Christmas...

So, here is an update, per the threats that Dawn has been sending me lest I do so. We have had a fun holiday, despite the fact that my poor little fat dog, Alden is sick. He has a nasty cough and runny nose. The boy is so sweet though, that he still smiles, coos, and laughs. What more could I ask?

The boys were pretty excited on Christmas Eve. Well, Lincoln was excited thus making Emerson so, simply by virtue of the monkey see, monkey do creed. We had our traditional meal... A little German feast. It is my way of infusing my heritage into the holidays. :) We always have kielbasa, sauerkraut, potatoe patties, green beans and bacon, and normally, apple pie for dessert. I had to skip the apple pie though, as I had spent all day baking and making desserts and ran out time. So, despite the fact that Micah and his sister, who ate with us, refuse to watch It's A Wonderful Life, I was still in happy holiday mode...

That cheerfulness ended when Lincoln got up.

Very early.

Very, very, early.

3:55AM early.

Yes, you read that right... My son tried to get up at 3:55am.

He came in our room and asked if it was time to open presents?

NO!! I told him it was the middle of the night, and he could lay on the couch, but we were NOT opening presents yet.

At 5:30 am I woke up and he had moved himself to under the tree. It was cute though, there he was all wrapped in a blanket just watching the gifts and waiting, still awake!

I moved him to a chair near the tree and he knocked off at 6:30am. So, we opened presents at 8AM when the rest of us got up! :)

We are now living in a state of toyoverloadedness. Yes, Jessi, that is a new word, just for you! :) I think children lose the ability to play when there is toyoverloadedness... so some of these new goodies will be hidden away for a rainy day.

And, we now have a face to put with a name... Do you remember in the last post, I told about Emerson and his "other family." Well... we now know who Ha-her is... We were watching football on the 23rd and lo and behold, Em starts cheering, "Go my boy, go!!!" Then he proudly gets up and points to Drew Brees, the quarterback of the New Orleans Saints, and says, "That is my boy, that my Ha-Her."

"Really???" we all say.

"Yeah, that him." Emerson says.

So, Lincoln asks him, "Does Doh play football too?"

"No, he's a little guy." was Emerson's reply... to which we all fell over laughing!!! Where does this kid get this stuff???

Here are some pictures from my Christmas mini... I still have to get the pages of Christmas morning done, and then the mini will be complete! :)

I hope you all had a great holiday as well, and stay tuned... I am trying to make good on updating more often in the New Year... ROFLOL...

The Other Mom...

So this boy has informed me that he has, and I quote... "My other Mom."

"Huh? Your what?" I asked.

"I have another mom. My other Mom is Joy." (he has an aunt by that name, but I have been informed that its not her. I am thinking it is the girl at the bank drive thru window who he calls Joy instead of Joyce. So, because she gives him lollipops, she gets to be the other mom. )

Then he follows up with...

"And Ma, I have two boys."

"Really?" I say... "Two boys of your own?"

"Yes, Ma. Their names are Ha-Her and Doh."

"So," I ask, "You have another Mom, Joy, and two boys named Ha-Her and Doh."

"yeah. They at our house."

Well, alrighty then. That makes a Mom feel loved. He is creating a whole imaginary family. He even started telling me little stories about Ha-Her and Doh. Then a few days ago, he lets me know that there has been a new addition to their family...

"Ma, I have a new baby at my house."

"You do???"

"Yeah, his name is three."

"Three?"

"no, Ma, Three."

"Three? Right? The name is three?"

"no, Ma, Three."

"Three, Three right? I am saying three Em."

"Mommy, mommy, mommy. You not listening to me. Say THREE"

"Three?"

"Yes, Ma, dat is it. "

So, The Other Mom Joy, Ha-Her and Doh, and Baby Three, there you have it... his other family. I wonder who he is spending the Holidays with?

This morning my Coffee was especially good... Here is why.

