I'll Be Home for Christmas

We spent a great week in Florida. What fun we had celebrating Christmas with our big family. Kade has adjusted pretty well to traveling back and forth. Flying is like second nature to him and he knows how to navigate an airport and an airplane pretty well.

It is really nice to see how comfortable he is with his family. He has no reservations when it comes to showering everyone with hugs and kisses. He also knows everyone by name now which is great. In fact, he loves to recite the names of all his cousins. He gets busy playing and wrestling and racing them instantly. He no longer requires any warm up time, he just seems to go right from where he left off last time.

Kade did a great job as a lamb in the annual Christmas play. He even sang Away in a Manger by himself. He did a fabulous job, remembered all the words, sang the correct melody and was actually mostly in tune! When he finished, everyone cheered and clapped loudly. He beemed with this huge smiled and jumped up and down, he was so proud. They asked him to sing it again but he suddenly got bashful. Of course, he was ready for an encore a few minutes later! This is a reenactment. Not as good as the original!

Little Avram was a sweet, wiggly, crawling baby Jesus who crawled to the manger. It was fuuny. He was so cute! He was really good while we were there and when we got home, it was really apparent how much practice he got in one week while we were there. All of a sudden, he is pulling himself up on the furniture, can actually crawl up steps and is getting into everything!! He also eats every crumb he finds on the floor, yuck! He has really tired from baby food, it has lost all of it’s appeal and excitement. He wants real food, basically whatever we are eating. He scoops it up with his fat little hands and it goes straight into his open mouth. Here is Avram pacing the airport!

We returned home to a real winter wonderland. Mother nature has been doing her work for sure while we were gone. This morning, driving to the hospital to do rounds, everything was so beautiful. All of the trees, bare of their leaves, were lined with a thick highlighting of fresh, fluffy snow. Branches of bushes lean toward the ground, weighed down by the weight of the heavy, damp snow. Our yard is littered with bunny tracks, their long feet having hopped here and there looking for a sprig of grass under the white. When the snow is everywhere, the scene takes on a visceral, quiet peacefulness. How I wish I could slip on my skis today and slip by the frosty trees! But alas, I have two kids in tow today, so we will have to enjoy the snow from the window today!

FYI- for anyone interested, I have changed the control on the comments so that if you want to add a comment, anyone can without signing in, just hit the comments link at the end of the posts.

The Gang's All here!

We had a fun weekend with my brother Loren, sister in law Karen, their kids and their granddaughter. (gosh, just writing that makes me feel SO old!) They came Saturday around noon, after driving through yet another Madison snow. The wait for them to arrive was just anguish for Kade. It seemed that he either asked where they were or ran to the door to check if they were here about 2x per minute. (which started when he woke up at 7AM).

We mostly took it easy on Saturday (and Sunday for that matter). Goes to show that we really just enjoy being together. We are way beyond needing to be entertained or kept busy. Loren and Seth donned our cross country skis and took a quick ski through our green space while Hannah and Kade sledded down our back hill. I did make a point to send Karen and Loren off to have dinner by themselves. We gave them directions to the Japanese Steakhouse to feast on Hibachi chicken, steak and scallops. It has been a challenging year for them and they really deserve some time to just enjoy themselves. That evening, everyone was content to hang out in front of the fire, sipping the new minty hot chocolate Karen bought on our brief escape to the spice store.

Malia (1yr, 4mo) was funny, keeping herself busy and snacking on everyone's food. She loved Avram ("beebee, beebee") and also loved to kiss him and hug him and unfortunately at times, smoosh him. By the end of the visit, he seemed a bit afraid of her and tightened his grip on my arm when she came near. Yet he still smiled his big, goofy, 2-toothed grin when she kissed his cheek.

Now, we had told Kade last week that Santa was planning to make a special trip to our house this weekend since we would be in Florida on the actual Christmas day. He has been quite concerned that Santa wont come to Florida. 1, because it is not his home and Santa may not know where he has gone and 2, because there is no snow in Florida and how in the world could Santa possibly think it is Christmas there. (Obviously Kade does not remember the global warming Christmases of the last 2 years) Here in Madison, we do have a very white Christmas this year. Last night, I had sent Kade and Seth upstairs just to put on their PJs but they were so tired that they climbed right into his twin bed and fell fast asleep! Everyone was awaken by Kade this morning announcing that Santa had, indeed come. Of course, poor Seth had to get up with him (at 6 AM) until everyone else could be roused after 8.

Kade had a lot of fun opening his presents and the joy was doubled as he had his cousins here to ooo and ah over his toys. Avram just took it all in but did seem quite interested in the wrapping paper on his gifts. Kade went through toy cars, the Candyland game (which he recognized instantly - kind of scary what marketing can do), not so exciting socks and underwear, some beautiful clothes from his Tia and cousins and a new sled. He was also quite patient as other people opened their gifts.

