Do you want to know what the very first purchase I ever made for this baby was? An elf outfit--before we even told the kids they were getting a sibling. We wore that sucker right out this month--but it was 100% completely and totally worth it. In fact, I would have squeezed in a few more Santa visits and photo ops if I could have. Because a baby only gets one first Christmas!
December did actually get a little wild in there. There weren't quite as many concerts as usual this year, but there were Annie rehearsals and performances for Emerson and Sera, basketball practices for Addy, and trying to pull Christmas gifts together at the last moment yet again. I don't know if I'll ever regain the discipline I showed for those few years when I had Christmas all sorted by the end of the summer--especially since the only gifts I ever really want to give or receive are airline tickets, and I still haven't won Aaron over to my point of view. Emerson has maintained his status as Santa's best helper, and started pulling out the holiday decorations the minute the Thanksgiving dishes were done. He pulled out the little fake tree that we got last year and enlisted Sera's help, and soon they had that sucker good to go (they even checked the lights before stringing them up), as well as all kinds of cute decorations on the walls and mantle and any other bare surface they could find.
We took a bit of time out to celebrate Aaron's birthday on December 1. Universal again! I'm sure you're shocked. But since this was a pretty big year for Aaron--the big 4-0--he got a little something extra from me. Of course it didn't come entirely as a surprise, since he has a hard time being grateful for anything he didn't choose out himself (plus he's still trying to spin it as an early 18th wedding anniversary gift instead), but . . . I'm taking him to Hawaii! He's never been, and we're going to get that situation remedied this February. The kids did a great job of making him feel old, but they came through with his favorite gifts--chocolate and more chocolate. And who could deny that he's aging beautifully, gracing his temples with just a few classy strands of silver to ratchet up the sophistication factor.
Then it was back to holiday preparations. Cora got into the game right away. The singing snowmen my Grandma Hooper got for us several years ago are still going strong, and made her eyes light up like Rudolph's nose. The other kids spent more time figuring out what they wanted to get her for Christmas than they did writing up their own lists (though make no mistake, they did not forget those), and we all enjoyed plenty of silliness with our own little "Elf on the Shelf." We jump-started the gift season with a new round of Sea World passes, since we've missed it quite a bit this year (and also because the "Blue Friday" sale saved us about half the cost). So we got to spend a fair bit of time enjoying the holiday performances there, as well as making good use of our 99-cent hot cocoa refills for our Sea World mugs--Sea World has really great hot cocoa! There were all kinds of extra shows, from the silly sea lion show, Clyde and Seamore's Christmas Special, to the Dolphin Island Christmas show to Shamu's Christmas Miracles. There was even a Sesame Street Christmas, which, believe it or not, Cora totally got into--she already knows her Sesame Street friends! Naturally we made time to visit Santa and get a photo of him with his missing elf. There were also some adorable elves making the rounds in "Christmas Village" who spent quite a lot of time showing off for us and admiring their missing colleague (Cora). I'm very glad that we got our passes just in time to be able to enjoy a bit of both this Christmas season and next Christmas season--Christmas is the best at Sea World!
Before Emerson and Sera's first Annie performance, I took them out to Ruby's on the Pier for a pre-performance dinner, and it clearly did the job, because the show was awesome! Sera was a part of the "Big Apple Gang" this year, and Emerson played a newspaper boy--for the first time this year they had the newspaper boys sing with the Big Apple Gang, and I'm pretty convinced that Emerson's rock-star audition had something to do with the addition of a singing part for boys. Several of their friends were able to attend a performance, and it really was a great experience all around. We all attended on closing night, and hit up Ruby's on the Pier one more time as a family for celebratory peppermint shakes.
I also got to take Emerson on a special little date to the symphony--after Aaron had a conflict come up and couldn't attend with me. Why they would decide to perform Stravinsky's Rite of Spring in the middle of the holiday season I'll never know, but Emerson was a great date and had all kinds of clever and interesting comments to make about the music throughout the performance. Aaron totally made it up to me the next week when we attended Pacific Ridge's Christmas party. It was a deliciously opulent event based on The Great Gatsby. Heaven knows I like to get my flapper on from time to time! We had a great time dancing and eating some truly amazing food--that school knows how to party.
When Christmas rolled around, we kept things reasonably simple. We'd already dished out for the Sea World passes, were planning a New Year's trip as well, and after all, I spent much of this year clearing out years' worth of clutter and stuff from our closets. So basically everyone got pretty matching Christmas clothes for attending the Christmas Eve service at Calvary Lutheran and new pajamas. Then on Christmas morning, everyone got one thing they wanted, and the kids all got gifts for each other. The last gift opened was tickets to the new Star Wars movie, The Force Awakens, which we attended Christmas afternoon, decked out in the Star Wars t-shirts that accompanied the tickets. In terms of Christmas surprises, it couldn't really hold a candle to last year, when the kids found out that they were getting a baby sister, but it was a very satisfying holiday all the same.
This year, 2015, has been a great year for our family. It's had its challenges and its scary moments for sure, but it's also been a year where it has been easy to see growth happening, to appreciate how far we've come, and to set our sights toward the future. Our theme this year, "On the Shoulders of Giants," has been a truly enriching one. The kids have really embraced the opportunity to learn about subjects and leaders that they might not otherwise know anything about. We've had presentations on everyone from Walt Disney to Harriet Tubman to Johannes Gutenberg to Taylor Swift. Each week the kids have gotten more adept at presenting, honing their public speaking skills, learning to put together PowerPoint presentations, and developing competence in researching new subjects. Having Cora in our midst has made us all a little gentler, a little more loving, and a lot more committed to each other, as our hearts knit tighter and tighter together. I couldn't be more grateful for the blessings we've received and the fortune that has smiled on us, and I look forward to many more wonderful years with this wonderful family of ours!
