Christmas in New Hampshire, 3 of 4

Christmas Eve Day ~ as tradition has it, Santa brings one gift early on Christmas Eve. As children, both of my parents opened their presents on Christmas Eve. Growing up, my sister and I got one gift on Christmas Eve from our parents. Now our children get one gift on Christmas Eve from Santa. And yes! K & O got what they asked for: BIG BASS DRUMS! (go ahead, call us crazy... I'd do it all again in a heartbeat to see the looks on those precious faces!!!!!!!!!!!!!!). Here they are, wearing their "King Pine" shirts, and they COULD.-NOT.-BE.-HAPPIER. What child shouldn't have that on Christmas??????????? Every child should be so lucky to get the special gift they've been hoping for and wishing for and writing letters to Santa about. This is the stuff that magic is made of.
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Ky Ky was truly beyond ecstatic -- walking on sunshine to the beat of a different drum -- upon receiving this gift from Santa. Look at the look on his face.
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Christmas Eve Day late afternoon ~ before getting changed into their dress-up-outfits the cousins take a dip (with piles of snow on their heads!)
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The fourth cousin looks on, envious. Hopefully next year she'll be able to join them!?!!!
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Christmas Eve ~ all dressed up. The boys got a huge kick out of dressing in matching outfits with their sister for their first Christmas as a threesome as opposed to a twosome. This was the best we could get for a photo. Quickly it turned into a major meltdown. ;0
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Swedish Smorgasbord on Christmas Eve. My mom is really, really amazing. She keeps this going year after year after year and we don't know what we'd do without the meatballs and korv and sill and salmon and all of it. I've eaten this meal every Christmas Eve of my entire life... as has my mom and dad and their parents too. K, O, and M will learn to love it.
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The pageant at church on Christmas Eve. Once again, the gender bending. K & O insist on being angels. Sadie is the sheep. It was cute and nothing crazy happened with K & O like what happened two years ago when they were two (click here)... then again, they now have the baby sister, so they didn't need to steal the baby Jesus.
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Speaking of baby sister... she sat in church, her eyes glued, as her two angelic brothers (that is sarcasm) did their thing. Seriously, this girl adores her brothers. Adores them.
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Christmas Morning!
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#1 Most Priceless Picture!!! Mid-morning Christmas Day ~ Owen was missing. Braydon and I found him, alone in the kitchen, with the Swedish Butterhorns. LOL!!!!!!!!!! Between him and Kyle they ate at least a couple dozen over the course of the day.
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Christmas in New Hampshire, 4 of 4

Tubing!
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Owen!
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Kyle!
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S'mores back at MorMor and MorFar's after tubing.
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MorMor and Kyle.
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MorFar and Owen.
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Braydon and Meera.
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My parents' wood pile.
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Our last night ~ MorMor and Kyle in the hot tub.
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Owen and MorFar on our last night.
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CHRISTMAS 2008

Happy New Year Moments

We're officially declaring 2009 the "Year of the Airplane" here in the J-M household. The boys (led by Kyle, the leader of the dynamic duo, as usual) are officially completely obsessed with all-things-airplanes. Santa (and some others -- you know who you are!!!) made a significant augmentation to their Toy Airplane Collection. Which has only fueled the fire. They play with their airplanes daily (airplanes and their musical instruments are the two things they consistently play with every.-single.-day.). Airplanes airplanes airplanes. New Year's Eve Day was no different. K & O spent the bulk of the day playing with airplanes (photo above taken 12/31/08). Meera spent the bulk of her day watching them play with airplanes. Braydon and I spent the bulk of the day doing damage control. Par for the course. When we talked about New Year's Resolutions Kyle announced that his is to "do a good job sitting next to Mommy on airplanes" (???!?). Anyhoo...

I still haven't posted about Christmas. Because I still haven't had even an hour to sort through all the photos. Granted, there are 642 of them. (Yes, yes, we're ridiculously snap happy, but to our defense: we were on our NH Christmas trip for a full 8 days and we did do a lot of camera-worthy things while we were up there). I will try to get to the Christmas post ASAP. In the meantime...

