May The Merry Bells Keep Ringing December 31, 2009

I still have Christmas songs in my head.  I haven’t yet taken them off my iPod, but I have not played my Holiday playlist since Christmas Day.  I guess it is time to let Christmas go for the year.  We put all of our decorations away on Tuesday night.  We have another important event coming up that we need to be prepared for…  Cooper’s 2nd birthday!

But before we get into a reminiscent post about my darling baby boy, I better get through Christmas…  officially put it behind us with this post. 

This was a really fun holiday season for the Lake family.  Mason is understanding the whole Santa thing (and yes, we have milked that for all it’s worth!), and Cooper learned a lot of new holiday words.  We’ve had a lot of fun adventures too.

Helping Nana, Papa, and Kristin pick out Christmas trees.

Kristin teaching Mason the 12 Days of Christmas dance.

The Blizzard of '09!

Seeing the lights at the Mormon Temple on Christmas Eve.

Keeping old traditions.

And starting new traditions.

But the best part of all was waking up Christmas morning with two very excited children.  It was like I was a kid all over again!  I woke up at 4:30am Christmas morning and couldn’t get back to sleep.  I just lay there listening for when Mason and Cooper woke up and ran out of their room.  Meema got the best deal – the kids ran right into her room.  (At least I hope Meema thought it was the best deal considering I’m sure they woke her up!)

Mason was excited to see that Santa had indeed heard about her wish for a Gabriella doll and a cake maker.  While Cooper was not as clued into it all, he did enjoy his Lightning McQueen sleeping bag.  And they both enjoyed the new luggage Santa gave them for our upcoming Disney trip.  Cooper was not quite as into opening gifts as Mason, though.  I think he would have been happy with the first gift he opened or the spatula I got in my stocking.  But Mason was more than happy to help him unwrap! 

The very best part of the morning, though, was when Mason opened up a Princess DVD we had gotten her.  She was over the moon about it, jumped right up and came to give me a huge hug.  That was the best present I could have gotten. 

All in all, I am very grateful for the time we had with family (although we missed Jen and Scott), and the generosity of everyone.  With all the Christmas decorations put away, I still have very vivid memories in my head.  I will hold them with me until next Christmas when we get to experience it all over again!

Our Snow Days December 21, 2009

Without a true measurement, we estimate that we got about 20 inches of snow over the weekend!  More snow than the kids have ever seen and more snow that I’ve seen in years.  You can only imagine the fun that ensued.  Here are some pictures of our “snowed in” weekend.

Getting ready to hit the snow!

Mason was super excited to be in the snow.

Without snow boots, Cooper's time in the snow was not as fun. But he did his best.

Enjoying the view - them and me!

Skyping with Jen and Scott.

Christmas cookie time!

They couldn't wait for the cookies to be done.

Back out in the snow...

It was much deeper this time. Cooper couldn't even walk in it.

All around good memories.

School is closed today, so we’re in for another day.  It will be interesting to see if it’s just an early Christmas break for us all.  I think we can definitely say it will be a White Christmas, though!

What Could Have Been December 19, 2009

I’m not sure where I’ve gone wrong in my baking lately.  Ok, maybe I should correct that…  My baking is fine.  It’s the final touches that just aren’t going as planned.  I’m not sure if I’m putting too much pressure on myself for it all to be perfect or if I really just don’t have the talent I feel I should have.  I’m a detail-oriented person, but somehow that is not translating into my decorating skills.  (Maybe it has something to do with the fact that I rarely get 5 minutes to myself in the kitchen.)

My latest example is this:

This is supposed to look like an ornament.  A cupcake ornament – cute idea, right?  Well, my execution was less than satisfactory for me.  Despite crumb coating all the cupcakes, I still ended up with crumby icing.  (At least it looks like cookies and cream. Yum!)  I decided to make only green icing, and there are a lot fewer red MnM’s than expected in the Christmas bags, so the majority of my cupcakes would have been all green.  And the real kicker?  After making several trips to the store to ensure I got everything I needed to make these cute little things for Mason’s school holiday party, I remembered that Mason’s class is nut-free.  Meaning, the peanut butter cup ornament topper would not work.  (Good thing I realized it before finishing all of them!)

So here is what went to school:

They looked decent enough.  In the end, I know it doesn’t matter.  The kids will eat anything, so who am I trying to impress?  Honestly, I don’t care what the other mom’s think.  I care what I think, and I don’t like putting out less than perfect baked goods.  It’s just the way I roll.  So I’ll need to either bring my perfection tendencies down a notch or make time to do things the way I really want them. 

Note: There were so many other treats at the party (despite the sign-up sheet only showing cookies and cupcakes as an option), the kids didn’t even eat the cupcakes there.  They were each given a plastic bag with a cupcake in it at the end of the day to take home.  Can you guess what they looked like then?

