Is This Normal?
The chaos that is the KerbersArchive for Christmas
My turn
I knew I should say that we were hoping this sickness didn’t catch the whole family! Now I also have a miserable cold, and I can certainly understand why the kids have been so crabby the last few days. I had been a little bit stuffy earlier in the week, but yesterday afternoon my voice started to get all raspy, and by the end of the day today I could barely make a sound. Today was day 2 of Grandma Kerber daycare at our house, because both kids are still battling fevers and full of congestion. It’s not pretty.
Please, oh please, let this mean that we’ll be healthy for our trip to Florida. We really don’t want to spend that drive down being all coughy, sneezy, and sniffly. Really.
Shopping day
Today was the second annual Mother/Daughter Christmas shopping day in Bloomington/Normal. Unfortunately, because we were having 40 mph winds and it was snowing up in Sycamore, Mom and Nancy decided they better not brave the elements and come down. We were all so disappointed, but it really wasn’t a good idea for them to be on the road when the weather was so ugly. So much for our “annual” event…it lasted one year! But I had taken a personal day off of work, so I was determined to get through my shopping list today.
I was uber-organized, which of course everyone thinks is hilarious. I’m sure that not many people make detailed spreadsheets for their Christmas shopping lists. But it’s the way that I work best…planning everything out before I ever leave the house. Because the weather was so crappy I wanted to be as efficient as possible, too. Being out in it as little as possible was a definite plus.
I started with a few stops at department stores like Wal-Mart and Target, and then headed to the mall. It was hard to make some decisions by myself, but I really did well overall. By 1:00 pm I was close to being done with all the big presents. I just had a few gift cards and some stocking stuffers to get, so I was feeling great. Then I hit the book store and everything came to a screeching halt.
Each year Santa brings each of my kids a nice, hardcover book. So far, Dave and I have gone together to pick these out, and we really try to pick books that we think the kids will like. This year, it was really hard for me. I swear I looked at every picture book they had on display and again as many that were on the shelves. I did find two great choices, but it seemed to take me forever! Finally I was out of there and just had a few more stops to make before heading home.
I spent a lot of money and had to call Dave about a dozen times, but I did get done with my list and really enjoyed my day. I do love buying gifts for my family and friends. Now to get them all wrapped…
Our first Christmas party
Although seeing Santa would make for a very full day for us, we weren’t done. The Atherton family was having a holiday get-together at Bob & Marla’s in Earlville, so we headed North from State Farm to attend. Ry Ry hadn’t planned on attending, but at the last minute he got a ride over to Normal and hopped in with us. Grandma Judy and Nancy were surprised to see him when we got there. They were both so excited that he came with us, that I think we scored big-time brownie points bringing him! 
The most unfortunate part of the evening was when Emma barfed all over herself while we were eating. I think that she just gagged because she’s been coughing some today, but regardless of why it was pretty gross. Thank goodness we had thrown jammies into the diaper bag…her cute Christmas outfit was covered in vomit and she had to be changed. As usual, she recovered fine, and had a really good time with all the kids. Ben struggled to deal with Digger, Bob & Marla’s dog, most of the night. But a couple of the older kids were big helpers with Ben. Reiss, my cousin Lisa’s 8th grade daughter, finally got Ben to pet Digger a couple of times, and he wasn’t freaking out quite so much when Digger would run by. The poor kid is just scared of dogs, and as much as he doesn’t want to, he just is.
We certainly don’t see that side of my family often enough anymore. It was fun to visit with my cousins and it was definitely great to see Grandma Jane. It had been way too long since we had. She looked great, by the way, and seemed to be pretty coherent tonight. It’s difficult for her when there’s a large crowd, but at least she knew my kids, which was great for me. Even though it made for a very busy day, the party was fun and I was glad we went. It’s nice to keep the family together as much as possible.
Santa!
Today was Santa day, and it pretty much went exactly as I thought it would. About three days ago, Ben started saying that he didn’t want to talk to Santa. You could hear in his voice that he was not going to be talked into this. He did not. want. to talk. to Santa. So Dave and I thought we would have him write a note, and maybe when we got there he’d change his mind. Wishful thinking, but one can always hope.
