Christmas Trip - Photos IV

Christmas Trip - Photos V

Holiday Wishes

As part of our Christmas celebration, we're officially taking a blogging break. Our plan is to cozy up with our boys and savor every moment with our two Christmas-loving three year olds. We hope that the magic of this season is real for you. And we hope that the spirit of it can transcend across all boundaries. We dream of peace on earth. And we dream of a world where each individual's personal potential is unconstrained.
Holiday wishes everyone!
We'll be back to the blogosphere in a week or so!

Photo of the Day

I snapped this photo at 7:30 this morning. Kyle was dressed for school, Owen was still in his pjs. I took it because I get a kick out of how they want to wear these Santa hats all the time. But after I took it, when I was downloading it to the computer, I noticed how close the boys are sitting to each other. They always are. And always have been. They are always right next to each other, usually with their bodies touching. I find it peculiar and special all at the same time. Even though I have twins, I'm still fascinated by them. Can you imagine wanting to be that close to someone, all the time? It must be really something being a twin. Also, for some reason, when I look at this photo I can just imagine Kyle being a 16 year old young man some day. Scary, but amazing, all at the same time.

Pennsylvania Haiti-Adoptive-Families CHRISTMAS PARTY

Saturday we hosted a Christmas Party for all of our Haiti-adoptive-families-friends from the state of Pennsylvania (or nearby Pennsylvania!). This was a mid-year-reunion of the families from the summer PA Haitian Adoptive Families Reunion (click here, here, and here), and people made the trip from all over to be here. I cannot articulate what this group of people means to our family. Because we knew they'd be incredibly excited about it, we held off on even telling Kyle and Owen about the party plans until just a few days before. Still, K & O were "counting the sleeps" and asking 100 times a day "when is the Haiti Party going to come?!" In all seriousness, their anticipation for this Christmas Party was almost equal to their anticipation for Christmas itself. And their wildly high expectations were beyond met. It was easily one of the best days of their lives. Easily. Throwing this party was probably the very best Christmas present we could give to Kyle and Owen. There is just nothing -- nothing -- like getting together with other families like ours. For five hours the house was overflowing with laughter and chaos (51 people -- 30 of which were kids under the age of 12... and when these kids get together they play hard!!!). Highlights included Corey's fried plantains and rice & beans; pass-the-present; Owen's long-awaited reunion with "Tavika"; camaraderie; contentment; solace; and a special kind of friendship. I don't think I've ever seen a group of adults bond so quickly as this group does. And I know I've never seen a group of kids play so hard as this group does. This group feels like kindred spirits. Kindred spirits with hearts for Haiti. It is rejuvenating to be in the midst. The four of us are now counting the sleeps until the summer reunion. To all who were here: Merry Christmas, and thank you so much for making the trip! More photos in the two posts below (click here and here). And, as always, click on any photo to see it larger.

PA Haiti-Adoptive-Families CHRISTMAS PARTY, photos I

PA Haiti-Adoptive-Families CHRISTMAS PARTY, photos II

K & O Wrap Their Presents

Wrapping Christmas presents with two three year old boys -- these two three year old boys -- is... nothing short of a major test of one's patience. I'll leave it at this: two entire rolls of Scotch Tape were used on some very small gifts. And the ribbon. The ribbon is a whole other story.

Happy Holidays!

Quote of the Day

"When I grow up, then I will be in a marching band, then I will go into a big building, and then I will get to be doing Final Exams too!!!" --Kyle, this evening

On Believing

Kyle Looks Out the Playroom Window

yes, we have a huge blow up thing on the lawn. never in a million years would I ever have thought we'd have a huge blow up thing on our lawn. but the boys rarely ask for anything -- extraordinarily rarely. maybe five times (combined) in their entire lives have they ever asked for something in a store, ever. and they so deeply wanted a "blow up" on our lawn that we couldn't help ourselves and we finally caved in. "we only live once" we reasoned. "and who the heck really cares?" we thought. "if it is so important to them, then let's just do it." i called my mother for moral support. she told me that we "had to do it" and that she'd be "mad" at us "if we didn't do it." that was all we needed. we were at the store the next day with K & O to pick it out. and we're so glad we did. it was one of the best purchases we have ever made. the boys LOVE it. they look at it a hundred times a day. and now, according to K & O, "we have a Hallelujah House!"