Lazy Sundays December 15, 2009

I was never one to truly enjoy and relish in a lazy weekend day.  If the weather is nice, I’d rather be outside doing something active or productive.  But recently, as life has become more hectic, I’ve come to appreciate a lazy day at home.

This past Sunday was one of those days.  It was pouring rain and very cold.  After picking Mason up in Frederick after a night at Meema’s, we went straight home.  Both kids were tired (Jeremy too), so we put a movie in, popped some popcorn, nestled under some blankets and just hung out.  It was great.  I was thankful to have the kids resting and somewhat quiet.  That’s my idea of relaxing.

Of course, once everyone was settled, I was up and getting things done.  Laundry, pumpkin bread, decluttering, etc.  I know, what is lazy about getting chores done, you ask.  But for me, it was lazy for everyone else, so I was able to actually get things done without much interruption.  It was heaven!

Understanding Cooper

On our way home from school last night, we drove by a neighbor’s house with a lot of Christmas decorations.  We drive by it every night, and every time, Cooper says, “Santa.  Santa, Mommy.”  He did the same last night.  But a few seconds later (when we were already past the house), Cooper said, “Up Down, Mommy.  Santa Up Down.”  Umm…  what?  I just said, “Yes, Cooper, up down.”  You need to acknowledge the kid with everything he says or he’ll just keep saying it over and over.  I did not understand what he was saying, but just brushed it off and went on with the evening.

This morning, on my way to work while passing the same house with decorations, I noticed a Santa flag that I had not seen before.  On the flag, Santa is hanging upside down.  Ahh…  It all became clear to me.  “Santa Up Down” means “Santa upside down.”  The kid is perceptive, what can I say?  Mommy, on the other hand…

Dance, Dance, Dance December 13, 2009

My beautiful dancer.

 Mason had her first dance recital on Saturday.  After 12 weeks of practicing, dance classes, and new dance shoes, we were excited to see if it paid off.  She had quite the entourage – Meema, Nana, Papa, Kristin, and the rest of us.   I was a bit anxious.  She had not been enjoying the jazz dance portion, and we had a feeling that, at the very least, she would refuse to skip at the end with the rest of the girls.  Jeremy even told her that if she danced all the other songs, she could opt out of the skipping at the very end.  We were hopeful that concession would help.

Sad face dancer.

 She made it through the ballet song…  barely.  And despite her telling the teacher at the beginning that tap was her favorite, she did not even make it to 30 seconds into the tap routine before she was in Jeremy’s lap pouting.  Honestly, I was a bit disappointed at first.  The two other girls in the class did a great job, and I really wanted Mason out there showing us what she had learned.  But the pressure was too much.  Too many people.  In the end, my daughter is super shy.  That is a hard thing to grasp.  It’s hard to feel responsible for pushing her into something with which was she uncomfortable.  At the beginning she really was excited about the class.  I guess she was expecting something different because it soon became a struggle each and every week.  We finish what we start, I kept telling her.  All of that culminating in the recital. 

Little brother wants to dance too.

 By the time refreshments were served, Mason was all smiles.  I’m sure she is relieved it is all over.  I guess I am too.  We’re going to take a break from classes for a little bit with her.  Focus on having fun and building some self-confidence!  Really, though, I am proud of her for sticking it out.  She showed up every class and at the recital, and that’s half the battle.  She loves to dance at home, and I love watching.  That is enough for me!

The First Snowman! December 8, 2009

Mason insisted on a snowman. Luckily Jeremy was up for the challenge with the 1" of snow we got.

His name was Cooper Frosty. This was his fate 3 days later.

It’s The Small Things December 3, 2009

Another amazing moment brought to me by Mason.

Last weekend, we ventured out to National Harbor for a little adventure.  There were some great holiday events going on there, and since we had never been, we thought it would be a fun journey.

Since the new National Children’s Museum will be built there, they have a storefront called Launch Zone to explore ideas for the new museum.  We ducked in there after lunch at delicious Elevation Burger (I’m all about the links today, aren’t I?).  One of the activities that day was to create crafts (snowflakes, journals, paper chains) that could be taken to children at The Children’s Inn at NIH.  Mason chose to make a snowflake.  We told her it would be for sick children who would not be home for Christmas, but we didn’t go into much depth about it.  She finished her craft, played with Cooper a bit at the blocks station, and then we moved on to continue exploring the Harbor.

Yesterday (4 days later, mind you), I had given her some paper and markers to draw with to keep her busy.  After she finished, she told me that the picture was for the sick kids who can’t go home for Christmas.  She was very insistent that I make sure it gets to them.

Her benevolent spirit has motivated me.  I want to instill this “giving” spirit in her and Cooper.  I guess this is the best place to start.  She has a huge heart, and I have a feeling she seriously understands that giving to those less fortunate is super important.  So I’m going to take this moment and run with it (after I swoon over how amazing she is!)