Just before we were ready to go, I asked Ben to come help me with a note
for Santa. He was way more into the Christmas show we had on, and really didn’t even want to do it, but I insisted, and he finally half-heartedly dictated to me. He even signed his own name, although I’ve seen him write it so much better before. Like I said, he was very distracted by his show. I got Emma all dressed up in her Christmas outfit and she loved it. In direct contrast to Ben, she was dancing all over the kitchen and was so excited to go. We were all set. Ryan ended up coming with us, because we were going to a family Christmas party afterwards and he was riding with us. So off we went to State Farm to see the big guy himself.
When we got there Ben started in right away insisting that he didn’t want to talk to Santa. 
I tried to get a few pictures of the kids at all of the photo spots while Dave was in line, but as usual both of them were pretty wild running to each one like maniacs. At least I got one very cute shot at the fireplace, though, so I was relatively happy with that. That atrium is a crazy place on Santa Day, so I can’t really expect them to be calm when they’re so excited and around lots and lots of other wild kids.
Finally we were next in line. Ben was behind me and didn’t even want to hand his letter to Santa, so I finally convinced him to hand it to the elf who was helping. After that, he hid behind me the entire time…most of it with his head buried beneath my sweater. Meanwhile, Emma walked right up, sat on Santa’s lap
, told him she wanted “a toy” and then posed for her picture beautifully. She loved it! Santa did read Ben’s note while we were still standing there, so at least Ben was pleased to know that Santa knew where to leave his gifts.
I shouldn’t say that I knew exactly what would happen with Santa, because Emma actually surprised me. I figured as soon as she actually got close to Santa she would chicken out, too. I should have known she would talk to him, though. She told me she would do it, and when that little girl makes her mind up about something, not much changes it!
Making treats
One of my favorite Christmas traditions is making Christmas cookies and candy. Now it’s something I look forward to even more since both of the kids love to help. Tonight we started with something very easy, the circle pretzel treats. In case you’re not familiar with these, it’s a very simple recipe…you lay circle pretzels out on a cookie sheet, put one Rolo or Hershey Kiss (I really like the candy cane kisses) inside it, pop it in the oven for a very short time, top each one with a Christmas colored M&M to squish it down into the pretzel, and then let them cool. They are super simple, super cute, and very yummy.
Both Ben and Emma were very serious about helping. Basically all they did was unwrap candy and set it in the pretzels, but it was enough for them. They were super excited. Shockingly, though, the next night after dinner, neither one of them really liked the treat they got for dessert. Go figure…my crazy kids!
I’m sure we’ll make much more before we’re done, but it was definitely fun and helped me get into the Christmas spirit even more tonight!
The finished product
I’ll admit that I was worried about decorating the tree this year. The kids were so excited to help and I knew they’d go at it full force with no regard to ornament placement at all. Anyone who knows me knows that this would be difficult for me. I love decorating the tree, and part of that is finding the perfect spot for each ornament. But when you’re two or four, it’s all about getting as many ornaments on the tree as quickly as possible in an area you can reach. Obviously we have very different approaches, which is a challenge.
Happily, though, I found that I could relax and let the kids hang their ornaments wherever they wanted. We had so much fun sorting through all of the ornaments…each one bringing back so many memories. The kids especially liked seeing the ones with pictures of them as infants. Emma couldn’t quite understand that the cute little baby was her. We kind of worked as a team…Dave was at the tree helping and I was at the ornament box pulling things out a little more carefully than they would have. As they hung more and more (most of them on the same few branches, of course) 
we all just had more and more fun. I will admit that we had to move several of the ornaments to other branches later, but the kids didn’t really notice, so they were satisfied and proud that they did it all by themselves. It was so awesome to watch them have so much fun doing this. I was happy I could let them!
We had such a great time, and we ended up with a gorgeous tree again.
The perfect tree
The kids and I got home from Sycamore this afternoon, and as soon as we did we all headed to Growing Grounds to get our Christmas tree. 
It’s nice tree shopping there, since all of the trees are inside their greenhouse. But today was warm and sunny outside anyway, so no matter where we were going, it was a great day to buy a Christmas tree. The kids were excited, and it literally took us about 5 minutes to find the perfect tree. Then they just started running. 
The greenhouse is probably about 30 feet from where we were to the end, and both kids just ran back and forth and back and forth about a million times. It was great to see them burning off some energy. It made me sad we weren’t at the tree farm getting our tree this year, because they would have loved running around there. Conversely, we would have had to keep track of both of them when they just wanted to run freely, so maybe Growing Grounds was big enough!