* * *

I've been pondering a post I've been wanting to write about believing, and about the magic of Christmas. But then I came across a post that already said everything I wanted to say. I love this blogger and this might be my favorite post from her yet. CLICK HERE to read it.

A Note About "A Baby Brother or A Baby Sister"

Many people have been emailing me about our posts from a couple days ago (December 10). Just for the record: this desire, on K & O's parts, for "a baby brother or a baby sister" is not new. We've known that they have wanted a baby sibling since they could express themselves. In fact, before they could even talk we could see it coming. From my recollection it started at around 14-16 months old... at that point they were in the "Baby Room" at the Lehigh University Daycare Center. Babies from age 6 weeks to around 18 months were in there together. K & O (but Owen especially) adored the tiny babies. He'd spend huge portions of his time at daycare just gazing at them and trying to play with them and help take care of them. The Baby Room Teachers started telling us as early as then that we "better watch out!" because K & O were "going to be asking for a baby brother or a baby sister as soon as they could talk!" I used to laugh it off. "Oh, they just love babies, I know! But this is it for us! We have our hands full!!!" The older wiser teachers would just tilt their heads and roll their eyes at me, "We'll see about that" they would say. "Just wait. These boys are going to be begging you as soon as they are verbal. You're going to have to have another." I have to admit, in my mind I was thinking "Yeah, whatever." But they were right on. As soon as K & O could talk well enough to express it, sure enough, it started. The pressure was on. K & O (Owen especially) have been asking for "a baby brother or a baby sister" since then. I don't know how often I have actually recorded it on this blog (and I don't have time to really go through the posts to search it), but here are just a few examples from around one year ago of posts where it is mentioned:
December 14, 2006 (click here)
December 27, 2006 (click here)
January 21, 2007 (click here)

Photo of the Day

Update on June

For other posts referencing June click here, and click here.

