Christmas Prepping

We have been busy little elves lately, enjoying the frenzy of the holiday season and preparing to spread some Christmas cheer in just a few weeks.  Seriously, this time of year is intoxicating for me.  I want to bottle it right up so I can carry it in my pocket for the rest of the year.  Some people find it all annoying and irritating and would rather just call the whole thing off but I am definitely not one of those people.  And it's my mission in life to make sure Nicholas isn't either.  So, first up was our family house decorating which started the weekend after Thanksgiving.  My rules are very strict - Christmas tree goes up just after Thanksgiving and does not come down until after the new year.  I try to convince everyone that if they take their decorations down too early they will be sentencing themselves to a year of bad luck.  I've managed to convert a few friends to my way of thinking, which I consider a complete success.  The longer the holiday season, the better!  After trimming the tree and adorning the house with all that is merry, we headed outside to put up the lights.  It was such a fun afternoon for the three of us and I think Greg did one of his best jobs yet.  We didn't start putting up outdoor decorations until after Nicholas was born and now I honestly cannot understand why we waited so long.  They just add so much to my Christmas joy every time I pull into the driveway and I know they make Nicholas a very happy little camper. 

 

 
And then last week was Nicholas' Christmas program at school.  He once again played the dual role of shephard and wiseman.  Out of all the holiday activities, this is one of my absolute favorites!  St. Mark and the kids always put on a great show and as soon as they start singing their first song, I can feel my heart swelling.  Since Nicholas will be in public school next year we can say good-bye to the official Christmas celebrations, which is definitely something I will miss.  There is simply nothing better than seeing children act out the birth of Jesus and remembering what Christmas is truly about.

Whew, will you just look at these handsome boys!  Am I lucky or what??

This is his best friend at school, Carson.  They are always attached at the hip!

This picture isn't very good, but it caught his reaction when he saw us in

the audience during the processional. He was grinning from ear to ear.

Nicholas' teacher, Ms. Julie.  She's terrific and she

 just seems like everything a teacher should be.

And to top it all off was the much anticipated visit with the big guy.  Nicholas has a Christmas list the size of his entire body so I had warned him that he needed to narrow down his favorites because Santa was a very busy guy.  After it was over, he advised he me had asked Santa for two things but that he coudn't tell me because it was their secret.  I like his style.

Nicholas has asked me every day how many more days until Christmas, and I'm very happy to say we're down to only 10! Enjoy every second with your family that you can. Sadly, yesterday brought about the horrific tragedy in Connecticut and it has broken my heart in two to realize how many families will never again celebrate Christmas with their children. I have been keeping Nicholas closer and hugging him tighter since then and I know that Greg and I will spend every second of this Christmas grateful for our family and loving our child with everything we've got.

Storytime

Last night as we were winding down the day and getting ready for bed, I stumbled upon this precious scene unfolding in our living room.  Nicholas had asked Daddy to start a fire in the fireplace, then he got Bear set up front and center for a little bedtime story.  The Little Red Caboose never sounded so good.

Growing Pains

Every so often I go through a phase of what I call "growing pains".  Obviously, I'm a full grown woman who isn't really growing anymore (at least I'm trying not to) so my growing pains of late have come from watching my sweet baby boy quickly sprout into a big kid.  I try my hardest not to get sentimental about these things, but I can't deny that sometimes it just hurts.  A lot.  Well, I'm deep in the throes of one of these episodes but things have changed a bit with this one.  Instead of just ignoring his silly mom, Nicholas has gotten pretty sentimental right along with me and has even shown his new found maturity by offering up some very sweet words to comfort me.  Another testament to the fact that he's growing up, whether I like it or not.  The other night, we were getting in the car to go somewhere and somehow the topic of his age came up.  I told him that I wished he could stay my little baby forever and that before long he wouldn't want much to do with his old mom. And to this he immediately proclaimed that he would always love me and be my baby no matter how big he was.  The way he said it, so serious and so sure of himself, was just the cutest thing so I decided to have a little fun with him and record his words for posterity.  Now when the time comes, and it will come - 10 or so years down the road, I can play it back for him to prove to myself just how adorable he was and prove to him that he really believed his mommy and daddy hung the moon. Once upon a time, long, long ago....sigh.  That precious, 4 year old voice promising to stay little is now a very prized possession in my vast collection of mommy memories.  And then we have last night.  It's getting very hard for me to hold him or carry him around, so I rarely do it anymore.  But I always snag the chance to carry him to bed at night when he asks me to because I know those days are drastically numbered.  As we're walking to his bedroom, and he's all sleepy and cuddly, he tells me he's going to stop eating so he won't grow any bigger and can stay my baby forever.  My heart melted into a giant puddle of goo right then and there.  Now, I'm honestly not trying to project anything negative onto my child.  No neediness or clinginess.  Nothing other than the fact that his mama loves him more than the sun, the moon, and  the stars and that I want to cherish every moment of his perfect little life.  I hope as he continues to grow, he will always know that his mommy is his biggest fan.  So, this Thanksgiving I'm celebrating my amazing family - a husband that I love more every single day, and a son who I am intensely proud of, for both the baby that he once was and for the little boy he's quickly becoming.  And with that, Happy Thanksgiving.

