9 Days and Counting

It's always on the busiest of mornings that chaos breaks out.

Jane was in the worst of moods.  I finally finished getting her and Molly fed and dressed with barely an hour to spare to bake a coffee cake, clean up the house, and make myself presentable for a playdate we were having.

Now, you'd think after yesterday's near disaster with finger paint that I'd have had the sense to put any and all possible carpet destroyers away where Jane can't find them.  And I did think about it.  But they're in the basement.  And she mostly hates arts and crafts...except, it seems, when I'm not watching.

First she covered herself and the carpet in the basement in black stamp pad ink.  I changed her clothes and finished cleaning the carpet when the doorbell rang.  I went up ahead of Jane to answer the door.  When Jane finally came up, she had face painted herself with green watercolor.

By the afternoon, toys were covering every inch of the living room and Jane was still in a cranky mood.  I was dying to get out of the house.  So I had Jane open her advent calendar.  I had drawn some pieces of candy underneath Christmas ball 9.  And just like that, we were off to the candy factory.

Walking in the door, all we could smell was chocolate.  And it was heavenly!  We went to the observation deck first to check out what was being made.  And on the ramp Jane fell in love with Frosty.

She introduced herself to him, and continued to have a full out conversation with him for almost three minutes.  And then she told him to "come on".  And when he didn't I felt bad.  Maybe we listened to "Frosty the Snowman" too many times.  I was sure she thought he was supposed to come alive and follow her.

So I convinced her to come pick out a piece of candy.

And all was good....until we got into the car.

And cranky Jane was back!

Ten Day COUNTDOWN is Here!

I doubt we will ever forget our first Christmas with Jane.  She was in the pleasant habit of waking up at 4am.  Our day was going to be super busy with us visiting at my dad's house in the morning and then coming home to host ten more guests for dinner.  So I had the brilliant idea to open presents when Jane woke up, bright (or should we say DARK) and early!  It was a sleepy but wonderful morning as we helped her unwrap gifts and took a zillion photos of her eating paper. 

Now at 2, Christmas is even more magical because she understands Santa!  Everyday we're signing, and talking, and reading about him.  And I remember my own memories of Santa.  Sitting in church wondering if Santa was already flying overhead.  Then later that night laying in bed, listening, pinching myself to stay awake so that just maybe I could get a glimpse of him.

I love the feeling of Christmas, and I wanted to capture it for Jane, for her to hold until she has children of her own and begins her own traditions with her family.  And so as part of our own new traditions we've started our Christmas advent.  A ten day countdown!

I made this tree with ornaments that lift up.  Underneath are special Christmas activities that I have hopes will bring Christmas alive for Jane.  Today's special activity was to set up and decorate Jane's very own tree in her room.  I thought this would be very exciting, as she LOVES our big tree.  But when I shared what we were about to do she couldn't have been less interested!
Oh the disappointment!
But I carried on anyway, taking Molly upstairs to Jane's bedroom where I began to set up the tree.

Before too long I heard Jane on the steps.  Moments before she appeared, I called, "Hi Jane!  Come see your tree!"
"Hi mama!"
And then I gasped and lost my breath for a moment.  She was carrying two open containers of dollar store finger paint whose washability is questionable and a paintbrush that looked as though it had been busy!  Somehow I calmly whisked the paint away and went to check on my relatively new carpet that I treat like it's my third baby.  I inspected each stair and every inch of the living room.  There on the kitchen floor were the two paint lids.  But no paint that my eyes could see.  I went back to stairs and as I headed up I checked the walls.  She surely had to touch them as she came up.  Hmmm, no paint.

At this point, Jane was interested in her tree now that it was up and glowing, and she helped me decorate it as we sang Jingle Bells.

I envisioned her laying in bed at night, enjoying her little tree lighting up her room.  A tradition we'd keep.  A memory she'd have forever of this little tree glittering in the corner.

After we finally got dressed and made our way back to the kitchen for breakfast, I stood at the sink doing something I can't recall when something caught my eye.

 And I said, "Jane, you painted the tree I see."
"It sure is."  (Her favorite response this past week.)

Have a DOLLY Christmas!

Here Comes Suzy Snowflake

We've been playing the song in our car for weeks now.  Sometimes I find myself singing it when I'm alone!  There's no real snow in sight but I thought a simple snowflake ornament would make the perfect homemade Christmas present from Jane.  Now that she's two and a half she's quite capable of helping to make presents for her teachers and family. Unfortunately, she does not have one iota of interest in arts and crafts!  And that is why I thought this would be a simple project.  Paint and glue.  Can't get much easier, right?  Ohhhh, but it is like pulling teeth to get her to sit for three minutes to quick glue on 3 more sequence.  At this pace, it will be New Years when we finish!

Hometown Christmas

There's something extraordinarily special about celebrating the holidays in a small town.  Our suburban town center is quaint and humble.  There's no Gap or Starbucks.  It's not fancy, nor big.  But at Christmas time it feels magical.  Wreath's hang from the lampposts, neighbors light up their lawns.  The first weekend in December we welcome Santa to town with a huge parade.  Jane had a ball as she collected candy canes and peppermints and waved to floats decked out in green and red.

Finally the firetrucks started to come and every child knew that Santa was to follow.   But it was the moment right before, as one of the trucks played "Here Comes Santa Claus", that got me choked up.  Maybe it was the excitement on Jane's face, maybe it was the lost feeling of the joy of Santa that came rushing back at that moment.

Friday night I took Jane into town for the lighting of the Christmas tree.  The choir sang, the mayor wished everyone a Merry Christmas, and Santa arrived via firetruck in time to light up the tree.  We enjoyed Christmas cookies and watched the children visit with Santa.  (We're still in the, "I'll look at Santa but from a safe distance" stage!) 

The night gave a true meaning to the song verse, "In the air, there's a feeling of Christmas!"