Since around mid-September June has been prominent in our lives here at the Johnson-McCormick home. She started out as what seemed like a little 'crush' type thing for Owen. But slowly and surely she has morphed into something much larger. She's evolved into a full-blown imaginary friend... for both boys. K & O haven't even seen an episode of The Little Einsteins since about early October. They have no interest whatsoever. And from what we can gather, at this point, we don't think that the current June even resembles the original June in any way at all (except that she is for sure a girl and we're pretty sure she's still Asian -- Owen describes her as "not white" and "not brown" but rather as "pink"). At first this whole June craze was entirely Owen's thing. In fact, when Owen would talk about June Kyle would look at him like he was crazy. From time to time Kyle would look at Braydon and I like we were crazy too (for playing along with Owen regarding June). But over time Kyle has come to not only accept Owen's imaginary friend, but to fully take her on as his imaginary friend too. They now both completely and wholly share June. They play with her constantly. They talk about her incessantly. She's with us for everything we do, everywhere we go. June is now like another member of our family. Seriously. She's with us in the car; often we have to wait for what feels like hours for the boys to "buckle her in." She's with us in restaurants; they want to order for her (and she always has the same thing they're having in). She's with us at the dinner table; outside playing; in the playroom; in the bathtub. She helps us fill the bird feeders. She helped us decorate our Christmas Tree. We have to wait for her to catch up sometimes when we're walking. She sings songs with us and reads books with us and plays games with us. She plays along with K & O's silly jokes. She apparently thinks they are hysterical when they make funny faces at her. Braydon and I have to pour a third glass of juice -- for June. We have to set a third place setting at the table -- for June. We have to put a third toy in the tub -- for June. We have to help her into the grocery cart so that all three of them can fit in together. We have to make space on the couch so that she can snuggle in tight with us. June never has "bad behavior" --- never ever. She has never once had even a short Time Out. She's "always a good June." June is perfect in every way. Sometimes there seem to be two of her (when both boys need her to do something with them at the same time -- i.e., they'll both have June on the back of their scooters at the same time, or they'll both have June pushing their baby doll strollers with them at the same time... this always seems to work out just fine for them. "Two Junes!" No problem.) Sometimes (most of the time) there is clearly one of her. K & O always agree on what she's doing at any given time. They tell us stories about her with zero disagreement. If we ask questions about her they both have clear, coordinated answers and explanations regarding June (i.e., "What is June wearing right now?" might be answered-- in unison-- "a dress! and underpants! and she has a magic wand!"). They have never fought over June. Neither K or O is more dominant about June. Both boys initiate talk of June equally. She is ever-present. We don't go for more than an hour, ever, without hearing something about her. I asked about June at our Parent-Teacher conference at the boys' school. Interestingly, their teacher had never heard of June. I was shocked. Given her larger-than-life presence at home it is hard to believe that she's not at school (especially since she's definitely in the car on the way to and from school). The boys' teacher seemed disappointed to not have known about June -- she admitted she loves it when a kid has an imaginary friend, she believes it is a sign of above-average intelligence, and she is absolutely fascinated with how one imaginary friend would play out amongst two twins (she's had twins many times in her classes but never known of twins who share an imaginary friend). She asked me lots of questions about June. I gave the best answers I could. She said she was going to listen closely to see if June is there at school. I told her I'd be surprised if June wasn't there. I haven't checked in with her to follow up. I'll try to remember to do that soon. K & O have already told us (numerous times) that June is going to be with us for Christmas, and that she's going to be at their birthday party, and that she is going on vacation with us (even though we have no vacations planned). June is here and doesn't seem to be leaving anytime soon.

Discussion with Kyle

This evening as we were getting ready for bed, Kyle and I had a little discussion. Well, more like Kyle had a little talk with me. About babies. More specifically, about caring for babies. More exact: about caring for babies in the night.

Note that we don't have a baby. Note that he is not holding his baby doll; I am getting him into his PJ's on the floor.

K: Papi, when you are sleeping, I will call you.
Me: You will?
K: Yes, I will call you because the baby is hungry.
Me: Oh, the baby is hungry?
K: Yes, and you will get a bottle. What is in the bottle? What will the baby drink?
Me: Formula?
K: Yes, that's right. I will call you because the baby is hungry and you will get the bottle for the baby.
Me: Ok, I will get the bottle
K: And June will give the bottle to the baby!

...June gets to have all the fun around here...

Conversation with Owen: Wanting a Baby

Tonight when we were getting the boys ready for bed the following conversation happened. It was my night with Owen (Braydon and I switch back and forth between K & O each night). We were alone in the bathroom and Owen was brushing his teeth, washing face and hands, etc.

Owen: I really, really want a baby brother or a baby sister.
Heather: I know you do sweetie.
O: Mommy, I'm so sad. I'm just so sad.
H: Why? Why are you so sad?
O: Because I don't have a baby brother or a baby sister. I really want a baby brother or a baby sister. I really really want it.
H: I know. I understand. Do you want it to be a baby brother or a baby sister?
O: A baby brother or a baby sister. Just a little tiny baby.
H: Oh.
O: I just want a little baby. I just want to be a big brother.
H: Oh. Why do you want to be a big brother?
O: So I can take care of it. I really want to be a big brother and take care of the little baby. I really want that Mommy, I really want that.
H: I know you do sweetie. I know.

At that point we were done and he ran in his room to get his pajamas on and I ran after him.

