The Best and Worst Traditions of our Christmas

Merry Christmas everyone! I'm a big believer in traditions.

* Let's start with the bad: *

If you've read my previous posts, you know that I consider myself to be quite the ....uhhhh... exceptional! .... photographer, and so I bring to you the Worst Christmas Card Photo Ever (you should double-click to enlarge it to get the full, glorious effect):


And if you think my photography skills are amazing, check out the Worst Christmas Video Ever (recorded by yours truly, of course):



Nose picking, dog barking, camera dropped, Mommy yelling AND singing (which was worse??). Let's see, did I leave anything out in putting together this memorable, one-of-a-kind video? And it cut off where it did because, well, we never DID get a verse of song actually sung successfully. Merry Christmas, Grandma & Grandpa.

Here's Noah trying on the cats' Christmas present (a crinkle-tube for you non-cat people). Not much to say here about this treasured moment, although I think I overheard Mark mutter "Not our proudest moment as parents."


And now may I present the Most Expensive Christmas Bomb present. In her short almost-two years of life, Shelby has always been ripped off present-wise because we figured she wouldn't know the difference. Well, this year I wanted to do right by her (and because she's old enough she might start remembering how unfairly treated she was by her parents when it came to gift-giving), and so her loving Mommy bought her the BIGGEST and the most EXPENSIVE Christmas gift this year - her very own special chicken bean bag chair (I know how ridiculous that sounds, but just look at the photo, okay? It's super-cute, am I right or what?!?!).


Well, she hates it and refused to sit in it after I took this first photo. So now it sits in the playroom in the corner, completely unused and neglected. And I'm not going to list how insanely stupidly expensive this present was, because of the sheer humiliation of it all, especially seeing as how I have a university minor in Accounting.

* And now let's move on to the BEST! *

What Christmas would be complete without my "Merry Toes" tradition?!? And this year I'm happy to announce that Shelby and Noah joined me in this festive feat! Bwa ha ha, get it?!?! Ha ha ha! Anyway, I'm still working on getting Mark and Connor to join in on this one, no luck yet.


I LOVE Christmas lights. And as you can see, I'm pretty much the only person on our street that does. Boy, do I love our house at Christmastime! *blissful sigh*


I know it's not one of those wild Christmas houses (but which I also love), because I like to keep our Christmas decorations respectful and elegant and spiritual, if you know what I mean. Hence the nativity family in the door wreath, the candles in windows (to signify lighting the path for the Holy Family) and an angel.

I also love to drive around and look at Christmas lights every chance I get. However, Connor and Noah are getting sick of looking at Christmas lights. So now I have to think of new ways to bribe them. This year I let them sit in the back of our SUV on big pillows with sippy cups full of hot chocolate and a box of Dunkin Donuts munchkin donuts to eat. It works, and as you can see, the sugar overload definitely puts them in a good mood! I should note that I only do this on nights that Mark is home to put them to bed. I'm extra-thoughtful like that, you know.


And bling-baby Shelby's favorite Christmas present was from Grandma Davis, a furry purse full of necklaces and hair bows. And every day since, Shelby has insisted on wearing ALL of the necklaces. All at the same time.


And, to put us in our best light with most of the worst carefully edited out, here is our annual Christmas letter for you download, if you'd like. And yes, I know it's long, but since I haven't gotten around to scrapbooking yet, this is pretty much my only documentation of the year and it's mostly for me! CLICK HERE to download the Christmas letter PDF file.

Now, it's time for one of my FAVORITE Christmas traditions - watching Christmas Vacation (I'm simply not a It's a Wonderful Life-type of person, sorry!) for the 9 millionth time - yippee!!

Happy holidays, and cheers to traditions, good and bad! *clink*

An Absolutely 100% Totally Completely Sweet Parenting Moment

Today I took Shelby and Noah through the car wash. Shelby always cries and I feel bad, but in a Syracuse winter (yes, it FINALLY snowed here. FINALLY! Yay!) where your car gets dirty so fast with the road salt and the sunny days are few and far between, you have to take your car wash opportunities when you can get 'em! Even it means skidding into preschool 10 minutes late because you went to the car wash instead.

Anyway, Shelby cries EVERY time. And I feel terrible about it every time. But I also want a clean car.

Today, when the car wash started up, her eyes were huge and welling with tears. I looked back at her and said, "Shelby, it will be okay." She nodded her little head. A minute later, I looked back at her and said the same thing, "Shelby, it's okay." She still had tears in her eyes, but she wasn't crying yet, and she looked at me and nodded. I did this several more times during the car wash (unfortunately for Shelby, I always get the super-ultra-mega-deluxe looooong wash and dry, nothing but the best for my beloved Beemer), and she held her tears in her eyes, didn't cry once, and just looked at me with huge eyes and kept nodding every time I said she would be okay, though I could tell how scared she was.

