Feliz Navidad in August

The classic version of Feliz Navidad (the José Feliciano version) is currently playing in the family room.  This is not an uncommon occurrence at our house, it's Leo's favorite Christmas song.  Feliz was played and replayed and then replayed in December.  When the holidays came to a close, he couldn't quite give it up, so nearly every day we enjoy the mariachi goodness of Feliz Navidad. 

As a side note here, the rest of the album is really good too.  It's mostly made up of acoustic guitar versions of the classic carols.  Check it out, it's on Amazon Prime.

You would be surprised at the amount of toys that two toddlers and one mom can pick up to one playing of "Beliez Navi Duck," as Leo calls it.  That is one of those phrases that I hate to correct because I know how quickly the time passes and he grows up and stops saying things like "ambliance" (ambulance) and "snoot snacks" (fruit snacks).  He is growing and changing so fast that I just want to enjoy it for just a moment.  Who knows when the last time he'll ask to hear "Beliez Navi Duck." 

So, if you stop by the house around 6, there's a very good chance that you'll hear the peppy guitar playing of a classic Christmas song.  You'll see us dancing and cleaning because around here we celebrate Christmas all year long. 

 

December Snipets

 We went into Old Town earlier this month to see a boat parade.  I thought, boy that sounds fun and festive and not too bad with toddlers.  I have not been so wrong about something in a long time.  It took us hours to get close and to park.  By the time we got up there, the parade was long gone.  Well, you can't win them all.

We ran down to Occoquan one Saturday to pick out Christmas ornaments.  It was a major melt down.  Oh the emotions of 2s sand 4 year olds.

I got to sing a duet in church.  It made me remember how much I love singing.  I sang with the choir the Sunday before Christmas and have been asked to sing two more times in the next month. 

On Christmas Eve, Heber discovered that his wallet was missing.  He'd gone to a movie the night before so assumed it must be there but no one had turned it in.  He went down to the theater and found it wedged behind the seat after almost a full day.  We were thankful.

A few days before Christmas, I received word of the passing of one of my cousins.  It was a heartbreaking situation and it really shifted my holiday away from worrying about all the presents and back to being grateful for all that I have.    

One of the big holiday highlights for me was the sugar cookies.  Did you read my post at the beginning of the month where I said I was dreaming about my Aunt's cookies?  Well, go back and read it if you need.  This year, I was able to get her recipe.  I was sworn to secrecy so I can't share it here but they were incredible and a true taste of home. 

Christmas Eve

Another Christmas has come and gone.  Here we are ten days later and it feels like months ago, well except for all the decorations that have not yet been put away.  I loved our Christmas this year.  I honestly thought I would be missing my family and the traditional things (and I did that too), but we were joined by some friends that made for a festive and wonderful holiday.  We stayed up way too late playing games and talking (in between settling sad babies).  We watched our kids experience the magic of Christmas.  We ate delicious food at home and out.  It made all that preparation that goes into Christmas worth it.  You know what I mean about preparation, my mom said that Christmas is like a part time job from November on and she is totally right.

For Christmas Eve, we went into the city (because you have to do something to make it feel special) and had brunch at Founding Farmers. We ran over to see the National Christmas Tree which is the closest thing Heber and I had to a white Christmas (get it?).  Leo was wishing for snow the whole holiday.  I guess he thought that Christmas equals snow.  We'll try better next year.

I took a short detour to the Renwick Gallery, which I've been dying to visit.  They recently reopened the entire gallery with new exhibits that are incredible.  I really wanted to see the Chihuilli chandelier, you know, the greatest glass artist of our generation.  Whenever I can see one of his works in person it's amazing.

We pressed our luck and went over to visit the Botanical Gardens.  Somehow they were still peaceful even in all the holiday craziness.  We liked the trains but the kids were just about done by that point.  We headed home and cooked a nice meal and threw everybody in bed just in time for the Christmas magic to happen.

Ready to see what Santa brought

This was the first year that Leo was really excited for Santa to come.  It was so fun to see them open up their gifts and to be happy with all the little things.  Amy would open a present, pull it out excitedly and say, "ta da!" Heber surprised me with a new camera lens (!) and a hexagon knob press.  I can see all the beautiful knobs now, I can't wait!

 

It was busy and wild but such a great holiday. 

Giving Thanks

We celebrated Thanksgiving last week.  If I'm being honest, there wasn't much thanks in my heart this holiday.  I let myself get overwhelmed with what I don't have, who I'm not with this holiday and bogged down by yet another sinus infection (the great sick season of 2015 continues).  I even put together a gratitude tree and we didn't populate it with leaves (what a sad little sight, we may have to leave it up and populate it in January).

I really have so much to be grateful for, our beautiful home, healthy children.  I guess it's all about perspective.  We ended up celebrating with our cousins from Philly.  The weather was beautiful and we sat out on the deck in the sunshine and smelled the turkey cooking.  We had a wonderful visit, beautiful meals, delicious pies.  The kids were so happy to be together and joyously played for several days.  It all cheered me up and reminded me of all the things we have to be thankful for. 

Heber's beautiful smoked turkey

A couple of days after Thanksgiving, another little boost came.  We've been gearing up for the holidays and I really wanted a new Christmas tree.  We're in our new home, we've had our little Charlie Brown trees for lots of years and I felt like it was time to move on up.  The problem is that I just didn't really want to allocate money to that, especially with all the expenses (happy ones, but still) that come this time of year.  I looked at trees but just didn't ever buy one.

I was out talking to a neighbor last week and mentioned the quest for a new tree.  He said that he had one in the house that I could HAVE.  What?  Well, he's a UPS driving and picks them up all the time on his route as people are getting rid of them.  Now I have this beautiful seven foot tree.  It always seems like there are little tender mercies like this especially at this time of year.  We didn't need it but somehow it happened.  After all of that lack of gratitude at Thanksgiving, it put in perspective the concern that God has for me even in my silly desire for a new tree.

