout cookies together, baby Jesus will be MIA until Christmas morning and we will drive around in our jammies while drinking hot cocoa judging neighborhood Christmas lights.  EEEEEEK!!!  I get excited just thinking about all of it.

 











For military families who are unable to spend this season with their loved one, I am thinking about you.  We've been in your shoes and I hold on to that emotion every Christmas since my husband was deployed.  Even with him home it's hard to let it go knowing there are so many families with out their daddies and mommies, aunts and uncles, brothers and sisters.  So how do you get through Christmas?  This is what I did....

Have yourself a good little cry, alone, in the morning before everything begins.  Then enjoy your day.  You being miserable is not going to bring your soldier, sailor, marine or airman home any faster.  Document your day with pictures to send to them in their next care package.  Just remember... they want to be here for this as much as you want them there for Christmas.  They will be home soon and you can put your Christmas tree up in July and celebrate again!! Christmas is a special time of year but it's only one day.  You can do it!!

sunday funday

If you don't know anything about my daughter, the one thing you should know is that she LOVES to paint.  She will sit for hours and paint.  She will paint paper, canvases, ceramics and, in today's case, her entire body.  I sat there and watched her name each color as she gooped it onto her brush and watch it slowly smear across the canvases.  Once the canvases were full we moved on to freezer paper.  Once we hit the freezer paper, Izzy thought it would be a good idea for hand prints and feet prints.  (Disclaimer:  This is totally my fault for teaching her these things.  It was a simple little Christmas art project that has turned into a beast.) I digress.... After hand prints and feet prints she moved on to a bigger, more beautiful canvas... I will let the pictures tell the story.  :)



This Sunday has been the best!  We grocery shopped together, ate lunch together, played and laughed together, shopped at Best Buy (aka Adult Disneyland) and painted.  We devoured TimTams with hot tea and hot cocoa.  Filled our bellies with sushi and enjoyed the company of our neighbors where we celebrated Christmas before Izzy and I left for Georgia this week.  What. An. Amazing. Day.



 It's days like these I need to keep me rejuvenated for the next week when my husband will, again, pull 14 hour days at school.  It's days like these that remind me that we are pretty cool parents and that we need to pause and watch her explore because she is growing up.  When we were without a kid, you would always hear parents say "They grow up so fast".  Now I can attest that they do.  It's faster then so fast.  It's like light speed.  I want her to stay in this little body forever (minus the tantrums).

Our evening ended with two glowing lights in our house... the Christmas tree and the apple computer.  It's back to work tomorrow but right now I will relish in the moment of reading "The Night Before Christmas" under the Christmas tree before bed.