Finally, he came to his last gift, the one we reserved until the end. As he started to tear the paper of the long rectangular box, he caught a glimpse of what was inside. He tore the paper off quickly and his eyes lit up as he beheld his new plastic Winchester hunting rifle. It was just like that scene from a"A Christmas Story" as Ralphy beheld his BB gun in Christmas splendor. His new gun makes noises when you shoot it and pretend to load it. Loren turned on a hunting show and we all yelled "get him Kade!" as he took practice shots on wide racked big bucks darting through the woods, turning every few seconds to be sure we were all watching. I dont know if I have ever seen a bigger smile!

To my many eco-conscious, anti-violence and animal friendly friends this gift and probably this whole scene may have just made you faint. (obviously you have come back to if you are still reading this) Anyway, please know that hunting is just part of our blood. We can't help it. I guess it's a Native thing or a Wisconsin thing or maybe a Native Wisconsin thing! And I really believe that even if we tried to keep our son gun free he would just turn every stick into a gun anyway, just like in ancient times when our children watched our men bring home the dinner and tried to model that behavior with play bows and arrows. So, the best we can do is be sure he is only pointing it at animals and teach him to use it safely. (of course he wont ever put his hands on a real gun for a long time)

This weekend made me again grateful for all the things God has given me - a wonderful family, 2 awesome boys, a fab husband, a meaningful job and a roomy house. I realized at the end that I never had to wait in line for the bathroom. Even with 7 extra people in our house!! What a change from always having only one bathroom! Now things calm down (for about 2 days) and the we are off to Florida!

Little prayers...

Each night, Kade blesses me with a bedtime prayer. He is still picking someone each night to say a little prayer for after I say his usual nightly prayer. He picks his subject by himself. Tonight, his prayer was for his cousin Wyatt. He prayed, "Dear Jesus, please give Wyatt water in his hose" which is a good thing since Wyatt is a firefighter!

The First Snow of the Season

So we had the first big snow yesterday! When we awoke this morning, it was like magic for Kade. A thick, white blanket covered everything. On the drive to church this morning, we saw dozens of people out shoveling and snowblowing and the sort. We were so grateful to just drive right out of our warm garage and down our plowed and salted driveway. (we signed up for a snow removal service this year) In Chicago on a day like this, I would be outside with my shovel, scraping the mountain of plow packed snow and ice away from the tires of my car.

On the way home from Church, which we made out of the parking lot with a push from the men of our church, Kade could not contain his excitement. He made a constant commentary about how "when I get home, I am putting on my snowpants and boots. Where's my mittens. Hey, we can have a snow ball fight! Can we go sledding, can we go now, can we?? You can ride the purple sled and I am riding the green one. I am going to sled in my own backyard! I want to build a snowman! I will give him a carrot nose and sticks for arms.." and on and on and on... Mind you, it is only a 5 minute drive from church to home.

As soon as we got home, he got all suited up and rushed out. We had fun as it was not too cold. In fact, Kade was sad to see that some of the snow was already melting. He said "I might NEVER get to make a snowman" While Dan and Kade had a snowball fight, I grabbed my cross country skis and skied up and down the back lot of our house which stetches down several houses about 150 yards or so. It was fun. I hope the snow sticks around long enough to ski again for real.

Avram's new trick!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We just returned from a fun (and eventful) week "Up North." It started last weekend up in Door County, WI where my family has gone deer hunting every year as long as I can remember. I have been going almost every year since I was about 12 years old. We stay in an old hotel and since it is the off season, we stay cheap and pretty much take over the whole place. It is not uncommon to see us in just socks in the dining room or even see our kids in jammies in the lobby watching TV. The hotel recently changed owners and the new ones are willing to let us keep up the tradition.



That is really what this whole week is about, tradition, and it is so much fun to now share them with my own childredn. Driving up, Kade was so excited to see his cousins and explore this "Up North" place. The week starts with checking into the hotel and meeting up with everyone. The next morning, the deer hunting begins. Since we had lived out of state for the last several years, we have not bought hunting licenses as they are so pricy out of state so this is the first year we have had the chance to really hunt. Of course, with 2 babies in tow, it is not too realistic to think I would get out much.

I did have the great priveledge of going "out to sit" on Sunday morning. It might be hard to believe but there is almost nothing that compares to it; to sit, high in a tree, still dark, in 30 degree weather (or colder) and wait for the dawn in the middle of the woods. Walking out, the only sound you hear is the crunch of leaves and sharp snaps of twigs below your boots. In the dark, you can barely see the flags that lead you to your tree. Finding it, you make the akward climb up, up with your bulky snow pants, sweaters and blaze orange. You settle in and the try to load your gun as quietly as you can. In the silence, you are sure deer can hear it a mile away. As you sit there, the haze of the dawn begins to show as a slight orange glow on the horizon. Your ears and eyes, usually numb from the blare of TVs and radio, gradually become attune to your surroundings. You feel the gentle sway of the wind on your tree.

