Reader

Miss Abby is becoming quite the reader, and it's pretty fun to watch it happen.  (Truth: It is NOT AT ALL fun to listen to her sound out every word she sees, even the words she already read out loud.  Like this~ "I love my mom. I l-l-l-l-l-ove m-m-m-m-y m-m-m-m-om.") But the other day, her newfound talent brought her some disappointment.  Instead of Taco Del Mar, Abby has always called that restaurant "Taco Bell Mar." We thought it was cute, so we started calling it that too.  The other day when we were eating there, she looked down at her cup....

Abby: Hey! This says Taco DEL Mar. That's not right.
Me: That's what it's really called.
Abby: Then why do we say Taco Bell Mar?
Me: Because you called it Taco Bell Mar, and we thought it was cute.
Abby: You LET ME CALL IT THE WRONG NAME? All this time?
Me: It was cute!
Abby (mumbling to herself): Taco DEL Mar.  Taco DEL Mar.  I can't believe they didn't tell me!

Just wait until she sees the word "animal" written down and realizes she has been incorrectly saying "aminal" for her entire life! 

Merry Christmas 2011



We wish you a day filled with peace, love and happiness.  Merry Christmas!!



Un-Christmas Moment

In case you think that it's all Christmas magic and unicorns over here at Casa de Eitzen, I thought I give a little peek into tonight's Christmas activity.....

I love to look at Christmas lights, so on this very cold and clear night, I suggested that we go get hot cocoa and drive around to see the light displays in town.  No one was overly enthusiastic, but the promise of hot cocoa got everyone in the car. 

Josh: Why are we doing this again?
Me: Just to look at all the lights.  They're pretty.
Josh: (shrug and sigh) OK
Me: Oh! Look at that one!
James: Oh, yeah.  That house gives out the best candy at Halloween.  You know what would make this fun? If houses gave out candy!
Me: You know what makes this fun??? That the lights are pretty, and we are together as a family.
John: (muttering) If you say so.
Abby: (LOUDLY) Jingle Bells, Batman smells.... Josh, what's the next part?
Josh: Robin laid an egg.
Abby: Right: Jingle Bells, Batman smells, Robin laid an egg.
Me: Thanks, Josh.
Josh: (smirking) You're so welcome, Mom. 
Abby:  Jingle Bells, Batman smells, Robin laid an egg.
Me: Abby, that's really enough of that song, Abby.  Why don't we just listen to the Christmas music?
Abby: (quietly) Jingle Bells, Batman...
Me: ABBY!
Abby: Geez. Fine.
James: Mom, how come we had to get kids' hot cocoas? You got a big one.
Me: Because we know how to be grateful for what we get, James.  That's why.
James: I bet you are grateful.
Me: James, one more word and you will have no hot cocoa. 
James: Geez. Fine.
Abby: Jingle Bells, Batman
Me: ABBBBYYYY!

We drove down to our beautiful little downtown  area to see the lights....
Me: This is so pretty.  I just love it.
James: I wonder how much money they are wasting with all this.  I bet A LOT.
Abby: Jingle Bells, jingle bells, Batman laid an egg.
Me: ABBY!
James: Just think how much other stuff they could buy with all that money.  Who pays for this?
John: We do, with taxes.
James: Can we say we don't want to?

Heading past Teresa's house....
Josh: Hey Mom, wouldn't it be funny if we went up to their door and started caroling?
John: It wouldn't be funny because none of us would sing.  We'd be terrible carolers.
James: That's because Dad doesn't have any Christmas spirit. 
Abby: Well I would sing.  I'd sing Jingle Bells, jingle bells, Batman....
John and I (in unison): ABBY!

Continuing our tour...
Josh: Geez.  Haven't we been on every street in McMinnville yet? 
John: Seems like it.
Me: Fine, let's go home. 
Abby: (singing) Dad doesn't have any Christmas spirits, spirits, spirits...
James: It's spirit, Abby.
Abby: Same thing, James.
Me: Spirits means ghosts.
Josh: Like how Christmas is about god dying.
Me: WHAT?? No, it's about Jesus being born.
Josh: Oh, right, sorry.  I was thinking of Easter.
Abby: GOD IS NOT DEAD.  He lives in our hearts. (Did I mention that Abby's been going to church?)
Me: That's right, Abby.
Abby: Then why did Josh say he died?
Josh: Well, that's what Easter is about. 
Abby: WHAT?!
John: Am I having a stroke? I think I'm having a stroke.
Me: OK, you guys, enough. Christmas is about the birth of Jesus. End of story.
Abby: Jesus is God's son.
Me: Right, yes.  You've got it.
Song in the car: "It is the night of our dear Savior's birth."
Josh: Oh! I should have just listened to the song!
John: Seriously.  Is this what having a stroke feels like?
Abby: Jingle Bells, Batman smells......

