4 posts tagged “christmas”
so we went out to eat at a small diner nearby our
house. (we have the be very selective to find GF options around here!
but we were able to narrow down a few places with a few meals -with
minor adjustments of course- where we cant eat.) anyhow we're all
looking at what we want for dinner off the menus and Eva says "mom look
I drew you name".
now she says this a lot actually. usually it's some silly scribble that she is veyr proud of. circles and lines and what not. to which I say "good job! keep practicing!" and she beams with pride. so in auto-pilot-mothering-mode I turned and said "great job....." no wait! she had written my name! oh my goodnes!
right in front of her on the scribble paper menu thingy they give in classy restaurants like local diners where the letters:
M O M
yep. mom.
she remembered from last week when I told her how to spell it. (she aska billion times a day how to spell all sorts of words, but as she's still learning what letters are what this rarely goes anywhere. she just enjoys asking!)
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she just said to me as I type this...
"mom, I really really want this peice of chocolate" *big sigh*
and she was so cute I said "ok you can have it".
"for real, mom? are you sure?" (long pause of disbelief)
"mom, can I really have it? are you only kidding? Can I really put it in my mouth and eat it???"
"yes, honey, I said it was fine. go ahead, eat it (just don't make me regret it!)"
and she smiles this mischeivious smile and puts it in her mouth in pure childhood delight.
So exactly how bad a mom am I that b/c I SO rarely allow my kids candy that they stare in disbelief when I grant them permission to eat it?
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ok one more Eva-ism b/c I don't want to forget it....
(I'm terribly long winded, so forgive how long the pre-story is to this tiny little story)
Eva is very curious about things other people do that she (or our family) don't do.... and vice versa.
in our house we don't celebrate halloween. she wants to know why. I could go into the theological arguments of why we have decided against it (which btw aren't b/c "it started as a pagan holiday"... but that it a WHOLE other post) but she was 3 after all. simple is better sometimes. a lot of the times actually - evenw ith adults.
so I just explained that some people celebrate different holidays. in our house we don't celebrate halloween, but the neighbors do. it's fine what they do, but we don't. that's all. (I'm not trying to build an anti-halloween army here...)
so she thinks about this and is settled. she asks about a few more holidays and what not. she asks what "jewish" means b/c Sean and I were talking about a jewish friend and chanakah and we explained about it. "why can't we celebrate chanakah?" was of course the next question. I just explained that it wasn't a holiday we celebrated but some of our friends do... so in simple terms I explained the holiday and about the lights. she wanted in on that! (she loves anything candle related - that's a big fascination for her right now)
totally different note - we have a rule in our house. we don't say "stupid". well the kids don't. I slip and do say it sometimes. b/c frankly some things ARE stupid. but.... this too easily becomes a name to call one another and it's hurtful to be called "stupid" by another person - even your little sister so it's a no no in our house. she often reminds me if I slip and use the word stupid to describe my feelings about oh... how the GPS is trying to take us into town some random way with closed roads etc... she's quick to remidn me that "we don't say stupid, mom!"
one day after saying it she says "mom, why does the neighbor call me stupid?". and I say maybe his mom didn't teach him better. and that she should remember how hurtful it feels to be called stupid and not say it back. she thinks very thoguhtfully over this and says:
"or... maybe in their house the celebrate "stupid" but we don't in our house."
I LOVE her logic hahaha
ok so for whatever reasons my photos aren't uploading. whatever.
Sean can figure it out in 1- seconds when he wakes up. apparently I
have become old and far behind the times computer wise. there was once
upon a time I knew a LOT more than the average joe... or jane? anyhow,
now? my dad knows more than I. big time. He has one of those crazy
digital everythingbutthekitchensink phones. I can't even answer the
stupid thing! How did this happen? hw did the guy who I had to teach
the difference between email and instant messaging become so much more
advanced than I am?