Now to be 100% honest, I'm not usually very sappy about my kids - most of the time I'm tossing them around upside-down on beds, putting gags in the toilet for them to find, pinching them on the bum, giving them Melvins with their underwear. I even put a disco ball up in our car. But today, with my brave little Shelby totally counting on me and looking only to me, her Mommy, to keep her little world together and safe ... I was overwhelmed at the realization at how much these little people trust us and need us and it was just a magical parenting moment for me. And as we exited the car wash, *I* was the one crying.


Silly sappy me. Time to go give Noah a Melvin or blow a raspberry on Shelby's fat little belly.

All I Want for Christmas Is.....

...for people to update their blogs!!!!! Is that too much to ask?!?!? I have the most pathetic blogroll - you scroll down it and all you see is "updated 4 months ago," "updated 1 year ago,", "updated 9 millenia ago," etc etc etc. Or else I'm going to have to find myself some new blogging friends!

Bah humbug!

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas!

Seasons greetings! For your viewing pleasure (we hope!), please allow us to present our 2009 family Christmas tree:


Connor and Noah picked it out, and did a very nice job selecting a nice, fat soft-bristled tree that smells divine! And then all three kiddos did the decorations pretty much by themselves, allowing me to lounge on my tushie with a hot chocolate, just enjoying the sights of my living room.


And the most astounding sight to see were all three of my little cherubs actually getting along, singing together, and decorating the tree (I think there was only one scuffle about the proper placement of an ornament and only one broken ornament). It surely IS the season of miracles!


I absolutely LOVE this photo of Noah - either he's squealing in glee about Christmas presents or he's shrieking about Connor grabbing him in an awkward spot. And Shelby is just rolling her eyes at them - as we keep telling her, "Shelby, for better or for worse, they're your brothers forever."

And finally, here's our Christmas Advent calendar - you know, where you open a new picture each day of December, but with a twist - chocolate on each day! My mom made this for my brother and I and it was always our most favorite holiday decoration and tradition, and it's SOOOOO much fun to be using the same one, now for my kids! They love it as much as I do/did. Well, almost. I remember that one year I took most of the candies off and ate them all at once, and then sneakily replaced them later - now that is true advent calendar devotion, my friends. When my kids start doing stuff like that, well....I'll be so proud of their ingeniousness!

Happy holidays!

Happy Thanksgiving!

So, this year we had our own little family Thanksgiving at home here in New York, just by ourselves. And since the only person who would eat much turkey is Mark, we thought cooking a turkey was kinda silly. So, we decided to make each of our favorite foods and share with each other.

We began our Thanksgiving feast by reviewing the Thanksgiving story, and explained to the kids about it being a holiday that celebrated the bountiful harvest from the land that the pilgrims and Indians shared. Here's our idea of a bountiful harvest....

Connor with his favorite food - Fettucine alfredo and an Edible Arrangement (and the ever-present-sixth-family-member-Spongebob):


Shelby with her favorite food - homemade French fries:



Noah with Spiderman macaroni:

Mark and his favorite food - pie:

And if you think I'm posting a pic of myself chowing down on my favorite food (Angie's wings) you have GOT to be kidding...you should be thanking me for NOT posting that lovely sight with wing sauce all over my face and hands.

As you can see, the closest thing to a bountiful harvest food were the potatoes used for Shelby's french fries, BEFORE they were french-fried.

We also did the common tradition of going around the table and sharing what we were all thankful for:

• Connor: Was thankful for Shelby
• Noah: Was thankful for his imaginary friend of about a year now, Yana (we don't know much about Yana except that she's a girl, she has black hair, and she was sick last week)
• Shelby: Connor & Noah decided Shelby was most likely thankful for her amazing brothers
• Mark: Was thankful for his wife (good answer, that might just get you another Christmas present, Markli!)
• Estelle: Thankful for our warm, clean, spacious, gorgeous home in which to spend the holidays - we've had a lot of house issues lately, but a remark from a friend recently reminded me of how terrific our home really is and I've seen it in a whole new light and was reminded of how blessed we are to have this beautiful home - thank you, friend. However, IF it would EVER snow here, I would have been thankful for the snow, darnit!
  

And yes, you probably noticed that we're all still in our pajamas...we were all grateful to have no plans and therefore no need to get dressed, and we love our pajamas! We even went to Lights on the Lake on Thanksgiving evening, all of us in our pajamas and happy as can be.

Oh, and just a little funny photo to share...my pumpkins "helping" clean up our Halloween decorations a few weeks ago. Yes, in pajamas again. Do we ever get dressed, you wonder? Only if we have to! Oh, the boys thought they were SOOOOO funny (and truth be told, they were!)!:

Need a unique Christmas gift idea? Allow me...

Did YOU know my husband's book is published?

The book he's been working on for about a decade?

Did YOU know? Because I did NOT. I...me...Estelle...his loving, gorgeous, supportive, thoughtful wife, did NOT know this rather important piece of information. So, how did measely insignificant ME find out it was published and out? I just overheard him talk about it in a phone conversation. "bla bla bla oh yeah, you should check out my new book...it's on Amazon now. bla bla bla"

NICE, huh?