We have the tree in the stand, and I’ve got the lights on. We’re all very excited to decorate it tomorrow. I hope I have patience while doing so, because I’m pretty sure the kids will not be able to contain themselves.
Sycamore or bust
We made a quick trip to Sycamore…went up yesterday, and came back this afternoon. It was so good to visit Grandma and Grandpa…The kids had been there earlier in the fall, but I hadn’t been up there in forever!
The kids and I got there about 11:00, just in time for me to hop in with Rod and Ryan to go to DeKalb for one of Curtis’s basketball games. C plays on the Freshman team, and they had a tournament all weekend. I was glad that I got to go to the game. It’s one of those things that I used to do all the time in my old Sycamore life, so it was nice to be able to be at one of the boys’ events again. Curtis got some playing time, and they even won the game!
While the grownups were at the game, Grandma, Brett, Ben & Emma all decorated Grandma and Grandpa’s tree. Since they’re leaving for Florida on the 10th, it is a very small tree, but at least they have one. Grandpa told Grandma earlier this week, “We’ve had a real tree for 49 years…we’re not going to miss a year now!” So he went and got a little tree and set it up so they would not miss out on having some Christmas spirit in their house.
After the game, everyone went to Grandma & Grandpa’s house and we ordered pizza and had birthday cake for Grandpa. Of course my kids were very into that. They’re suckers for a rousing version of “Happy Birthday”. Most of all, though, they had so much fun playing with their cousins. It’s getting more and more fun being with the entire family now that the kids are getting older. Even Emma joined in with some of the games we were playing. Of course, “Little Miss Me Too” couldn’t do a lot of the things Ben could, and that was frustrating to her. But it’s definitely getting easier to keep them both entertained.
It was a fun trip, although short trip. When we left today, Ben said, “I wish we could stay at Grandma Judy’s longer, because there’s a lot of stuff we didn’t do yet!” I had to smile at that one. I’m pretty sure he’d feel that way even if we had been there a week. There’s always fun stuff to do at Grandma Judy’s.
I didn’t really think about it when we left this afternoon, but today may have been the last time we’re at Grandma & Grandpa’s house until next spring. Each year I think it will get easier to have them gone for the entire winter, but so far it hasn’t. I’m pretty sure it never will.
Early shopping
I have never been an early Christmas shopper. I like shopping when I’m in the Christmas spirit. And it super annoys me when people skip over Thanksgiving…my favorite holiday of the year. But this year, since we’re leaving for Florida on the 18th, I feel more urgency and stress surrounding our holidays. So this afternoon Dave and I started shopping for the kids. We went to Farm & Fleet with the intention of simply browsing and getting ideas, but we ended up getting several gifts for the kids that we think they will love. We also got a few gifts for some friends, and more importantly, we got organized. That helped me calm down a lot. Later, while grocery shopping, I even picked up some stocking stuffers! Me…buying stocking stuffers in November…when it’s still fall outside and our Christmas lights, while already hung due to nice weather, will not be turned on until the day after Thanksgiving. Unheard of!
I still hate shopping early, and I did miss shopping while being caught up in the spirit of the holidays. But you gotta do what you gotta do, and if being ready to leave on December 18th means I have to shop early, I’ll gladly do it.
Bye bye Christmas!
Well, it’s official…Christmas is over. This is always a bittersweet time for me, as I love the season, but I’m usually very happy to have my house back, too. As I type this, the tree is out at the curb, the decorations are almost all put away (why is it that I always forget one thing and don’t notice it until the boxes are back downstairs in storage?) and the house is close to being back to normal. Close. We just have to find space for about a hundred new toys, games, dolls, and cars. I love the generosity of our families, but man…our house isn’t big enough for all this stuff. I seriously have to find a way to convince everyone that my kids don’t need so much stuff.
I know, I know…good luck with that!!
When Ben got up from his “rest” today (he’s much to big for naps many days now) he asked me where the tree was. I told him it was outside waiting for the garbage man to come take it. He said to me, “but Mommy…the Christmas tree isn’t garbage!” I tried to explain that we were done with it so it kind of was, and when that didn’t work I tried to explain recycling to him. That didn’t work either. I finally just said, “well, that’s where it’s going to be until the workers come to pick it up.” That’s what worked. Basically for Ben, “workers” fix and/or do anything. I don’t know why I can’t learn that the easier the explanation, the better he gets it. He summed it all up when he looked out the window, waved, and said, ”bye bye Christmas tree…see you next year!”
