Christmas, Finally

I finally got the pictures from Christmas transferred to my computer. The gold-star-gift of the year was from Grandma & Papa for the boys--a roller coaster! All three kids have been having such a good time on this (huge) thing... It's hard getting them to take turns! A close second was the box the coaster came in... hours of fun! Ben & Sam also liked their fishing game. Sofia also got to make her first Gingerbread House with Grandma--although I think she ate more candy than she decorated with! And don't let her grumpy-picture-face fool you--she had a great time.

Creating Traditions

This is the first Christmas I will have ever had without my parents. Strange. While it will feel like something's missing, I'm excited to start creating our own family traditions when it comes to Christmas. In my family, we would wake up, beg our parents to wake up (even in the teenage years!), wait a couple of hours while dad "disappeared," then go open our stockings. After that we would have breakfast, usually omelets made by dad. When our appetites were sufficiently sated, we could return to the living room for the main event: presents.

Now, to make sure you understand, my mom, especially in the later years, went a little overboard with presents. She liked to shop early, throughout the year. Which is good. Except she likes last-minute shopping, too. And she was really good at hiding the presents from us.... and usually herself too. So we ended up getting a lot more than even she realized she was giving. The end result was that the presents were not neatly stacked under the tree. Oh, no. The presents were amassed under the tree, but oozed out from under every branch, until there was about a 4-foot radius of brightly wrapped gifts.

These gifts would show up under the tree over a period of time, starting soon after the tree was decorated the first Saturday night in December. Any time the present count changed, my brother and sister and I would immediately have to do a comparison--who has the most, who has the largest, who has the tallest tower when stacked, whose presents make the longest line. It's a wonder my mom even bothered to put anything in the packages. This game entertained us for hours (even in the teenage years!). Although there were many many gifts by Christmas Eve, there were always twice as many that showed up over night. Crazy Santa.

So we have these piles of gifts, and you would think that it would create pandemonium. But, no. In our family, it was a tradition to open one gift at a time, one person at a time. This way everyone could appreciate the special gift. Combine that with the number of presents, and you can see how Christmas became an all-day event in our house.

But now I have my own family. While that sense of nostalgia entices me to extend the traditions of my childhood to my own children, I am only one half of the equation. My husband also has traditions, some of which he wants to pass on, too. And we also want to create our own, so this is what we're trying to do.

Tonight we started a tradition that he had in his family: Christmas Eve dinner. Since Thanksgiving is obviously not celebrated in Brazil, Christmas Eve is the stuff-yourself-with-turkey equivalent. So today we made dinner, and even showered & dressed nicely and ate in the dining room. I was skeptical at first, but it was actually kind of fun! Then we took some pictures of the kids while they looked half-decent, since it doesn't happen often. So here's a peek into the first Fernandes Family tradition of this Christmas. Hope you're enjoying your families as much as I'm enjoying mine!

Happy Birthday, Me!

Well, today I turn the big 2-7. Filipe got up with the kids so I could sleep in a little. Then around nine (miracles!) they brought me a beautiful basket of flowers, a delicious breakfast in bed, and lots of Lindor Truffles (my favorite!). The boys really were interested in helping me eat my breakfast, while Sofia was particularly insistent I open my presents right away.

After a lovely shower all by myself, I went to a surprise appointment Filipe had made for me. He had arranged for me to have a minor cosmetic procedure done, something I've been thinking about for a while, but would never do for myself. He's such a thoughtful (and creative!) man, I love him so much! And besides almost fainting in the middle of it, it was quick and painless.

We also enjoyed lunch at the Pizza Hut buffet. We thought the kids would like that, but turns out they don't like pizza anymore. They stuck with the fruit cocktail, cottage cheese, and chocolate pudding. Go figure.

So thanks to everyone sending their birthday love, the day is going great!!

Sleeping Beauty

At Sofia's last dentist appointment, Dr. Aranda made a point to tell Sofia she needed to stop sucking her thumb. Sofia was heartbroken, because she loved to suck her thumb. But she obeyed the Dr., and she stopped cold turkey. We were so proud of her! And so glad to not have to buy a torturous apparatus or poisonous nail polish. Well, that was about 5 months ago, and she's fallen off of the wagon only a couple of times, always in periods of deep distress--like when she gets into trouble for hitting her brothers. But as she took an unusual day-nap yesterday, I sneaked in to give her a kiss, and found she's been cheating this whole time---unconsciously! Ah, well. I'm actually glad to see a little more of my little baby at a time when she's losing so many of her baby-habits. She turns four on the 30th, you know.

Crazy Texas weather, part II

Yesterday, a balmy 80 degrees. Today, ice on the roof.

I told Filipe yesterday that it was supposed to have snow showers over night, and he scoffed at me. And he scoffed again this morning when the ground was try. Scoff no more, my love. Gotta love Texas!

Crazy Texas weather

This is a crazy place to live. Here it is, half way between Thanksgiving and Christmas, I'm listening to "Let It Snow!" on the radio, and my kids are outside with no pants. It's a balmy 80 degrees here in the Hill Country. The sky is blue, with beautiful white, fluffy clouds, and all my windows are open. I gave up waiting for winter weather after the first year we lived here. But do I need to give up waiting for fall weather, too??

Mom's Choice Award

This week's Mom's Choice Award goes to the book grump, by Janet S. Wong.

It's a great story of a "Smart, good Baby" who happens to have a very grumpy mommy (which might have something to do with all the messes that Smart, good Baby is making). It's a great tale of the love/annoyed relationship I have with my own little munchkins--how in the end, no matter what the frustration, they really are too darn cute to stay grumpy at.

I believe in miracles!

As I turn in for the night, I look at my kitchen and sigh. It truly is a miracle. The counters are cleaned of most clutter. I don't think there are any sneaky crumbs hiding on those tricky mottled-stone surfaces. The table doesn't have any smears of mayo or ketchup. The trashcan is empty. The dishwasher is processing a full load. The smooth top stove is free of (most) spills. It is a beautiful sight. A sight I know will disappear with the morning fog as soon as my three little elves wake up and want their milk. I sigh again. If only for one night.....

The beginnings of Christmas

After we kicked all of the extended family out of our house, we put up our little fake tree that's older than any of our kids. The boys had a lot of fun putting up the "kiky balls." The love to see the lights come on at night. I'm not feeling blog-spired today, so I'm not even going to try a clever story or pithy saying. Maybe next time. Enjoy the picture.