So, I just found it on Amazon. It took me a few spelling errors but I finally got it right and found it (17 years later and I still really truly honestly have no idea what my husband does for a living, much less be able to spell it). Interestingly (or not), along the way, I found a book by Mark A. Ritchie called "God is the Pits." Anyway, here's Mark E. Ritchie's new book:

So yeah, if you're having trouble with your Christmas shopping, especially finding a unique gift for that person in your life who has everything, I guarantee you that they do NOT have this book (and I can also guarantee it will be more potent than Ambien in treating their insomnia problems - bwa ha ha!). Problem solved! Merry Christmas and peace to all!

(Oh, and all I can say for that husband of mine is that this is grounds for me DOUBLING the dollar amount that my new Christmas handbag had better be.)

Halloween greetings from the little-known but very ferocious Pirate Clan of central New York

We love Halloween! While the little cherubs are still small and malleable (and bribeable) I try to get our family to do a theme every year (we were bats 2 years ago, last year we did Star Wars), and this year we were a Pirate clan. Mostly, anyway. Noah has developed a very annoying stubborn streak and insisted on being a bat (fortunately I still had Connor's bat costume from 2 years ago that barely fit Noah). I insisted that he at least needed to be a pirate bat. Noah refused. Little booger!

To move this tale along (I'm wordy, I know), one of our favorite family Halloween traditions is attending our church's Trunk or Treat (where you decorate the trunk of your car and everyone trick or treats in the parking lot - typing it out makes it sound really lame, but it's actually kinda fun!). So, in keeping with our Pirate theme, I also transformed our SUV into a fearsome Pirate vessel, complete with sail on top and treasure chest inside, along with fun Pirate music blaring from the stereo. Pirate Mark ( I had envisioned the Johnny Depp/Jack Sparrow character for Mark, but the old Michael Jackson wig and my black eyeliner didn't quite get the job done, eh?) handed out the candy and regaled the kids with his HILARIOUS pirate-speak, though it appears here that he's actually sneaking a Snickers for himself:

Okay, now back to my dilemma with Noah - it turns out that not even the promise of wielding a sword could convince him to be a Pirate bat. However, by happy accident I discovered that he LOVED the Pirate music I downloaded, so I sneakily told him that he could NOT listen to Pirate music unless he was a Pirate bat. Convincing done! Noah became a Pirate bat with the aid of a sword, a gold hoop earring on his bat ears and a skull/crossbones eye patch.



And doesn't Shelby make the cutest little Pirate princess?

Grandma Davis from Idaho came out to visit and of course was recruited into our Pirate clan, under threats of making her walk the plank.



Now we have the boys getting ready to start their trick or treating, squaring off on our front porch for rights to the coveted "ghostie" trick or treat bag, as opposed to the nerdy pumpkin one.



Oh, and every year we drive around our neighborhood at least every other night looking at Halloween lights (another favorite tradition), and about 2 years ago this crazy Halloween family moved in and they go ALL OUT. I mean ALL FREAKIN' SCARY out. They were our first stop for trick or treating and we had a blast visiting their crazy setup in person (instead of sitting in the car looking out the windows like sissies) - you know, moving stuff in the yard, creepy sounds, people hiding in bushes, etc. They are my Halloween IDOLS! Anyway, Noah was not quite as brave as he'd planned, and grabbed Mark's hand as we approached the house and whispered, "Daddy, please protect me!"



I know this next photo is blurry, but it's so cute with all the kiddos practicing to be Pirates by practicing sword fighting in the living room. And yes, I KNOW, two of the swords are actually light sabers (obtained from a birthday party 2 years ago and the boys still love them- BEST props ever, Capone family!). You'll notice that Noah, however, has the real costume sword, and yes, seconds after this happy little photo was taken he whacked Shelby in the ear with his sword. Pirate fight OVER.




We also decorate our house crazily every year, inside and out (and darnit, I should have taken photos, but watch for 'em next year) and this is Shelby's first Halloween that she's aware of (well, that she became aware she'd been born into a crazy Halloween-celebrating family). It took a while for her to get used to it all, but in the end, WE GOT HER! She loves the shrieking mummies and talking skeletons and screaming coffins. Here she is pushing her favorite "skeleton baby" around in her shopping cart. How stinkin' cute is that (especially in her frilly little girlie flower pajamas)!??!! (oh, I also just noticed that she has adorned herself with a glow-in-the-dark necklace. Shelby's such a girlie girl!)

And what holiday would be complete without us posting ourselves in premade JibJab videos? So here it is this year, with Grandma & Grandpa Davis with the grandkids. Honestly, we entertain ourselves endlessly for countless hours every year, inserting ourselves into these videos and shrieking with laughter, and I'll admit that maybe they're not as funny as we think they are. Savvy? Anyway, I'll shut up now and present, for your watching enjoyment:

Oh, and by the way, next year's Halloween theme choice belongs to Connor, who has informed me that he wants to be a Greek family...so....ummm.....look for us wearing togas and sandals next year??? Yikes. Now THAT will be really scary.