Christmas Preparation at 45 Western Terrace and other random thoughts

I do have to agree this is one of the most wonderful times of the year. As I sit down to write, we have almost 2 feet of snow outside. The most we've seen since I was a teenager. It started last night and it still going strong. It's not supposed to stop until tomorrow morning. There is nothing like some good fresh, clean snow to slow you down and put things in perspective.

Christmas preparation has been much different this year for various reasons. One, I am fairly immobile and that changes my ability to do things I want to do. Two, Noah is much more aware than ever before of the things that are going on around him.

As you well know, we are not a Santa household. I am not a Santa hater anymore, but I simply choose not to perpetuate that story as a central piece of our Christmas celebration. This has been especially tough this year with Noah seeing and hearing all that is going on around him. Every single Christmas cartoon on TV is about Santa and poor little children being placed on the naughty list. Each time we talk about how God doesn't put us on a naughty list and how Christmas is for everyone. At Noah's school, it seems to be Santa central and the teachers cornered me to ask what they should do because Noah doesn't "believe." They asked if I could just go along with it for the sake of the other kids. I was pretty floored, but stuck my ground. I said that they could do whatever they wanted in the class, but I would not tell my child that Santa brings our presents and that "getting stuff" is the purpose of the holiday. One mother (in jest) said that she wasn't going to let Noah hang out with her kids until they were 10 so he didn't ruin it for them!!! So, I have chosen very carefully to be positive about the entire experience and never put off Santa or be mean or rude about it. Instead, I simply say that Santa is a nice story about a good man, similar to other stories we see and hear -- like Winnie the Pooh and Blue's Clues, very nice stories about nice people.

We started out last weekend by packing up the kids and heading to a live nativity. It was sooo awesome!!! It was at a small church nearby and Noah got to pet the animals and talk to Mary and Joseph. He was so excited about it and talked on and on... Can we see another nativity Mommy?




We have a bazillion nativities around the house, including a stick on window one and a Veggie Tales one that Noah can play with to his heart's content.

One of the interesting things about Noah is that he never really asks for anything. If we are at a store he doesn't really ask to buy or get anything. I'm quite surprised by this. The only thing he ever wants is more tv shows! One of the things I dislike about Santa is the concept of telling him what you want, thus perpetuating this idea that Christmas is about getting junk. And that our happiness depends on getting the items that we want to receive. We have not asked Noah at all what he wants for Christmas and have not encouraged a list or any sort of "gimme" mentality.

Here is a picture of him before his PreSchool Holiday party (which I could not attend). I heard later that Santa and Mrs. Claus were there and Noah went up to him and said "I would really like a toy car" which I found incredibly amusing because he has 50 toy cars and NEVER plays with them ever.




I asked him after the party if he thought Christmas was about getting things and he said "No, It's about baby Jesus' birthday." I told him he was right, but it was also about love and giving to others. So we sat down and let him think of things he would like to give others. Some of the things he picked for some of you are HILARIOUS!!!! I can't reveal them until Christmas, but unfortunately he did want to give Ms. Leslie and Ms. Jen makeup and a mirror and all of the boys Candy Canes. !!!!!!

Today we were blessed with 2 ft. of snow which has added to the magic of this wonderful season. We pulled out this snowsuit -- an Ashford family tradition. It was worn by Nina, Paul, Nina's 3 sons and now Noah. Pretty cool, huh? Noah and Paul went out and built snowmen and went sledding with some of our neighbors. Then we all came in and hot chocolate, grilled cheese and tomato soup.

We finally got Noah hunkered down for his nap this afternoon and we are checking things off our list (since I only have one more day until surgery) and Paul suggested I take a bubble bath and read a book to relax since I won't be able to do much of anything for a little while. So I did. It was pretty magical to sit there and read while I watched the huge flakes of snow fall outside the window beside me. All of this while Paul cleaned. Yes, I know how wonderful he is.

We finally woke Noah up at almost 6pm because he was zonked from sledding. We had some food that wonderful people have made for us and then we decided to string popcorn for the tree while the blizzard blazes on.


Noah was very interested in the popcorn, but only while pretending he was a dog. He was eating the broken pieces and panting in a dog manner all the while. We hung it on the tree and settled in for Charlie Brown's Christmas Special. While Lucy read from the Bible, Paul and I smiled at each other happy to be watching this movie and looked down to see our very wild little boy eating his movie popcorn on his hands and knees and barking like a dog.

If you're wondering where Maevey Gravy was, she has been hibernating all week... yesterday I think she was only awake for 3 hours, today maybe 4. Someone told me 6 months is a big growth spurt, but Maeve has made sleeping her favorite hobby. Hopefully she will be awake enough tomorrow for a photo op in the snow!

Sorry for the novel length, but sometimes I like the memories to look back on later.