As the glow turns more yellow, you can start to make out the other trees around you, the gentle slopes and valleys of the landscape. As the sun slowly creeps upward, the silvery birch trees are the first to pick up the sheen of the sun. They begin to glow and then the papery bark burns white. They stand so tall,, bold and ghostly against the dark maples and oaks.

The sun rises farther still and now you can see the color of the remaining leaves. Lots of yellows and browns, a few leaves holding fastly to their green. The forest floor becomes a busy place below you. Busy squirrels and chipmunks dig endlessly, searching piles of leaves for one last acorn. Their activity seems impossibly loud, surely masking the deer that must be right behind me. But wait, what is that crunch, crunch, crunch! Your heart starts to beat faster, your finger becomes aware of the cold ridges of your safety button, your ears strain, the stock of your gun finds its way to your shoulder.. and you slowly turn your head to spot the big trophy buck behind you! Your eyes immediately go to where you think the big deer should be but nothing... then they search for the noise your ears here and Arrgh! Another squirrel! This happens several times during the few hours you sit there but in my case at least, it is almost always just a squirrel, or a chipmunk, or a turkey or a pheasant. Once, it was even a badger!

Now the sun is about a third way up in the sky. The wind is starting to pick up and you can literally hear it whoosh past your ears. Just as it starts to feel chilly, and your toes are no longer responding to wiggling around in your boots, you feel the warmth of the sun on your back. Ican just make out a blaze orange figure walking in the distance. I know it is time to go back to the warm hunting shack, fire blazing in the woodstove. I think I can even smell a whiff of woodsmoke in the wind. I unload and make the akward climb down. I may not have fired my gun, but I have gained some valuable time just thinking, praying, absorbing nature - time which is rare with 2 kids which made it even sweeter!

On growing up...

These days, Kade seems quite fascinated with the idea of growing up, or rather growing big. He keeps asking every day if he is big now? He says "Mom! I am getting bigger! I am almost as big as you" or sometimes even "Mom I am as big as that tree!" I usually tell him that I want him to stay little for a long time. He does not like that answer becasue he "really wants to be big"

However, we also talked about what he wanted to be when he grows up. He said he wants to be a "Daddy Policeman". He says he has a "good Dad" said, "he is nice to me" and that makes him want to be a Dad too. When we talked about him being Dad and having a new family of his own, he suddenly became very sad. He said "I dont want a new family", "I want to stay with you Mom". So I tell him, he can stay with me. When I tell him there will be one day that he wont want to give me hugs and kisses anymore, he firmly disagrees with me. Says he will "love me" his "WHOLE life." Since that discussion he still brings it up and want reassurance that he can be a daddy but not leave home!

Wow! It is amazing to watch a child develop from a truly temporal being. One who just feels the immediate and reacts to it to one with real emotions and feelings. What new parenting challenges lie ahead. I don't want to even think about all the emotions that he will experience for the first time. I know he can have so much joy and happiness ahead but then there is so many others to experience ahead. Argh, just think of middle school! I just wish I could shelter him from ever feeling pain or sadness or fear or lonlines or disappointment but I know I can't. I just have to pray that the Lord will give me the strength and wisdom to deal with it all, to help harness and divery those emotions into good. How to anchor his being in the serenity of God as the only way to have true peace.

For now, we will take advantage of all the simple pleasures that bring joy and excitement at a level that only a young child can experience - a twinkling Christmas tree, a happy, silly song, a forage through the library for books with colorful pictures, an extra high push on the park swing, collecting a bright red leaf.... And I will take every sweet hug and kiss I can get!

Go Avram! Go Avram!

I think the video speaks for itself!

Where is Mrs. Gates?

Kade is such a personable young guy. He gets really attached to people pretty fast. That's why it was kind of a shock when we got a call last weekend from the principle of his preschool. He left a message stating that Kade's beloved teacher, Mrs. Gates, was resigning after teaching at the school for 7 years. It was sad explaining it to Kade who really liked her.

We were not sure how this week would go but he did ok with his new teacher. He did say "I miss Mrs. Gates" when he got home on Tuesday. He was happy though that he got to be the "snack helper." He helped me make pumpkin muffins and proudly marched them in to school. He announced "I brought the snack" and handed the square tupperware of muffins over to the new teacher. Overall, he is doing really well in preschool. He is very good at counting to 10, and ok at counting to 20. He is starting to recognize letters and does it by linking them to people's names. He says "Theres a W for Wyatt, or an A for Avram, etc" Of course, his favorite letter to find is K for Kade!