The girls in our church small group were all out to eat and we grabbed a StarryB's after dinner. I was in LOVE with the above mug. I resisted though. Do you know why? I have a mug. We have about 8 mugs actually, and that is plenty... I am afraid of mass mug accumulation. Why you may ask? Because of my Mom... She has MASSIVE amounts of mugs at her house, and there are lots or rules about their use. It became frustrating when we would visit and could find nary a speck of cupboard space for all the baskets of mugs. I mean, I literally got fuming mad at her at a yard sale one time because she insisted on buying a "Cute little mug with a great handle." It even has an obnoxious owl on it. She now keeps it just to torture me. Lisa Z and Rhonda, who are reading this from the snowy city of Buffalo can vouch for the Mom-Mug issue. Come on ladies leave a comment and validate my fears OK? She has gotten rid of some now, thankfully, but really... if the greater Western NY area wanted to drop in for coffee, she has enough mugs to get them all a cup...

So, that is why I could not purchase said mug. My friends however felt I should have the above beauty of a mug, and last night they presented it to me. I admit it, I love the handle, and it is huge and nice. Thanks girls... it made my day! I vow to discard one mug in its place though... I love my mom, but fear the mug disease is catching. :)

In other news... here are the beautiful pages that some blog pals made me for a scrapbook of Alden. It is beautiful and I LOVE it!! It sits on our entertainment center for all to see. :) Thanks Nicole for getting me these photos! :)

And that is all for now folks...

Okay, okay, I am alive!!

Yes, I realize I have been a total slacker with the blog updates. Be prepared, as this one will contain a plethera of pictures and useless information about me and my current goings on.

First, the Fat Dog Update...
Alden is growing like a weed! He is so cute and snuggly. I love to take him for his naps cause he really does snuggle into you, and he is all rolly polly. :) He hardly ever fusses unless he is tired or hungry and if you take care of that, he is back to smiley boy. Here is his November mini book. It has been done, just not posted.



And here is the fat dog himself...


and the two proud brothers...


We got our tree up and decorated. I didn't even know you could fit 8 ornaments on a single branch. I think the words "Calm Down" and "wait" were said oh, like 4,532 times. I would have liked to put a tree in the boys room but Old Emerson is so curious these days. He is very mechanical, likes to take things apart, eat them, etc. So, he will either be an engineer, builder, or that weird guy at the circus who eats car parts and glass and stuff. I get all teary eyed thinking of the pride swell and the free peanuts...

In other Christmas news...
Here is my mini book's cover.

It is a cool book that Beth sent me and I am so glad I can work on it now that this

book is done. If you want to see the Thanksgiving one all done and pretty I put it in my FLickr show on the right. ----->

And Lincoln aka the Grinch declared a couple weeks ago "Mom, I know Santa is not real." Now, I know this happens, but man, we were watching Rudolph for goodness sake! We have never made a big deal out of Santa, like "You better be good or Santa won't come." kind of thing. So, I asked him "How do you know that?"

His reply, "Mom, it is just a man in a costume..." complete with the my-mom-is-so-lame eye roll. Alrighty then...
So, we have a long chat about NOT telling other kids this as it will spoil their fun and it is between them and their parents when they find this info out. I even try the whole, besides, gifts and Santa are fun and we enjoy them, but you know Christmas is really about Jesus' birth. I explain how even if there were no presents under the tree we would still be able to be happy because of Christ's birth. Now, I am giving myself the ol' spiritual pat in the back. You know the one that says, (a bit too pridefully.) I am so good, I am instilling the true meaning of Christmas, he gets it. This is so cool and non commercialized. I think I hear the Its A Wonderful Life Theme playing in the background...

Well... that pride is BUSTED when ones young son informs the kids at school that Santa is dead and if you love him you do not love Jesus and God cause they are what Christmas is all about. NICE! That's my boy... I had no idea he would interpret my talk this way. I felt like such a bad parent. We had another looong talk, and it included a chat about judging others, ruining things for others, etc and no ice cream at the coffee shop. Let me tell you, that was one pitiful face to see...watching his brother get ice cream. I think the Easter bunny is safe now ... :)
So... I am out of here before this one doesn't get posted... and Dawn, you better be the first commenter! LOL.