- by Beth
Here we are, on the brink of a new year. I can proudly say
that I sent not one single Christmas card, so our tradition of the last thirteen years remains intact. We went with Davey and Meredith to chop down our own tree, only to choose one of the pre-cut Fraser firs on hand. ;) We watered the tree when we got it home, and maybe once since then. We never did get all the ornaments on the tree, but there sure was a cute conglomeration of non-breakable ornaments at the 2 1/2 foot level. Seriously cute. Julian spent a lot of time transferring ornaments from the mini-tree in the dining room (lime green metallic, my favorite for years) onto the big tree in the living room.
Since Thanksgiving we've been through some serious health issues in our extended family, l had a not-so-nice stomach virus, and I had to go to the ER. Jonathan started a great new job with a company called Scoutware of Illinois. We survived Jonathan's week-long business trip to Chicago. (I think that was probably harder on Daddy than on Mama & Julian!) Yet we celebrated four Christmases-- traditional grazing dinner & white elephant gifts with my mom, Lake Lanier Night of Lights with my dad & step-mom, our Christmas morning at home, and Christmas lunch at Jonathan's parents' house. You can see the photo here of Julian with Santa at the Lake Lanier Night of Lights. It was a really magical night. Julian hopped right up on Santa's lap and -- with some prompting-- asked for a scooter. Then Santa hit us with a surprise question: "Have you been a good boy?" Both Mama and Julian kind of froze. We hadn't prepped for this question. Hilarious! Indicative of our family, right?!
Julian brought home an advent calendar from school. It was Santa and every day he could glue a cotton ball onto Santa's beard. When Santa's beard got all white and fluffy, it was time for the big day! We did this in conjunction with another advent calendar, in which we hid a little ornament for each day. We had lots of fun with this until the stomach virus hit... then we were much less focused. ;)
But the big guy came through and on Christmas morning Julian woke up to a scooter and a dinosaur. I think the surprise hit of the day was a parrot puppet I picked up at the MMO toy swap. This kid is nuts about puppets and costumes. He just loves to pretend. He's just now getting into (no pun intended) the puppets we got him for his first birthday, a rabbit and a hedgehog. Our collection now includes a peacock and a big bad wolf, Snoopy, and a raccoon. It's pretty great, if I do say so myself. We also added to the costume collection. Julian's been running around as Buzz Lightyear since Halloween so Grandmama added a pair of Buzz wings. Uncle Kevin and Aunt Bonnie gave Julian the makings for a robot costume. Julian is very serious about his costumes. Frequently we have to ask him, "What's your name?" because when he's in character, he doesn't respond to "Julian." Jonathan and I lucked into a new-in-the-package Woody costume at Goodwill, and that is now a staple in the costume box. Our other pieces include an old sheer curtain, which can be folded and tied to transform him into a monster, a sheep, or other animals. There's also a small white baby blanket which is either a scary ghost, a friendly ghost, a dancing ghost, baby Julian, or magic Julian. The variations are obvious only to him, hence our need to ask him his name. ;)
We saved our biggest present for last, mostly because it was
the biggest present. Like, massive.
It's a teepee. My trial run was way to small, so I doubled the pattern. It turned out a lot bigger than I had anticipated, but I love it. I am really proud of this project. Dave/Papa harvested the bamboo for the six posts and Jonathan and I found the fabric at Goodwill. Including the grommets, it set us back $15. Not too shabby! You can't really tell how big it is in the photo, but it was too cute not to include. Julian fell asleep in there yesterday. (He had a tough morning of marble track racing and Let's Go Fishing. Everybody needs a break.) The teepee is about eight feet tall and is almost as big around at the base. It's a good thing the ceiling is vaulted in the living room! We wanted it to be big enough so that Jonathan and I could get in there with Julian and not die of claustrophobia. So there you go. Julian was absolutely delighted. They have one in his classroom at Live Oak, so it wasn't a foreign concept. He kept saying, "Wook at dat BIG, HUGE teepee!."He's a funny one, that kid.
We really are having a fantastic holiday season. We've stayed close to home on every level. I'm taking time to focus and re-group. The last eight or nine months have been hectic and sometimes diluted for me, so I'm working on refocusing my energy and time. Jonathan and I have had some really good time together, long talks and working on plans for our home and family. Julian is funnier every single day, and he never ceases to amaze us. Life is good.
I hope this note finds you and yours relaxed and looking forward to the coming year. Happy Festivus to the rest-of-us!