And Avram - Whew! All of a sudden he is into everything and all over the place! The first twinges of sibling rivalry has emerged as Avram is army crawling all over. He wants everything that Kade has and wants to touch everything! Kade will take his time, perfectly lining up his little cars in a straight line. When all of a sudden, Tsunami Avram rolls into shore, destroying everything in it's path!

Kade still has sweet things to say about him like how beautiful he is.. BUT.. sometimes Avram is starting to test his patience. ..

PS - The pics are from a weekend hike through the Pheasant Branch concervancy in Middleton.

I swear..

he said Mama. Really. I am serious. This morning while getting him dressed. He probably did not mean to say it but he did, so I will take it!

Last night while Kade and Avram were in the bath (by the way, Kade proudly announced that they were, in fact, "Naked Superheros", but I digress) Kade told this funny story about Avram. He told me that he had actually picked Avram out and named him Avram. When asked where he picked him from he said very matter of a factly "the babystore... there were babies there named Henry, and Coolie and Spaghettio, but I picked Avram"

Well, at least the kid is creative if not 100% factual...

Superman! Da da daaa!

Here is our little super duo. Kade really liked the hilarious wig he found in a box of old costumes. He told everyone at each door that he was "Superman.. da da daaa!", hands firmly placed on hips, plastic pumkin candy holder at his side.

We made it up to the top of the hill and then turned around to start back home. He could have kept going for hours! He kept saying, but I NEED more candy! It was definitely enough for Avram!

Fall Fun!

Fall is in full swing! We have been trying to enjoy it while it lasts! These pictures are from a recent trip to the pumpkin farm with Kade's cousins.

Kade was amazed by the really huge pumkin that was way bigger than him!

One of their favorite parts was riding a tractor pulled wagon to the pumpkin patch. They enjoyed searching for that perfect pumpkin!

As usual, little Avram was cheerful and just along for the ride.








We really had a nice time with Ian and Marco. Kade just loved having them here. They got along great, without much trouble at all. They entertained each other and had lots of fun. It is wonderful that Kade is at an age where people make a lasting impression on him. He remembers them and talks about them by name.

Hello!

We are creating this post as a memoir of our busy lives. Also a way for friends and family to keep up!

Boo!

Happy Halloween! Kade and Avram are all ready for an evening of trick or treating around our neighborhood. Kade is going as Superman. Poor Avram does not really get a choice. He gets to be a little bear as that is the costume that Kade wore at his age. I will post some pictures tomorrow.

We are kind of interested to see who we run into while we are out. We have been taking walks around our neighborhood with the stroller every couple days. As we go up and down the hills, we have seen a lot of houses that we just know have small kids. The yards are littered with ride on toys, mini basketball hoops and swingsets. However, we hardly run into the kids themselves. We went to the park yesterday and while we were there we met two moms with little boys who live just up the hill from us. One just moved here this summer from St. Louis and the other has been here for 5 years but travels back and forth to Istanbul, Turkey to see family.

Avram is getting to be a very efficient roller. He can roll all over the room to get where he wants to go. He can also now push up on his hands and knees for a few seconds and pivot his body to the direction he wants to go. He can sit for a few seconds but he is not too interested in sitting still. he wants access to the open road! He smiles a big grin, proudly flaunting his two bottom front teeth. He loves the sound of his name and when I sing to him. He just starts to giggle.

Kade is falling more in love with Avram every day. He loves to say "what a beautiful Avram we have" or "we have the best baby in the whole world!" He loves to make him smile and smothers him (sometimes literally!) with kisses and hugs. Kade just loves preschool. He loves to show me his artwork and tell me about who was the snack helper. (you know Kade and snacks!) He says he wants a "car he can ride in" for Christmas. He says he plans to drive it to Chicago.

Bedtime has become, lets say nicely, "a demonstration of my child's creativity". All of a sudden he has a number of random excuses as to why he must have or do something before going to bed. Mind you our routine is already quite lengthy (and precise) - read 4 books (almost always while consuming some type of snack, usually carrots or celery), upstairs, put on pjs, go potty, brush teeth, drink water, get in bed, tell a story, tuck him in, pray for him, kiss and hug, usually followed by another kiss and hug, sing twinkle, twinkle, say goodnight, shut door, be called back for one more kiss and hug! Let me mention, that not one step will be forgotten! Now he is starting to appear at the top of the steps a few minutes later calling out for just one more something or another. The first night this happened, it took 4 attempts. Now it is at least only limited to 1x. Last night he asked me to pray for him again (by the way, the prayer must include a request for "all colors of power" for Kade) Anyway, when asked who he wanted to pray for, he sais his cousins. He prayed "dear Jesus, please bless my cousins. Please give them toothbrushes and toothpaste." I just said "oh-kay". What a kid!

Have a great Halloween!!