Christmas With You

Owen & Kyle Exactly Two Years Ago, age 18 months

Dear Kyle & Owen,
Someday maybe one or both of you will decide to read this blog. If you don't, I hope that I'll remember to print out some of the posts for you so that you'll see at least a few. Either way, I hope you'll read this letter someday. Because no matter what happens down the road --no matter what-- I want you to know that now, this time of your lives --this time of our life-- is truly, sincerely, utterly magical. I am a mother, and biased for sure (probably many mothers feel the way I do right now), but I have to confess that I honestly believe that I have the most adorable, most fun, most FULL OF LIFE little three year olds that ever lived. You two are high maintenance in many departments (like the structure, discipline, constant-supervision, and consistent-behavior-modification departments!! LOL!), but within that solid structure that you both so desperately need (which we are working our tails of every day to provide for you), you thrive. You two are thriving. The truth is that you've been thriving since we got you, but especially since the photo taken above. Right around then (about a year after coming home) you two took off like rockets shooting straight up high. And you haven't stopped. You're like a life force in and unto yourselves. You live the way I try to live: savoring every moment, living in the moment, living it up, and making the most of everything. You don't look back. You don't dwell on disappointment or critique. You ignore negativity. You smile in the face of things that other kids your age throw themselves on the floor fussing about. You take the bull by the horns and you don't look back. You are living. In the present. In the real world. But the real world is, for you, a place of full immersion, a place of opportunity, a place of fun, a place of open connection, a place of magic, a place of true living. And during a season like this --the Christmas Season-- nothing compares to spending it with you two. Nothing. You're like a dream. You make the season a dream. It is all magic for you. This past weekend we left our camera on the shelf. But it is all captured in my mind. Friday night at Lehigh, at my Department Holiday Party, you delighted everyone there. You love parties, even "Lehigh Parties." You high-fived with the football and basketball stars. The college girls went ga-ga for you. My graduate students were enamored with you. My colleagues were delighted with you. You grooved to the DJ's music. When a break-dancing troop finished their performance you two took center stage, break-danced the best you could, and stole the show. There wasn't a person in the place who wasn't grinning from ear to ear watching you. It was a gift to be your parents that night. Saturday we went to your school's big winter festival: The River Valley Waldorf School's Winter Faire. The school was transformed into a magical winter fairytale land. It was all real for you-- your exploration of the "Secret Garden"; your visit with "King Winter"; your tea and gingerbread cookies in the "Tea House"; your tries at "Ice Fishing." You made "magic wands" and seemed to truly believe they were magical. You danced to the music and made the performers on the stage feel like a million bucks. You are the kinds of kids that make events like "Winter Faire" so worth it for so many people who put the work into making them. Everyone loved to just watch you with wonder and excitement lit up in your eyes. And you give back ten-fold. It was hugs all around. Dancing and hand-holding and wand-swishing and "I'm so excited!!!'s" from you all afternoon. Nothing can compare. I was so proud to be with you; to be "Kyle and Owen's Mom." Today we had a family day. Out to lunch and then to an indoor playground that you love. For two hours straight we watched you run around the place, running circles around every other kid there. On the way home we got ice cream and you both chose the same (of course): vanilla ice cream cones with rainbow sprinkles. When they were handed to you, your smiles could have lit up a hundred houses. Owen, you burst out with "Papi, thank you so much for this ice cream!" And Papi said, "Owen, when you say that like that it is sooooo worth it!" And that is soooooooo true. What we give you, we get back ten-million-fold. As is our tradition this time of year, driving home at dusk you made us sing the Hallelujah Chorus for every single house with Christmas lights we saw (which was, of course, many). Every string of lights on every house or bush, every glowing reindeer on a lawn, or lit up tree, or blow-up Santa--- it is all magical for you. You stare out the car windows and buzz with chatter and laughter and "oohs" and "aahs" and bursts of excitement so that your whole bodies wiggle almost out of your carseats. You are only 3 years old, just barely 3.5 -- but you have enough magic and excitement inside you to fill many lifetimes. You believe. You truly believe. It is magic with you. And I am so grateful to be able to spend this Christmas with you.
Love,
Your Mommy, a Believer too.

Department Holiday Party

One of my grad students emailed me some photos she took Friday night of K & O at the Department Holiday Party at Lehigh. Here are a couple of them... the boys watching the breakdancing performance. (Braydon holding Kyle; another one of my grad students holding Owen)

Any questions?

