The 3 Hours Lena Was An Only Child And Other Things of Importance

Last Saturday Lena got to do her favorite thing: pretend she doesn't have brothers and go on a date with Jeff and me.
We ate treats and saw a Christmas Carol at Geva. It had some scary parts. She liked that.
Then a short 3 hours later she fell asleep on the way home and we were a family of 5 again. She didn't like that.
We celebrated our 7th anniversary this year like the true parents we are and attended a lights celebration at Lena's kindergarten. After the kids sang they played a slideshow of them doing various things in their classroom and it was accompanied by a very sentimental country song that made me cry right there in my seat in the dark. Cue the lights! Then we talked about how it feels like we've been parents longer than we've been married. I love being a parent. Being married is ok too. 
And since Christmas isn't for the schools we have to supplement at home with forgetting to water our Christmas tree and eating too many Christmas treats and hastily opening the door to about 30 neighborhood Christmas carolers the other night. I think 2 out of the three children were crying and dinner was burning and I was probably wearing something awesome. Then they sang the figgy pudding part and I smiled and shut the door. I'm a good neighbor like that.

Aside from 3 sick children and a dying tree this week I think we're ready for action on Sunday. And to think I found myself complaining we had to go to church on Christmas! I'm pretty sure that is NOT honoring the true meaning of Christmas. I plan on starting now, after I get Lena's teacher a gift card and get dressed and make a dent in the laundry and vacuum up pine needles and wrap all the presents that are scattered in the basement. Why do I always wait to do that? Next year I'm going to do more true meaning stuff and wrap all my presents as they arrive. 
Or maybe we'll just buy a goat for a family in need instead of it all.


And weather report states it will be 40 and sunny this Christmas day and that is truly a Christmas miracle. 
And the truth is, I am so grateful for the birth of our Savior and the birth of my three sweet children and hard working husband. 
Especially during country songs and Christmastime.

The Christmas Post

It began late on Christmas Eve, when the season appropriate pjs were put onto heavy sleeping bodies. We stayed late at Bop Bop and BabaJuje's baking cookies and reenacting the nativity.

Then, as promised, Santa Claus came to the Vaisey's (the eaten cookies were proof) and his flying reindeer got him here (the eaten reindeer food was proof). And he did not leave the children wanting.

But we knew he wouldn't.

In fact they might be well on their way to down right spoiled rottenness.

And when the sugar plums ceased their dance, the children were jolted from sleep and made their descend down the stairs into the Christmas lit room.

Santa gifts were found there set up and waiting the screams of children's glee.

Gleeful screams are music to my ears.

Two happy children, two content on-looking parents and one sweet Santa-hatted baby made for a very Merry Christmas.

Then the aftermath was cleaned up we supplemented our stocking chocolate with a hint of real breakfast items and then spent the rest of the day playing and being together, rounding out the evening with a wonderfully delicious Christmas feast prepared by the loving hands of Bop Bop.

The End.

p.s. Esq. popped all balloons immediately following Christmas morning activities so that no babes would be left for unattended gulping. I know it was giving you hives (BabaJuje).

Life Isn't Black and White

but this picture of our life is:

Are you ready for Christmas yet?

It's always down to the wire for me. It isn't true Christmas without a little last minute scrambling. For Lena's second Christmas on Christmas Eve I realized I had completely forgotten about her stocking so we went to Walgreens and Jeff waited in the car with her while I grabbed some token chocolate Santa and some small cheap stuffed lamb. That scruffy little lamb was her favorite thing for most of the following year. So judge not anti-scramblers.

Did you ever notice how much kids LOVE to give gifts?

Especially if those gifts are for their father picked out by their mother and include something lame like essentials(not that that's what we got you Esq...)? I'm excited they are old enough for us to incorporate gift giving from them this year.

It's so much more in the true spirit of Christmas-like. And almost better than getting their own gifts.

Alllmost.

The years of exciting Christmases are certainly upon us.

Plus, I acquired my very first official child-made ornament this year in all it's awesome glory:

Doesn't get any better than that my friends.

Made In China and Other Things

I had peppermint Joe Joe's for breakfast (among other Joe's holiday assortments) and since there isn't a Trader Joe's to be found for miles and miles that can only mean one thing: A Christmas miracle or heaven sent gifts from the California Vaiseys. The note read:

Dear Jeff, Kelly, Lena, Simon and Calvin,

We wish you a merry Trader Joe's Christmas.

And we hope you get fatter than us.

