Christmas Traditions

Well, I know that I said in my last blog that I would be posting more. And I am - just a little later than I thought. Marie has been sick. Then she decided to share it with her parents - how thoughtful! Anyway, here you go!



Since this was our first year of Christmas with just the 3 of us, we developed some traditions. One of which is Christmas breakfast. I found a recipe for sausage-cheese crescent rolls which turned out really good! Then we had some apple bread that Bill's mom sent that was absolutely delicious! (Nell, that means you have to send us that same bread each year!)

A few years ago Bill and Pete started greeting each other with 'Wassail!'. Since it was the season, I found a recipe for wassail and made it myself. Bill was very pleased to have the authentic drink. I have to say, it was pretty good!

Here is everything laid out that we all got for Christmas.

I would say that I made the stockings, including Marie's in this picture. But that would be stretching the truth. It began last Christmas with Lela and Dana helping me, but I didn't get them finished then. Well, a couple of hours at Dana's before this Christmas and she had them finished - thanks Dana! Anyway, Marie had fun with the gifts in her stocking. This DVD is probably her favorite gift in it. Some other high-ranking ones were the glow-in-the-dark stars that are now on the ceiling in her bedroom, her butterfly socks and a new sippy-cup. And she also likes watching her new DVD while sitting in her new rocking chair.

It began last year, but another tradition is a picture of all of us in Christmas hats. Here we were over at the Church annex. We enjoyed another Christmas dinner with the Paden's and the Phelps'.

Other traditions: driving around and looking at Christmas lights on Christmas eve, going to a live nativity, and of course a picture with Santa Claus.

Although it's over a month late, I hope you all had a Merry Christmas and enjoyed making memories with your family and friends.

Here we go again . . .

Here we go again blog readers. Over the next couple of days I'll be posting some catch-up blogs from the past month or so. Here's the first one.



Here are some of my piano students after performing at the Fireweed Apartments just before Christmas.

Marie in her Christmas dress on the Sunday before Christmas.

Look out! It's the refrigerator bandit!

We're still taking it nice and slow with the potty - just getting Marie used to sitting on it. Here in a couple of months we'll probably get serious about it.

Something in a name

For Christmas, someone from church gave this bear to Marie. Amanda and I decided that we would let her sleep with this bear instead of the pound puppy she has previously had in the crib with her. Friday, the day after christmas, I went into her room after she had been up talking sweetly for a while and when i walked in, there she stood with her bear in a head-lock. All she would say was, "bear...na na...bear... na na" (that is na na as in sha na na) over and over again. So i asked her if the bear's name was na na. Then we proceded with the day. In the afternoon, a good 4 hours later, i asked her where na na was and she went from the living room all the way to her bedroom, pointed in the bed at the bear and said na na. So it seems that she has named the bear, with but minimal help from daddy, na na. This is the first thing that she has named. She is getting to be such a big little girl:)
thanks for "bearing" with me in the telling of this story.
God bless you all and have a great New Year.
bill

Potty?

Marie went potty! Here's how it went down. For the past couple of weeks, when Marie goes poopy she tells us "poop-poop" and grabs her diaper. So she understands that concept. I thought I'd get the potty chair out so she could practice going through the motions. I took her into the bathroom, pulled her pants down, took her diaper off, and sat her down on her new potty - and this is what happened! Now, I know that it probably wasn't intentional her really going pee-pee in the potty and that it was probably the feel of the seat on her bottom or the excitement of it all or both. Either way, I find it pretty humerous that she ended up actually going potty her first time sitting on it. Hopefully this is a good sign for when we get serious about it here in about 6 months.