Happy Halloween • 2012

I love how Nicholas' excitement about Halloween grows with each year, and this year was all about the quest to find just the right costume.  And believe me, we went through many choices, back and forth, again and again.  I think the process started sometime back in early August and after waiting to confirm he'd made his final decision, we finally bought the S.W.A.T. uniform.  I think Daddy was pretty excited about this one and was definitely pleased that his boy hadn't chosen to be a fireman instead.  We started our celebration a few nights ago with our annual visit to Storybook Forest at Arcadia Lake and it was a great evening shared with good friends.  We've been studying up on our fairy tales and nursery rhymes (thanks to Grammy) so he'd be familiar with all of the scenes set up along the trail and of course he remembered his favorites from last year.  Like the witch with her head in the oven from Hansel & Gretel or Snow White dead in her coffin.  I know, a little severe for small children but they all seem to love it.  It just wouldn't be a proper Halloween without at least a little spookiness. 

Halloween at school consisted of the traditional morning costume parade followed by a class party in the afternoon.  The kids were all adorable as usual and I enjoyed getting to spend a little time with my boy at his school and getting to meet all of his friends.  Several parents commented about what a sweet boy he is, which you never, ever get tired of hearing.  Then we spent Halloween night trick-or-treating at the grandparents' houses and around our block.  After we loaded up on a ridiculous amount of candy, we retreated into the house where we jammied up and watched The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown.  It's another one of our Halloween must-do's and it was the perfect end to our day. 

Happy Halloween to all!!!

 The hole on the right in the above picture was Max's spot, which he

 decided to vacate at the last second so I had to include a solo pic. 

 

 

 P.S.  I have to give a shout out to my mom for helping make Nicholas' costume so perfect.  She did some tailoring and embellishing to make it just right and it couldn't have turned out better.  Thank you, Mom!

Flying with Papa

After much waiting and worrying whether or not it would ever happen, we were finally able to get Nicholas up in Papa's helicopter. With only 6 months left to go until he celebrates his well deserved retirement, we knew it was basically now or never. We've tried to arrange it before, but with the corporate rules frequently changing we never seemed to get the perfect window of opportunity. But Dad finally got the green light for a quick ride with his grandson, so we hopped up to Tulsa this weekend and made Nicholas' dreams come true. And I have to say that this was no ordinary event in my life. For me, some of the greatest memories of my childhood are the days spent watching my daddy fly his helicopters. My father is a very special man who showed me what it was like to have a dream in life and to follow your passion no matter where it took you. Whether that be Vietnam, the tourist mecca of Branson, MO, or moving your family from their hometown to the great state of Oklahoma (which none of us thought was very great in the beginning). He knew that flying helicopters was the only thing he ever wanted to do and that's exactly what he's done, for 44 amazing years. He passed that love of flying onto me, and for most of my childhood becoming a pilot was all I ever thought about. Well, I obviously never became a pilot but it will always have a very special place in my heart and the root of a powerful bond I will always share with my dad. So, watching Nicholas flying with his Papa, just like I've done more times than I can count, made for a truly spectacular memory.

 

The old days...

And today...

 

And a video of take off.  The thrill on his face is absolutely priceless.

Karate Moves

Karate lessons are progressing quite nicely.  Nicholas now has two stripes on his white belt, with one more to earn before he gets his next colored belt.  We've switched our class time to earlier in the afternoon which has decreased his group size from close to 20 kids to about 5, which makes a BIG difference in the one on one time.  They've also moved the little kids class to a smaller room which gives us parents a better opportunity to see and hear their training.  Over the last few weeks, the coach has been introducing more sparring exercises instead of just obstacles.  It's been really fun to watch them take on their coaches and to see how supportive they are are of one another.  I just love to hear them chanting their friends' names!  Here Nicholas is using the combination palm strike/squish the bug kick to defend himself.