HAPPY NEW YEAR!
We celebrated alone this year. Beth was supposed to come for New Year's Eve and New Year's Day, but had to cancel due to the weather (understandably not wanting to drive in snow and wind all the way from Connecticut). Once we accepted our fate (Braydon kept repeating: "First and foremost we need to accept that we are not in our twenties anymore and we have three young children."), it really wasn't all that bad being totally alone with no plans.

This past fall, in one of many tiny but very memorable moments with Owen's current teacher (who I believe to be an absolutely brilliant woman), she said this one thing thing that has stuck with me ever since. I was saying to her that I cannot imagine how hard it must be to teach 4 year olds (they're so infuriating!). She was saying to me that she cannot imagine how hard it must be to teach college students (they're so infuriating!). Then she told me that she has this perspective on teaching that is about focusing on good moments (as opposed to trying to achieve whole good days or even portions of days). She talked about how groups of four year olds can't possibly be expected to all be even-keeled and well-behaved for whole days at a time, but if she has a moment or two in her classroom during each day that are good -- truly good moments -- then she considers her work day a smashing success. I loved this idea and explained right away that it is basically the same with college-age kids. Ever since our conversation I've been thinking a lot more about noticing (and celebrating) good moments, and -- most importantly -- not even expecting whole good days (or even portions of them). This has really helped me in my approach to time spent with our three kiddos.

Our New Year's Eve 2008 and New Year's Day 2009 were held together --loosely-- by a thin string of good (actually, great) moments. With lots of regular-to-be-expected-infuriating-and-frustrating-and-about-to-make-us-go-off-the-deep-end other moments. In between the good moments we had some meltdowns and some time-outs and we each lost it at least once (keep in mind: we've now been together as a family, with no school and very little work and with virtually no routine whatsoever, for almost two solid weeks ---- this is waaaay tooooo long for us). But the moments, the good moments, were GOOD. And ultimately, that is what we look forward to most in 2009: more good moments. All the other stuff... well, we'll do what we gotta do: we'll deal with it.

We had a little family New Year's Eve Celebration (at the pathetically early hour of around 5pm) and did lots of CHEERS! to the new year. Ever since Braydon and I went to France in the spring of 2003 (and were served -- much to our surprise -- BBQ potato chips with a fantastic bottle of champagne in an exquisite chateau in Burgundy [they explained in very sophisticated terms how BBQ chips were the best compliment to the champagne]), we have BBQ potato chips whenever we have a good bottle of champagne. The boys had their own bottle (and grapes, since they aren't big fans of chips). Meera had her little chewy-toy-thing with an ice cube in it (no champagne for her -- not even the fake stuff). And it was a very good moment. Standing in our kitchen, music blaring, toasts rolling off each other one after another... for a moment -- no matter how fleeting -- the excitement of it was truly as perfect as any New Year's Eve celebration I've participated in. Very soon after Meera came unglued and was too exhausted to even attempt to eat her baby-food dinner.

But everyone woke up cheery on this first morning of 2009. Our plans for going on a long walk were quickly dashed when we realized how cold the day was turning out to be (it never got above 15 degrees). But our other plans were -- for the most part -- realized. Today four of us never got out of our pajamas (Meera was changed, but only out of necessity due to a diaper situation). Braydon and the boys made fresh orange juice and fresh bread this morning. We had a "picnic lunch" on the floor of the family room while watching the Rose Bowl Parade. Little Miss was in bed at 6:00 and the bambinos were in bed by 6:30. Tonight Braydon and I are having take-out and watching a movie... continuing a long tradition of doing *nothing* (or at least, not much) on New Year's Day (two years ago I posted this about our New Year's Day tradition).

Amidst the mayhem and the madness there are moments to savor. We're hoping for lots of little moments in 2009 ----- for us and for all of you J-M Blog readers out there. Happy 2009!

We're Back!!!

We're back from Christmas in New Hampshire!

We'll post about the trip once we've unpacked and looked through all the pictures!

