wishing for a winter wonderland

man, it's been many many days since i last posted, and i don't even really have the time now, except that if i don't squeeze it in, i'll be posting AFTER christmas about what i did BEFORE christmas, and that would be pointless. so i've just had my morning latte, and wrote my to-do list for today, which i will get to...after i catch up here. first, i go to all my friends and read up on what they're are doing, and therein lies some inspiration, because everyone is up to: much!

it always seems like december needs more days in it, and just like they tweeked our calendar for daylight savings, they should tweek it again and make december long, and january short (i mean, with all those resolutions, we just want january to be over and done with anyways, and move on to february) and they could call it "christmas savings". and instead of saving light and energy, it would be saving OUR energy, and the little light of our soul that just gets too crammed, crushed, and jostled, during this holiday season that is supposed to be about love, and giving, and thankfulness.

it's my fault really. because i refuse to get into the season until dec. 1. and this year, dec. 1 rang in the season with a beautiful day of snow all day long. (and of course, it lasted: one whole day long...) snow! and cold! and christmas music! and lights! THAT is when i try to come up with ideas for gifts, but then, when i look at the calendar, i realize: oh my goodness! i have to mail them in two weeks, and i don't even know what i'm mailing yet!!



so i've been busy. and i won't go into it, because they are presents, and they are a surprise...so, moving right along...

francis begs every year to do a gingerbread house, and every year i don't want to do it, and pawn it off: "that's something you can do at grandma's house", and he does get to do them, at grandma's house. but we aren't going to pennsylvania for christmas at grandma and grandpa's house this year. and after him asking again, my first thought was: for goodness sakes, he's almost ten and he's STILL asking for a gingerbread house! and then right on it's tail was my second thought, which was: for goodness sakes, he's been asking for ten years and what kind of lame mom am i that i refuse to do a gingerbread house with my kid? sooo, good new for francis, guilt won out, and i spied a gingerbread kit at trader joes for 7 bucks, and brought it home for him. he was so sweet! he was so happy for it, and wanted people to come over and make it with us! unknown to francis, assembling gingerbread houses does not top the list for many adults (including me) so we were very glad that eben agreed to come over, and the three boys (greg, francis, and eben) ended up having a heydey with it.(more photos on my flickr!)





i got too frustrated with the frosting and the pastry bag and the mess, and was asked to step aside, which i gladly did. but i did contribute the cinnamon stick chimney, and eben did the cotton ball smoke. and the rosemary on the tree. and the candy cane archway. and the direct-tv satellite dish. because even the gingerbread people need their must-see tv...



on sunday, we drove up to north bend with our friends karen and kevin, to go to a christmas tree farm. a first for us. it wasn't quite the wilderness i was expecting; still, francis had a blast running around in the trees, with mt. si looming in the distance.



it was 33 degrees, and we did get a few flakes of snow. he ran the whole farm over, looking for the perfect tree, and when we finally narrowed it down to two, greg and i favored the smallest one, and francis favored the other, the one not quite as small, but pretty much the same. the usual rule of domestic voting meant francis lost,2 to 1, and as his shoulders slumped and he slowly trudged away to the "other" tree, the "unwanted" tree, i looked at greg and sighed: "what are we doing?" he'd been having so much fun this whole time, and here we are getting short with him, trying to convince him that they were practically the same, over-ruling him, and i find i do this too much: over-rule him. saying: don't be silly, this one's fine. trying to convince him to my point of view, and because i'm bigger, i win out. sometimes, it's right: and it falls under "parenting" and "teaching", but all too often, it doesn't, and it falls under "lazy" and "bossy". my son is almost 10, and his childhood is slipping quickly past, and i need to remember that he's a kid, and LET him be a kid...to think those kid thoughts, and do those kids things.

so we realized our mistake, (sigh) and called to francis, who was halfway across the field by now, and called him back. when he got to us, i said: "francis, we're sorry for being so bossy and not letting you choose. we came here so you could pick out a tree, so which one do you want?" and he immediately broke into a grin and pointed to the tree he wanted: his tree. i said: "do you know WHY you want this one?" and he immediately had an answer: "well, you see, this one has a longer trunk, which means there will be more room for presents underneath."

you heard it here, folks. out of the mouth of babes. kids know what they want, and not too often do they know WHY they want something, but when they do, there's a reason. and it helps us, to remember that we wanted this too...when we were a kid.

so, thankfully, the day was not lost. he struggled to cut down his tree, with the hand saw they passed out. he did need a little help, as he was sawing and sawing and sawing and we realized we might be here all day. greg made some headway, then let him finish, and then francis wanted to carry it back to kevin's truck.







it was a fun adventure, and something i definitely recommend. francis worked hard for his tree...(and we learned a little lesson). that night, during his prayers, he thanked God: that his parents were "nice enough" to change their minds, and let him get the tree he really wanted, and that he was really happy for his tree. i kid you not. he said that in his prayers.

it's often those little things that make a big deal...