After we read books to the boys and say prayers, Heather walks Owen to his bed and I tuck Kyle in his own bed. We "talk about the day" (which means I rehash some highlights), which we've done for the last couple years once we realized it helped Ky Ky fall asleep.

Recently I've started to say to him when the "talk about the day" is done: "Do you have any questions for me?" Sometimes he does, sometimes he doesn't. Well, to be more specific, I am not sure he really understands what a question is exactly. This was last night's event:

Me: Do you have any any questions for me?
Ky: Ummm. Ummm. Yes.
Me: Ok, what are your questions?
Ky: My question is....
Ky: I like airplanes.
Ky: I like boats.
Ky: Those are my questions for the day.
Me: You like airplanes and boats?
Ky: Yes.

And he snuggles in, sucks his thumb and heads off to sleep with a little grin on his face.

Slice of Life

Braydon works from home most days these days. I'm at my Lehigh office and/or on campus a lot (except for Wednesday and Friday afternoons when I pick the boys up from pre-school at 1:00 and spend the rest of the day with them at home). On Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays Alex picks up the boys from school. Sometimes she takes them on outings or errands, other days she brings them straight home to play there. I always email Braydon during the "Alex Afternoons" to check in and find out what is going at home, how the boys are doing, etc. Braydon's responses to my emails -- from his desk at his home office, to me at my desk at my campus office -- always paint me a good little snippet of a picture of what's up with my boyz and what's happening on the homefront. This is the email I just received from Braydon, 1:40 pm, 12/6/07 [note: the other night I internet-ordered one of the boys' Christmas presents-- a double-seater glider swing for the swingset]:

Things here are good. At 1:20 I got a call from Alex: "I just pulled up outside, there is a big box in the garage that I think is a Christmas present. I am getting them out very very slowly if you want to come grab it." So I went out and brought in the swing! It's in your office. Kyle doesn't miss a trick however - I heard him say to Alex, "can I talk to Papi for a minute?" he comes in and says "Papi, I saw a big box, I can open it?" :) They are playing in the basement with the cars now...

He Can Still Carry Two

They each weigh over 40 pounds. And it is pure bone and muscle. They are built. They are heavy. Especially when you try to pick them both up at the same time. Long ago I gave up on carrying the two together. But he -- my man, my hero, (I know girlfriends, I'm sorry, I shouldn't brag, but he is The Man when it comes to dad duty and he is It when it comes to being Papi to twin 3-year-old Haitian-American-bundle-of-love-and-boundless-energy-boys), he can still carry two.

Can You Help a Haitian Child?

Over the past couple of days I have received this email from a few different people. Because Braydon and I both work full time, we can't host a child right now. If you can think of anyone who might be able to do this, please pass this along.

Dear Friends,

We have just been given the best Christmas present ever. We have been granted free surgeries for Hydrocephalic children. This is a child who need brain surgery. I need to line up around 24 host families in the Philadelphia or Willimington Area. Host parents are families and/or churches who donate there time and love for a child who is coming to the US for life saving surgery. The child is a minor and can not be accompanied by a parent (according to our US laws).

Children will be in the US for 2 to 4 months. Host parents take them to all doctors visits, hospital stays, and care for them as if they were their own child. There are a thousand different questions I will try to go over some of them. Please feel free to contact me with any others I have not covered.

Does the child need their own bedroom? No a child can share a bedroom with other children. Do we have to be licensed? No but host parents fill out an application form and agree to a finger print, background check. What is the cost to us? We charge nothing but ask for day to day needs be met by the host family. (Clothing, food etc.) Plane tickets - We fund raise for each child needing a plane ticket. It cost between $2,000 to $6,000 per child depending on where in the US we need to fly the children. This covers the Medical Visa Cost in Haiti, plane tickets for the child and escort who will be bringing them to the US.

