The Holy Family, Simon's Version

Introducing: Baby Jeejus, Jofus, and Murray.  I've been egging him on to say this about once an hour for weeks now.  I think it's so funny and I don't ever want to forget it.

Choo Choo? Shoe Shoe.

I was here in the family room, on-line Christmas shopping my little heart out while Simon was downstairs in the foyer happily playing by himself.  I kept hearing him say "choo choo", so I assumed he had made up some kind of train game.  Awesome.  As long as I could hear him playing, I felt less guilt about being on the computer while we were home alone together.

"Hey Mom!  Come look what I made!"  Uh oh.

He was so proud of his OCD organizational skills.  Please tell me this behavior is a normal developmental stage for 2 year olds...

Christmas Kick-Off

Now is it just me, or does it feel like we hit the Christmas season REALLY early this year?  Like straight from rationing Halloween candy to monitoring candy-cane intake.  From fear of candle-lit pumpkins to the terror of being too close to a real live "Ho Ho".  From countdown to costumes to the magic of advent.  Anyway, here we found ourselves (ON NOVEMBER 19!!) kicking off Christmas with the rest of Charlottesville at the tree lighting on the Downtown Mall (hub of all activity here in C'ville).

It is the height of irony that Simon chose a flaming candle for his face decoration.  The kid is terrified of fire.

A captivating store window for kids...check out those knitted hats!

"...and a purple fan for my baby because sometimes she gets hot..."

"Are you kidding me?  NO WAY.  NEGATIVE.  Staying right here, far away from that Ho Ho man."

All topped off by a fun horse-drawn carriage ride down the middle of the pedestrian mall.  Horses' names? Sonny and Cher.

Being on the east coast has its benefits (the sub-freezing temperatures at noon are NOT among them).  We are close enough to drive to our parents' houses for important events.  All the grandkids gathered at the Greers for a girls-only event at their church.

Hooray for hot chocolate...in our bellies, down the fronts of our shirts, smeared across our cheeks!  The evening of tree-decorating coincided with a 'get yourself dressed in whatever you want to wear' day for Millie. Whoa nelly.

A Message for The Ho-Ho

Just in case Santa (aka The Ho-Ho) reads the blog:

(Translation: He'd like Santa to bring " legos and blocks and legos for me")

(Translation: She'd like a scooter and a fan for her baby.  This fan looks like a ceiling fan but sits on the floor.  And it's purple.  And it's two inches tall.  Good luck, Santa.)

Ten Short Years

Ten years ago this week, Christopher and I sat at breakfast on our Caribbean island honeymoon and imagined where life would take us (we really hoped that somehow it would lead us back to that paradise vacation).  All these years later I am so happy and surprised that our journey together has been so easy, so eventful, and so much more satisfying than I could have dreamed.  I married the most amazing man.  We celebrated our anniversary on Thanksgiving and it was fun to remember the crazy perfection of our wedding.  

Christopher reading his vows.  Nat (best man, best friend) guarding my ring and my husband.

The moment at the back of the church, just after we were pronounced husband and wife.  Elation, shock, relief.  One of my favorite photos of the day because of the memories it evokes.