It made me think of Christmas two years ago.  We were living in the little Logan condo having just moved a few weeks before.  I was days away from having a baby.  I was feeling pretty down about everything, especially with all the crap that happened with Heber's job when we moved there.  I felt lonely, having left a life in Virginia and to top it off, Heber was on a week long business trip right before Christmas.  Right in the midst of all that emotion and hard times, there was a knock on the door.  A sweet girl in my neighborhood came by with bread to welcome me to the area.  How did she know that I needed that gift of friendship so much at that time.

There are these little mercies that come into my life and make me believe in the beauty of life again, that add light in hard times and make me realize how much I have to be grateful for.  Every time I look at the tree, I'm going to think of that.

Christmas Donuts and Holiday Hearts

Christmas time is here.  I used to so look forward to this time of year with the beautiful decorations and time with family.  Now, it seems a bit of a burden with all the planning and preparation that goes into a holiday season.  I'm a little overwhelmed with all that there is to do with gift buying, neighbor gifts (which we've never really been in a place where we did neighbor gifts but here we are), gifts for all the teachers.  There's the beautiful meals to plan and prepare.  The meaningful holiday activities that we "should" have.

I don't know.  I'm a little tired.  Although, I hear having two young children does that to you.  Please don't think I'm being negative here.  I think I am just realizing all the effort that my parents and family put into making holidays wonderful and I'm trying to gear myself up to do the same.  

All of this contemplation has led me to think about the "traditional" activities at Christmas.  I'm still in the tradition building phase of our family and I want to have traditions that are meaningful to my family and not just because "that's what people do" at Christmas.

So, it all started with a treat.  As you have probably read, holidays are very food based for me.  There is nothing else that says Christmas to me more than sugar cookies, specifically Aunt Leta's sugar cookies.  We would wait for these cookies all year.  Now, I don't really make sugar cookies.  It is a true skill (and a lesson in patience) that I just don't have.  In years past, we have bought the mix and whipped them up but they really don't taste that good (at least in comparison to Aunt Leta's).  Also, my sweet picky eaters won't touch them.

So, Leo says to me at Walmart, "I want to make donuts."  And so we did.  I think the donut idea stemmed from our recent visit to Duck Donuts in Fairfax.  They have locations in the Outer Banks and we fell in love with the freshly cooked, frosted and sprinkled rings of deliciousness over all of our trips to the beach.  Now, we can drive a half hour and enjoy them any time we want or even in our own kitchen.

 

 We took the easy route to cook donuts.  I bought the canned biscuits and broke each biscuit in half.  With a round cookie cutter, I punched a hole in the middle and fried them up in canola oil.  In just a few minutes, we had a stack of warm donutes.   I made up some chocolate glaze (milk, melted butter, cocoa and powdered sugar) and dipped the donuts in and then the kids went to town with the sprinkles.  To say the donuts were encrusted is an understatement but we all gobbled them up and enjoyed them heartily.

So, this is the beginning of our new holiday traditions.  What are your family's favorites?  Do share.

Christmas

Christmas has come and gone. Another year passed and we are left cleaning up the wrapping paper.  I always hate to put all the toys and gifts away because that means that it's really over.   It was a different Christmas this year without extended family nearby but it was a happy one nonetheless. 

Christmas dress

Christmas Morning

 

The kids ready to come downstairs.

Leo's face at seeing the playhouse

 

  

 

 

 

What Amy did all day long, walk in and out of the little door.

Christmas Eve 2014

Christmas Eve is my most anticipated day of the year.  I love the magic of the holidays.  Truth be told though, I had a bit of a rough time getting in the Christmas spirit this year.  I think it was because it was different this year.  For the past 30 years, I've been doing the same thing on Christmas Eve.  I've been with the same people, eaten the same meals.  I know that this is not usually how life is and I know how lucky I was to grow up with those traditions. 

Now, we live thousands of miles away.  For the most part we have settled in here but I think that I will be homesick for Grantsville for the next 30 years on Christmas Eve, no matter how settled we are into our own traditions.  To stave off the wishing for home, we set out to make our first real holiday away a special one. 

We went into DC for brunch at Old Ebbit's Grill, a restaurant that has been open for the past 150 years.  We walked over to the National Christmas tree.

 

 That's the White House in the background.

Leo was way more enthralled with the train display around the trees then the tree itself.  I can't blame him though, it looks like a sad tree underneath the light mesh.

We then went over to the Botanical Gardens.  This tradition was born from the first time that I lived in DC.  As an intern, I used to walk over and spend time in the garden.  There are very few places in the world that make me feel so peaceful and calm.  In the hustle and hubub of the holiday season, it was just the feeling I needed.

They have an annual train display that we had yet to visit.  It was amazing.  Perhaps one of the coolest things I've seen this year.  They had a full room filled with tracks and weaving in and out of lighthouses built from plant parts.  You know how I feel about lighthouses (I love them!), it was just so beautiful.  Even in the crowd of people, I still really enjoyed it.  Leo loved watching the trains.

Isn't it gorgeous!

Cape Hatteras, a light house I have visited.

We had a beautiful Christmas Eve dinner, complete with Italian hot chocolate and put the kids to bed.  I told Leo that Santa was coming and that the presents would be there if he would fall asleep.  He immediately closed his eyes and went right to sleep.  That has NEVER happened.  Oh, Christmas miracles.

 

So, it was a special day.  I think we have some new traditions for the holidays, and that makes me happy.

The first picture of Amy standing up by herself.  She is so big!