Let's just say that next year, I'm going alone.

Christmas Moments: #1

Of course, I decorate for Christmas the second Thanksgiving is over, and it might be the only time of the season that I am grateful for a fake tree.  I can put up the tree as soon as I want, and know that it will sparkle and glow for 30 solid days, with no watering, no needles, no drying out.  In the new house, it sits in the corner of the back room, and it makes me happy every time I look at it.  I was able to decorate the entire first floor with the decorations that I had and still have some things left over, confirming once and for all that I have too many decorations. 

This year, the decorations were put up slowly over the long weekend, and on Sunday night, we finished up with the angel on the top of the tree.  As a side note, I have a weird thing about Sundays.  We grocery shop, run errands, do laundry, and clean on Sundays, and that day always feels.....settled.  I can open the fridge and pantry and see enough food for at least one week, but probably much longer; we have clean, nice clothes to wear; there is toilet paper and deodorant and shampoo and soap--we will not want for anything in the coming week.  I always think that no matter what happens, we are set for at least seven days, and it is one of my favorite moments of the week.  Since I have never wanted for anything in my whole life, I'm not sure why it's so important to me, but it is.  So, on the Sunday after Thanksgiving, when the kids hung the last ornaments and called John to do the angel, it was just a perfect moment. Things were looking good for the Christmas spirit......

Christmas Spirit

I've tried to write about this about ten different times times, and every time, it kept coming out cheesy and not quite right.  A little self-indulgent and melodramatic, to be honest.  I'm giving it another try, and this time, I made myself a promise that I will, in fact, hit post when I am done......

It's no secret that I love Christmas.  Everything about it makes me happy, and I tend to go a little overboard with it in just about every way.  It isn't simply about being happy though.  Many times throughout the month between Thanksgiving and Christmas, I have a feeling of contentment.  Of peace.  Of a full heart.  That feeling certainly comes at other times in the year, but the Christmas season is just full of them, one piled on top of the other. 

There have been a few times over the years that the "spirit" of Christmas has just never arrived.  I think that my own expectations of what should be have gotten in the way a time or two.  Or three or.... ten.  I know what I am hoping for, and I try to make it happen.  As I have gotten older and learned a few a lot of lessons about what really matters, I have found that the Christmas spirit is there, waiting for me, each year.  It sounds like an oxymoron, but when I make a conscious effort to sit back and relax, trusting that the magic will come, it does. 

Although in some years, the "spirit of Christmas" comes just for a minute or two, this year has been different.  I'd like to think that the little talk I had with myself on Thanksgiving night helped.  I told myself that I would have no expectations for this year.  That I would enjoy the little things and just wait.  And to my surprise, I could do it.  I could let go of expectations and enjoy, and wouldn't you know it? The magical moments have arrived both in the most obvious of places and in the tiniest details.  This year, perhaps more than any other year, my heart is full. 

It isn't even Christmas yet, but the "moments" have been abundant so far. In the coming days, I plan to write about them, as many as I can find time to put into writing.  The Emanuel Christmas party.  Making stockings.  Snuggling into bed in a hotel room next to the ocean to watch Elf with my family.  Feeling transported back in time walking on the beautifully lit, nearly deserted streets of Newport.  An ornament exchange.  Mother/Daughter lunch.  Date night. Decorating our new house.  A Christmas program.  A piano recital.  A BIG surprise.  A kindergarten Christmas party.  A date with my special girl.  An indulgent evening. 

But for now, I keep thinking about the mornings of the past few weeks.  We've had unusual weather this December--cold and clear, with some very foggy days thrown in.  Each day, as I have left for work with Christmas music playing, I have driven past my bundled up children at the bus stop, waving wildly with big smiles on their faces.  Josh and I have chatted quietly as we drove up the hill, and just before I dropped into town, a beautiful sunrise has greeted us.  Pink and purple and yellow, with the mountains silhoutetted in the distance, a colorful sunrise is completely unexpected in the usually drab, gray Oregon December.  And so, nearly every morning this month, the unexpected took my breath away, and for a moment I could feel Christmas.   On about the fifth day of this, Josh sighed and said, "Mom, you say the sunrise is beautiful EVERY MORNING.  Aren't you expecting it to be beautiful by now?" I started to explain, but found that I started to tear up instead.  He glanced over at me and said "Well, it is really pretty" and shrugged his shoulders.  He doesn't get it now, but someday, he'll learn what I am slowly learning myself: That sometimes the spirit of Christmas is found where you least expect it.