Holiday Babble

We're all slowly getting back to "normal" after being beaten over the head with various illnesses the last few weeks. Poor Evan has had the worst of it, being his first year in preschool. He seems to be sick at least once a week, or in other words, constantly. Last night he couldn't sleep from an earache, his first ever, and it almost kept him home from his school party today - almost.

Evan had his first Holiday Celebration at school. And oh, what fun! A 3 year old's dream is what today was. Not only was it show and tell day, where he brought his favorite monster truck, but it was bring gifts to teacher day! He so proudly went up to Ms. M and handed her the little gift bag with the Birthday Cake scented candle in it that he picked out all by himself (really, who wouldn't like to smell birthday cake all day?). He was too shy to hand it to the other teachers, so I left the bags where his teacher could encourage him to bring them to them in class.

So what else happens at a 3 year old's Holiday Celebration? A Candy Cane Hunt, that's what! Complete with obstacle course! And of course, you can't forget the singing of "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer", the making of a foam "s'more" reindeer, wrapping of your mom & dad's secret gift to put under the tree, make-your-own-holiday-cards, and of course, donut holes! I mean, what 3 year old party isn't complete without your standard donut holes? Seriously, the kid was a sweet pile of sugar by the time I picked him up, his eyes glazed over in a sweet semi-coma, and his was just so happy. A day of bliss for a 3 year old.

Santa is not a part of this party, which is a good thing. See, we already have a glitch in the Santa department because everyone in a Santa suit is no more than our friend, Matt. Yes, Matt does volunteer work with me, and every year he plays Santa for photos. So Evan always sees the Santa suit in the box, so I have to explain that Santa's suit is WAY nicer than the one we have in the box, and that the REAL Santa doesn't have time to take pictures with doggies, so Matt dresses up like Santa to make the doggies happy. So now, every guy dressed up like Santa is "Matt". Houston, we have a problem .We may never get a picture of Evan sitting in "Santa's" lap again. And I'm terrified that when we do see a "Santa", Evan is going to ruin it for other kids by saying, "That's not Santa, that's Matt!". He totally knows a real Santa exists, but he's already way too smart for the mall Santas. What have I done?

But, every morning Evan wakes up and when he rubs the fog from his eyes, he says, "Mommy! I woke up again! It's December 20!" Seriously, teachers should use advent calendars to teach kids the days of each month. Evan has it down pat after 20 days of waking up to chocolate treats in a calendar. He knows the dates, and he's starting to get the "nd" and "ths" after the date. Advent calendars are the genius way to teach. If teachers did math with chocolate, every kid would learn. 3 chocolate Santas plus 6 jelly beans equals 9 candies! Wahoo!

So, I'm scurrying around the house, because of course we're hosting Christmas Eve. I'm pretty much in Dyson mode now, trying to make this place look like a model home. We did get our kickass new rug in time for Christmas though, so whatever else happens, it doesn't matter. We've had our first official fire in the fireplace (and 2nd, 3rd, and 4th), we've hung blinds, we've finished the bathroom downstairs, and we've even managed to park two, count them, TWO cars in our 2 car garage. Call me crazy, but that's a miracle in itself.

There's the update. Sorry so sporadic in postings, but when you're on the computer all day typing, the last thing you want to do some days is type some more!

I hope all of you have a happy holiday. I can't wait until Christmas. Have I mentioned it's gonna rock?!