We love it when a church gets involved with just one child. The whole community gets together for a child. It is an awesome feeling to help a child who will for sure die without our help. Knowing you helped save a life. All of these children have loving parents in Haiti to return to. Imagine if you may being a parent and knowing you can not get the care for your baby. Your baby will die without surgery. Imagine how helpless of a feeling this is. The parents love their children so much that they bring them to us begging for help. They hand them over to us (and I cry sometimes more than they do) they cheer me up by saying "No cry God send you it will all be ok". Taking the child back to that family whole and able to live life is the most amazing thing. We are blessed that God has chosen us to help these precious Haitian Children.

Please pass this email on to any church group, friend or family member who lives in this area. We need to line up homes ASAP as we just received the ok from the Hospital and Doctors involved. My contact information is below. May your Christmas be as blessed as ours.

In Christ Love and service, Vanessa

http://angelmission shaiti.blogspot. com www.AngelMissionsHaiti.org

Vanessa A. Carpenter 4071 Barley Drive Salem, VA 24153

1-800-409-7948 answering service / 540-380-4588 home / 540-580-9721 cell

Very First Hair Cuts

I've been wondering if anyone would notice and sure enough my good friend from over at Mayhem and Magic (click here) did! She left a comment on my post from earlier today asking about the boys' hair. Yes, indeed, they got their very first hair cuts! I trimmed their dreds. This was a long time coming, the decision had been weighing on me for months (literally!), and it was a big thing for me to finally determine to do it. The boys' locs were getting very long, especially for 3-year-old-rough-and-tumble-boys who really couldn't care less if grass/sand/mud/play dough/cookie dough/jelly/glue/glitter/gum/or slime of any variety gets smeared in their hair. Their locs were so long that we could put both of their hair into full ponytails. We were also letting them wear my headbands sometimes (which they liked, to keep their locs out of their faces). These looks (ponytails, headbands, etc.) were very hip and cool (the boys looked like some of my coolest students do), but not so appropriate for 3 year old boys in our neck of the woods. Their locs were getting very long, and very heavy. And, the real kicker was that Kyle's hair was driving him absolutely batty. The locs in front were growing straight down, no matter what tactics I took to keep them twisted back. And they were hanging straight into his eyes. A bazillion times a day the poor kid was pushing his hair out of his eyes with his hands. It was distracting him from his playing, from his eating, from his craft projects, from everything. Just watching him go through this was killing me. Kyle's annoyance at his locs-in-his-eyes slowly came to outweigh the idea of keeping the locs long because of my own emotional attachment to the idea/symbolism of it. That is what finally pushed me over the edge and made me make the decision to trim. It was an emotional decision for me. Their hair had never been cut. Never ever. I loved it so much that the tips of their locs were their baby hair; their hair from Haiti, from the orphanage. I loved it so much that the end portions of their locs were from when they first came home, the middle portions were their hair from when they were settling-in-with-us, the roots were now, etc., etc., etc. I loved the symbolism. I loved what it represented. And if they were girls and I could do up-do's everyday, or boys who cared more about keeping junk out of their hair, or people who placed any value whatsoever on the length of their locs... well... then I suppose it would have been a different story. But this is Kyle and Owen we're talking about. Finally I bit the bullet. And once I made the decision, that was it. I said, "O.k., boys, Mama is going to cut your hair!! Just a little, you'll still have your dreadlocks, but I'm going to cut them shorter just a little bit!!" and they jumped right up into the chair I had set up in the kitchen. I made a huge production about how "ONLY MAMA CUTS THEIR HAIR! No one else! And definitely not each other-- NO CUTTING YOUR OWN DREADLOCKS!!!!!!!!!" (still, the next morning I caught them right in the nick of time -- both holding scissors in the playroom and about to "cut hair!"). Anyway, the momentous date was Friday, November 23; that was the date of the boys' very first hair cuts. Braydon and I are sooooo glad we finally did it. Their hair looks awesome now and so healthy. And the boys are much, much happier with their hair now.