Meera Grace 7 Months Old

Meera turns 7 months old today! This past month she's started to sit up pretty well -- she can sit on her own but still plops over after a minute or so (and then laughs at herself when she does). She's started chewing on teething biscuits (which she loves). She experienced her first big party in her own house (the Haiti Christmas Party). And she took her fourth trip to New Hampshire... this time for her first Christmas (a beautiful white Christmas to remember). She survived the 10 hour car ride (10 hours each way) and did really well (especially for a 6 month old!) during this 7 night Christmas trip. Meera continues to be a happy, happy, happy baby who rarely fusses and rarely cries. She laughs easily and often (especially when tickled!). She's smiling more than she's not. And she still sleeps like a champ. Her favorite foods are "rice and beans" (! --rice cereal mixed with pureed green beans); sweet potatoes; and Yo Baby Simple Plain Yogurt. This month she spent lots of time in the baby backpack on Braydon's back. She's had her first taste of winter weather and tends to squeal and screech with delight when the cold winds blow on her face. Meera is a baby who loves loves loves toys. She's entertained for hours playing by herself with all her little baby things. But by far her favorite thing to do is to watch her brothers and -- even better -- receive their attention and affection. Meera Grace is a miraculously ridiculously unbelievably easy happy mellow happy-go-lucky baby who delights us everyday by simply just being. We can't believe we've passed the 6-month-mark with her. She's growing so fast; we are trying to savor each and every day with this precious baby bundle.

Happy Holidays!

Christmas "Carols" from Braydon Johnson-McCormick on Vimeo.

If you have not seen last year's Christmas Carols, they all seem to eventually end up the same...

Happy Holidays!

'White' Christmases for Black Boys

A couple of weeks ago Braydon bought a new Christmas book for K & O. They quickly fell in love with it and have requested it to be read to them at least once a day since. It is a great book with wonderful illustrations and I want to especially highly recommend it to parents of precious little black boys out there in the blogosphere. The book is An Angel Just Like Me by Mary Hoffman, illustrated by Cornelius Van Wright and Ying-Hwa Hu. Check it out! This year, with Kyle and Owen at age 4.5, our Christmas season has included a newly emerging sense of awareness on the part of our boys. This is an awareness that was only slightly present in previous years but is now in much fuller force. Images of white Santas, white snowmen, white angels, white nativity scenes, white snowflakes, white snowscapes, 'white' Christmases are everywhere. K & O (as well as --and this is an important point-- all the rest of us) are being bombarded with it everyday. Braydon and I try very hard to counter-act it in our own little oasis of our home. We conscientiously and purposefully present counter-images --- on our walls, on our Christmas tree, in the books that we read to them, in our own little nativity scenes, on the covers of the Christmas music CDs we're listening to, in the decorations we put out, in the way we tell our own stories. But still, no amount of counter-action could possibly balance it out, and the effects of the 'white' Christmas are understandably profound. 'Where am I in all of this?,' they seem to be asking with their questions and statements and theories about all things Christmas. Things like An Angel Just Like Me are important for our boys during this season because these things give a strong, confident answer to their question by saying: 'You, too, my beautiful black boy, are right here in the middle of all of this.'

L'Union fait la force

Every school in the history of education has had bullies. I remember for me there was one in the 7th grade - it was a kid named Cody.  At the time he was just big, a bit scary and did mean, stuff.  But now that I'm an adult, I recognize that bullies are most often children who are facing some kind of difficulty and are coping with it (wrongly) through dominating others.  Maybe it's a question of the powerless making others more powerless to make them selves better off.  Maybe it's an inability to express the problem in an effective way and the problem manifests as aggressive tenancies.   Whatever the (understandable) cause, bulling is never acceptable.

Even in a loving environment like the River Valley Waldorf school, there are bullies.  There is one in Kyle's class.  He's a normal sized child (smaller and lighter than K & O), but very aggressive, pushing, shoving, hitting, biting and attempting to incite other kids into doing the same. Heather often reports to me of his malfeasance on the front playground, but during morning drop off (which I do), I rarely see it.  Today I saw it.

Now, it wasn't too dramatic, and in lots of places it's far far worse, but in principle, it's the same where ever you are.  Unprovoked, this boy raised his fist against Kyle. He held Kyle by the shirt in his left hand, and raised his right hand behind his ear to slam his fist into Kyle's face.