I will tell you this. The whole world would have to turn upside down before I EVER start texting as my main means of communication. I find that the most annoying habit in the entire world. and i will NEVER (short of losing the functioning ability of both of my arms) own a headset phone thingy. and if I did lose functioning of my arms and needed one, I promise that I will NOT walk around the grocery store, walmart, target, the park or any other PUBLIC setting and have private phone conversations at a very loud decible. Because that freaks me out every.single.time.
I am such an old lady all of the sudden. I'm going to start carrying a heavy hand bag so I can hit young people who get i my way on the side walk and call them "hoodlums".
wait didn't I have a point to this post???? ......... oh yeah. I found this picture of Eva from a few weeks ago and i had to post it. it just sums up "Eva" to me. one giant goofy, grinny, silly child. =)
(please forgive all the typos and run on sentences, I'm a wee bit medicated on sudafed. I gave in and took it b/c I am SO congested with a nasty cold i suddenly developed late last evening!)
Christmas thoughts in review:
we had a few goals this year. We decided to focus on a much more religious and tradition based Christmas, having decided that traditions (if used properly) are an invaluable way of teaching and giving stability to a family. are goal was to add a few things for the next few Christmases, eventually settling down into a nice tradition. it takes a while to figure out what works and what doesn't. here is our list with some of my thoughts on it:30 day of advent activies:
in review it was just too much. even the kids (who LOVE this sort of thing) we clearly getting too much and their attention was drying up. little kids have little attention so I need to keep that in mind. I think we will do perhaps 2 things per week next time. I want them to be able to focus and enjoy learning and crafting etc... not thinking "not again!".
Chrismon Tree:
total hit! However the kids got a little bored with coloring them everyday. well actually Eli loved it, but Eva got kinda off... she would forget what she was doing and start drawing instead ect. maybe next time we will do one per kid every other day. so it's like 20 ornaments total and not like 40. again, I think it was in danger of losing it's special meaning by becoming monotonous. It was easy to start topics about God/Jesus/Holy Spirit and the nativity etc when each symbols means something. Most of t was over Eva's head but that is fine. she will get the hang of it.
Daily Bible readings in relationship to/gearing up for the Nativity:
I never got to do it like I wanted b/c our family went through that bought of sickness and someone was always sick. Sean was quite sick. this one I want to plan ahead better on next year so it's not so last minute. We talked a lot, and read a little. but not in a scheduled way like I was hoping.
Christmas singing:
we do sing a lot in this family. it's important to me. I can't sing worth beans, but Sean is a musical talent so he makes up for it. what I lack in talent I try to make up for in joy heh. But we was super sick with that cold, and usually we sing at night before bed. it was hard b/c by then we were so tired and his voice so sore. it's not the same when daddy doesn't sing too. BUT, we really like this and it will always be one of our traditions.
Christmas Tree decoration:
love it. I know some of different feelings about it... but we REALLY enjoyed the family event of getting it and putting it up together.
Christmas eve/day Nativity reading:
never happened. we found it immensely difficult to start this tradition with others in the house. since they had other plans it just kept going that way. hmm... next time we will plan better on how to make this happen for sure. even though we talked about and learned about the Nativity all through the season, it almost seemed lost on Christmas day. Plus there were no church services on either Christmas even or day, which we had planned on. It was hard for me to even remember the right spirit of it. Not that I had a bad spirit.... I mean it was all about family togetherness and everything lol. but I still wanted a slightly higher priority, if you know what I mean.
That was the new things we tried to incorporate. I'm happy with our progress thus far. I hope next year will give a sense of new traditions and firm it up a bit.
Pictures to come soon =)
I still have to upload pictures. but my camera was about dead so i'm charging it first. I am scared I will forget to otherwise!
we had a fabulous day yesterday. I really enjoyed it and I think everyone else did too. just calm and relaxing and hanging out together. I had some serious tummy trouble so that kinda was a bummer... but my dad? he got on some kinda hyper-manic food making craze. my dad rarely cooks - but he really can if he wants to. he made the turkey, sweet potatoes, cranberries and helped with mashed potatoes. my goodness I don't know what possessed him but i was so glad it did! I was feeling quite under the weather so I was able to just sit still a lot. I cooked sauteed onions, collard greens and mashed potatoes, so it was all yummy foods!