Love, Steve, Rebekah and the rest

In other news, I have been on a Christmas blogging vacation. I take opportunities to be lazy wherever I can find them these days. Here are some pics from last week when I took my little Vaiseys to visit their Grandmother for the holiday season because I'm a good daughter (not lazy). I think the last time I made the drive to my mom's to NJ was last February. I like to make her really crave us so I can justify my laying around and sleeping in while I'm there (lazy).

And so tonight we'll finish up Christmas odds and ends then we'll let the holiday ride. Young children are really fun on Christmas, not to mention easy peasy to pleasey. Lena asked for a giant barbie head you can put makeup on (?) and Simon's small sized real head would explode at the sight of any gift that has anything to do with Toy Story.

Handmade schmandmade, this year give the kids what they really want...

PLASTIC!!!

A Santa That Doesn't Sleep Through Any Night

Feel like decking the halls on your own baby/loved one's face?

It's called Picnik and it's a lot of fun.

Once, in law school, Jeff photoshopped his two friends' heads over the top of some frat dudes wearing ugly Christmas sweaters holding cups of cocoa standing with some random guy that had sweet Justin Bieber hair. It looked so real. Then he made a facebook page for the random guy with Justin Bieber hair and called him Trav. Then he enhanced Trav to have highlights because he thought that was something Trav would do.

He also put together an entire campaign for his friend running for Law School class president. It was chock full of eagles, apple pie and other iconic American things. I'm mostly sure it's what won him the election. That footage is kept deep in the depths of our hard drive for save keeping. It was like so unprofessional.

In fact we have an entire folder somewhere dedicated to the photoshop-your-friends artistic talents of sir Esq. Vaisey. But if you ask him about, he might deny the whole thing.

Anyway, the the moral of the story is, you don't have to be like law school Jeff who had way too much time on his hands to enjoy some sweet photo editing.

*And if you don't have as much fun putting realistic-like Santa whiskers on your baby/ loved one then I don't think I even know you anymore.

It Was Really Cold But We Got One

This weekend we were hermits. We barely left the house for anything. But we did leave the house to get our Christmas tree. The cold took me by surprise, 20 degrees really sneaks up on you.

So we spent our Sunday evening decorating the tree and watching the snow fall inch by inch from inside, safe and warm by the fire eating pigs in a blanket and drinking glasses of Pittsford Dairy eggnog (if you find a nog that is better than Pittsford Dairy I will cut off my left arm).

The first snow fall, the smell of Christmas tree permeating the indoor air, nog, fire-

we have impeccable timing.

I wonder how long it will take for Lena and Sime to beg me to take them outside to eat/play in the snow. I wonder how long they'll accept "when your dad gets home" for an answer.

All Together At Last: A Very Vaisey Vacation Part 1

Steve & Rebekah and Co. had a flight cancelation on the way to their sunny destination(coming from their sunny home, go fig).

It was Christmas Eve and they were to wake up Christmas morning in a hotel. Uncool.

But alas, Christmas afternoon flew them to us and we were all together again at last. I think my heart skipped a beat when I saw their jet lagged, bloodshot eyed faces.

And then it was cousin love at long lost sight.

So, the festivities began at sundown. Matching Christmas jammies and all.

The down-the-stairs-stampede did not go without incident:

Bop Bop and Baba Juje, the ones who made it all poss (*tear wipe) Aren't they sweet?:

Sime Sime's loot...approx.. one gabazillion Cars:

Leen Pock and ZuZu become proud new parents of Bitty Twins:

What? You don't wear matching onesies (while 5.5 months pregness) with your sister and mother-in-laws? That's weird.

The first of many stunts these blood-related weasels performed:

Then it was off to the kitchen with the women folk to prepare the Christmas night's feast:

Then the of-age crowd stayed up till 2 am just to make sure we started the week off right.

And so ended a greatly weird but equally enjoyable Christmas day experience.

***

Stay tuned, more to come.

But I promise I will try to make it quick and relatively painless.

like a band aid. we'll rip this puppy right off.

A Blast From Christmas Past

*

merry christmas

& a happy new year.

with love,

-k

Nog

Dare not waste a single drop.

For, the eve of Christmas is upon us and we must make haste.

p.s. as you may have noticed, we've hit the road and this post was brought to you by post scheduling. See you in a week's time my friends.

If You Care To Join Us...

we'll be doing all sorts of celebratory stunts this evening.

For this time tomorrow we will be aboard a non-stop flight to cousins, sun and warmth (please let there be sun and warmth, please let there be sun and warmth).

I will miss my own Whitmer family for Christmas once again this year. Don't worry guys, you will have each other and a new baby will bring you all to my house in 2010, right?

I will make sure to wash the moonbeam smell (aka bare leen buns) out of the guest bedspread before you come. So much to look forward to.

Carving Pumpkins are to Halloween As