December did actually get a little wild in there. There weren't quite as many concerts as usual this year, but there were Annie rehearsals and performances for Emerson and Sera, basketball practices for Addy, and trying to pull Christmas gifts together at the last moment yet again. I don't know if I'll ever regain the discipline I showed for those few years when I had Christmas all sorted by the end of the summer--especially since the only gifts I ever really want to give or receive are airline tickets, and I still haven't won Aaron over to my point of view. Emerson has maintained his status as Santa's best helper, and started pulling out the holiday decorations the minute the Thanksgiving dishes were done. He pulled out the little fake tree that we got last year and enlisted Sera's help, and soon they had that sucker good to go (they even checked the lights before stringing them up), as well as all kinds of cute decorations on the walls and mantle and any other bare surface they could find.
We took a bit of time out to celebrate Aaron's birthday on December 1. Universal again! I'm sure you're shocked. But since this was a pretty big year for Aaron--the big 4-0--he got a little something extra from me. Of course it didn't come entirely as a surprise, since he has a hard time being grateful for anything he didn't choose out himself (plus he's still trying to spin it as an early 18th wedding anniversary gift instead), but . . . I'm taking him to Hawaii! He's never been, and we're going to get that situation remedied this February. The kids did a great job of making him feel old, but they came through with his favorite gifts--chocolate and more chocolate. And who could deny that he's aging beautifully, gracing his temples with just a few classy strands of silver to ratchet up the sophistication factor.
Then it was back to holiday preparations. Cora got into the game right away. The singing snowmen my Grandma Hooper got for us several years ago are still going strong, and made her eyes light up like Rudolph's nose. The other kids spent more time figuring out what they wanted to get her for Christmas than they did writing up their own lists (though make no mistake, they did not forget those), and we all enjoyed plenty of silliness with our own little "Elf on the Shelf." We jump-started the gift season with a new round of Sea World passes, since we've missed it quite a bit this year (and also because the "Blue Friday" sale saved us about half the cost). So we got to spend a fair bit of time enjoying the holiday performances there, as well as making good use of our 99-cent hot cocoa refills for our Sea World mugs--Sea World has really great hot cocoa! There were all kinds of extra shows, from the silly sea lion show, Clyde and Seamore's Christmas Special, to the Dolphin Island Christmas show to Shamu's Christmas Miracles. There was even a Sesame Street Christmas, which, believe it or not, Cora totally got into--she already knows her Sesame Street friends! Naturally we made time to visit Santa and get a photo of him with his missing elf. There were also some adorable elves making the rounds in "Christmas Village" who spent quite a lot of time showing off for us and admiring their missing colleague (Cora). I'm very glad that we got our passes just in time to be able to enjoy a bit of both this Christmas season and next Christmas season--Christmas is the best at Sea World!
Before Emerson and Sera's first Annie performance, I took them out to Ruby's on the Pier for a pre-performance dinner, and it clearly did the job, because the show was awesome! Sera was a part of the "Big Apple Gang" this year, and Emerson played a newspaper boy--for the first time this year they had the newspaper boys sing with the Big Apple Gang, and I'm pretty convinced that Emerson's rock-star audition had something to do with the addition of a singing part for boys. Several of their friends were able to attend a performance, and it really was a great experience all around. We all attended on closing night, and hit up Ruby's on the Pier one more time as a family for celebratory peppermint shakes.
I also got to take Emerson on a special little date to the symphony--after Aaron had a conflict come up and couldn't attend with me. Why they would decide to perform Stravinsky's Rite of Spring in the middle of the holiday season I'll never know, but Emerson was a great date and had all kinds of clever and interesting comments to make about the music throughout the performance. Aaron totally made it up to me the next week when we attended Pacific Ridge's Christmas party. It was a deliciously opulent event based on The Great Gatsby. Heaven knows I like to get my flapper on from time to time! We had a great time dancing and eating some truly amazing food--that school knows how to party.
When Christmas rolled around, we kept things reasonably simple. We'd already dished out for the Sea World passes, were planning a New Year's trip as well, and after all, I spent much of this year clearing out years' worth of clutter and stuff from our closets. So basically everyone got pretty matching Christmas clothes for attending the Christmas Eve service at Calvary Lutheran and new pajamas. Then on Christmas morning, everyone got one thing they wanted, and the kids all got gifts for each other. The last gift opened was tickets to the new Star Wars movie, The Force Awakens, which we attended Christmas afternoon, decked out in the Star Wars t-shirts that accompanied the tickets. In terms of Christmas surprises, it couldn't really hold a candle to last year, when the kids found out that they were getting a baby sister, but it was a very satisfying holiday all the same.
This year, 2015, has been a great year for our family. It's had its challenges and its scary moments for sure, but it's also been a year where it has been easy to see growth happening, to appreciate how far we've come, and to set our sights toward the future. Our theme this year, "On the Shoulders of Giants," has been a truly enriching one. The kids have really embraced the opportunity to learn about subjects and leaders that they might not otherwise know anything about. We've had presentations on everyone from Walt Disney to Harriet Tubman to Johannes Gutenberg to Taylor Swift. Each week the kids have gotten more adept at presenting, honing their public speaking skills, learning to put together PowerPoint presentations, and developing competence in researching new subjects. Having Cora in our midst has made us all a little gentler, a little more loving, and a lot more committed to each other, as our hearts knit tighter and tighter together. I couldn't be more grateful for the blessings we've received and the fortune that has smiled on us, and I look forward to many more wonderful years with this wonderful family of ours!
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