I have to stay away from sugar big time now. GD is clearly making it's presence known in a big way! if I have sugar I get an instant migraine (the really blinding kind) and I seriously all but pee sugar. (TMI, I'm sure...) it's been very difficult for me with all the goodies of sugar. I didn't cook one single dessert yesterday b/c I couldn't bare not eating it. but I did sneak some chocolate and I paid the price heavily. When my dad is gone I'm throwing out all the candy he has around here! (he always brings candy, and i have some hidden in my cupboards for when I get a sweet craving... but right now I can't give it at all really so out of site out of mind. b/c it being there just makes me want it that much worse!) I heart dark chocolate, btw. really... something about this pregnancy makes me crave it so much! like it's a major food group. the other junk I can live with out, that one is going to be tough. maybe since it's high in fat and low on the GI index, I could sneak it occasionally? everyoe asks me why not go to the doctor about it. well I would if I couldn't handle it. if it got so bad it needed extra attention, I certainly would b/c it can be dangerous for baby. But having had it before (and having many clients who had it too) the only thing they will do is test my blood sugar to confirm (can do that myself with my glucose monitor) and tell me to eat low carb/low sugar and up my protien. and then report back to them if it's not working. kinda seems a very unnessecary step to me! I don't like exposing myself and the baby to germs of the doctors and hospitals unless the benefits outweight the risk. I am finding that 90% of things (yes that's totally my guesstimation) that come up in our lives, just need a bit of thought, prayer and a good dose of common sense. that would save us all a lot in doctor's bills and free them up for when we really need their help! b/c when you are really sick or in urgent need, wow do you need a doctor asap, you know?
when I'm off of sugar I feel pretty
decent. not nearly as nauseous as I used to be. but I have to eat
protein every 2 hr or I get the same symptoms! I have started eating
something small before I notice I am hungry, and that seems to really
help. I still take dandelion root every day. that stuff has been my
saving grace. it's cut my stomach and liver issues in half! I take
zantac too when I have to... but I try to avoid it. and benedryl b/c of
my allergies at night. but i only take like half a pill a day.
I did something kinda stupid though. I forgot to buy enough breakfast for all of us for this week/weekend. I only had enough for a BIG brunch yesterday. now? all we have is turkey, and those leftovers. not even bread! and a box of rice chex. The former I just can't stomach at 8am, and the latter is too much sugar/simple carbs. So I'm doing what any decent mother would do. eating frozen french friends. well I cooked them of course heh. it's still a simple carb, but it has a little more to it than rice chex. then later I'll heat up the turkey. just need to prime up my stomach, as my husband always says heh. pathetic, I know!
My blood pressure has been good. I haven't checked it in a while, but when my blood pressure goes up it's clear. I feel it all over. swelling, puffy face, racing thoughts, headache, red face... ect. I'm going to check it at a local store soon just so I can put it on record. But i know it's good. after 28 yrs in this body I'd starting to get the hang of it heh.
I'm starting to really get in the swing of things for this upcoming birth. getting all my birth gear ready. I have a few good homebirth friends sending me fun stuff in the mail and then I'm slowly building up my stocks of herbs and goodies. I wish beyond wish I could afford a birthing tub!! I would love to labour in water like that. the bouyancy of it sound fabulous (I'm a very water therapy kinda girl) but they are expensive! and I would feel terrible if I spent all that money then the labour went so fast I never got a chance to use it, you know? so for now it's not an option and i doubt it will be. oh well. no biggie.... kinda funny to think about. at home yu can birth in water. in the hospital you have to fight to even be "allowed" to drink it! heh. what a joke!
I'm hoping everyone had a wonderful holiday yesterday! (it's neat that Chanakah and Christmas overlap this year, isn't it? I have so many friends that celebrate one, the other or both!)
the kids are playing a game Eva got called "gone fishing". it's that cheapo thing with the little fish and you try to catch them (as if the title didn't give it away!)... they are having a blast!