Lots and Lots of Cooking

K & O love cooking lately. They get very excited about it. We're cooking with them a lot now. Not every day, but almost. Here are some photos from the past few days.

[in first two, Owen is in blue; in last two, Kyle is in stripes]

Snippets from Today

Things You Probably Shouldn't Let Your Kids Do

K & O are in love with our cat Cooper right now. They are obsessed with chasing him around the house, carrying him around the house, trying to "lasso" him (note the long ropes that K & O call "lasso's" on the floor in the photo above), giving him kitty treats, etc. Cooper plays along surprisingly well. But when he wants to get away, he gets away. One of his favorite safety spots is hiding in a basket high above the cabinets in the kitchen. When need be, he is known to jump way up high and escape from the boys... for safety... until today. We found Owen and Kyle standing on the counter, Kyle standing on his tippie toes and cheering and helping to push Owen upward, and Owen pulling himself up to eye-sight with Cooper in the basket. Poor cat.

***

Our Tree

We put up our tree this morning while we were still all in our pajamas. We have no particular theme to our tree or system to our approach (other than the "glass balls go exclusively at the top and out of reach of 3-year-olds rule). Note the huge clump of about 20 ornaments hanging all together on the very bottom, far right, of the tree. Thanks to Kyle for that special Christmas Tree "look." For whatever reason he simply could not help himself from placing every ornament he got his hands on in that one specific spot.

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Santa Hats in Snow

We woke up to a dusting of snow this morning. Perfect for our Christmas Tree Decorating Day. Amidst the ornaments we found these two Santa hats from last year. K & O love them and wore them the rest of the morning.

***

Scooters in Snow

Late in the morning the boys rode their scooters in the driveway despite the snow.
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Panara Hot Chocolate

We went to lunch at Panara. K & O love their broccoli cheddar soup and have each been eating the full adult sized portion since they were about 18 months old. They rip up their baguettes and stir the bread into their soup. During our lunch Owen noticed a woman at a nearby table with a huge mug full of something with a big dollop of whipped cream on top. He shouted over, "Excuse me?! Excuse me?!" The woman looked over at us. Pointing to her mug, Owen asked, "Excuse me, what do you have? What is that?" She said, "Hot Chocolate!" He said, "Ohhhh!!! Thanks!!!" Then: "Papi if I do a good job can I have that please?!" In the photo above he was about half-way through it. The boy was in heaven. At one point while slurping it up he said, "I'm the luckiest boy in the whole world! I really love hot chocolate!!!"

December 1!

Click here for a post from this day of last year. We (really, I, but now, we) have a tradition of waiting until December 1 to start the Christmas Season. We do everything we can to completely ignore the early-onset of Christmas up until this day. But the first thing we do when we wake up on December 1 is get the Christmas CDs out and get the Christmas music blaring. After the Christmas music festival here at home we went to the boys' school for a special school festival called the Spiral of Light. The youngest kids at the school each get to light a candle to symbolize the light within them shining bright even during the onset of the darkest days of the year. It was really beautiful and I had tears in my eyes watching Owen as the first child to walk the path of balsams with his candle, and then watching Kyle hand-in-hand with his best friend Will on the path. Afterward we went out to lunch and then visited Santa. Owen and Kyle have a whole new appreciation for Santa this year. Owen declared immediately that it was "a real Santa!" He was respectfully stand off-ish and wanted to watch closely, but from a little distance. Later he warmed up and sat on Santa's lap for a bit. Kyle was quick to run right up to Santee Claus and ask a million questions of him. #1) "Where are your reindeer?" #2) "Do they eat grass?" #3) "Where is the North Pole?" #4) "How did you get here?" #5) "Where is your sleigh?" ETC., ETC., ETC. Finally when Santa could finally get a word in edgewise he asked Kyle what he wanted for Christmas. Kyle told him: "A real airplane." Owen piped up and specified: "A toy that is just like a real airplane." Santa nodded with approval. As the boys ran off they yelled at the top of their lungs "Bye Bye Santa! HO HO HO! MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!"