Whether or not he would have done it, I don't know. And honestly, I am not sure that the boy even knows what he was doing. My gut told me that he'd seen it as a threat, but didn't know what the next step was. I could be wrong, but I hope not.

But here is the thing:  Kyle didn't blink, budge or attempt to fight back. In effect he turned the other cheek. I suspect he knows he would hurt this kid if he went after him). Passive strength is how both boys handle this kid on a daily basis.  I am so proud of that.

Before the kid could hit Kyle, Owen came over and they stood shoulder to shoulder in front of this child, locked together without aggression, without threat, but with a clear signal that said "I wouldn't try it if I were you."

While I was telling the kid that "we don't hit other people", K&O went over to the window, sat on the sill, shoulder to shoulder, an immovable 100 pounds of strength.

Guitar Picks

After two years of strumming, the boys are now movin' on up--- their Papi has seen it fit to graduate them to using guitar picks when playing guitar! The picks are optional, and sometimes they use them and sometimes they don't. But it is clear just from observing their stance and their renewed-guitar-playing gusto that using the picks to play guitar is a BIG deal to them.

Snow Delay

Just a sprinkling of snow and ice (I grew up in rural New Hampshire... in my book, anything less than a serious N'oreaster does not legitimately qualify for a school delay), but here we are in Pennsylvania smack dab between NYC and Philly and a wee bit of the white stuff gives these folks cause for alarm. The phone rang at 6:00 am -- a two hour school delay. Great. This was just about the last thing I needed. With about a zillion things left on my current To Do list (otherwise known as the 'Create Christmas 2008 for the Johnson-McCormick Family' list), and Meera coming down with a cold (thanks to Kyle who has a bad cold and who can't seem to stop sneezing on her and smearing her with snotty nose kisses all of his waking hours), and with Braydon needing to leave the house at 7am for a work meeting, and a hundred errands to run and things to accomplish within the next 72 hours, a snow delay was just about enough to put me over the edge. If only I had time to go over the edge. I mean, really now, the boys are only in school for 4.5 hours each day to begin with??!! Two hours of that precious time taken away from me just like that? What about my wrapping-palooza-2008 plans (that have already been delayed for various reasons for the past three straight days)??? Anyway, once I got over my initial shock and disgust I hunkered down to grin and bear it. And once I saw the boys in their snow gear I just couldn't bear to be Grinchy about any of it a minute longer. The ice made a magical mystical land out of our yard and K & O couldn't have enjoyed it any more than they did. It turned out to be a crazy whirlwind of a day. Ending with the house in more disarray than it has been for a long time and with poor Little Miss sick as a dog and zero items crossed off my To Do list and take-out pizza for supper. But nevertheless, it sure is beginning to look -- and feel -- a lot like Christmas.

Christmas Story

The boys are extremely interested in the Christmas Story. Kyle is particularly obsessed in his usual theological way; he wants to understand everything. The most difficult question I've fielded so far is:  "What happened before Jesus was born?"

But there is something just so sweet about both their excitement about the Christmas Story.  I don't mean Christmas the fun and exciting Santa holiday, I mean the Christmas story itself.  They seem to get it, they seem to revel in it, it feels like it has meaning for them.

And that is beautiful.

I found Heather narrating the birth of Jesus to our boys to the other day. The images tell it better than any words.

Da Da Da Da Da

About halfway through the day today I suddenly heard Meera saying "da da da da da." As clear as can be. I turned and looked right at her and said back, "da da da da da." And she looked me right in the eyes and said, "da da da da da." She's been babbling forever, and is chatty at times (usually only when at home, when the house is relatively quiet -- which usually means when her brothers aren't around), but this was the first real strong, clear "baby talk" from our girl. For the rest of the day she practiced her "da's." We heard it off and on this afternoon and this evening. And tonight we listened to the baby monitor as she "da da da da da"'d herself to sleep. She has a really cute and sweet little voice!

Dear Santa

(as dictated by Owen & Kyle ~~ click to enlarge)