Christmas in Collierville

For 45 years, I've spent Christmas Eve in Greenhills, Ohio.  With my mom's move to independent living, we talked about changing up the routine.  When I presented options to my boys, I was moved by their facial expressions.  It said it all.  They just wanted to stay home and open their presents in their house on Christmas.  I got it and that is just what we did.

I missed mass at St. Bernard with Fr. Schappelle.  Instead, we went to Christmas Vigil at our church.  Here's the snap before we left.

Pumpkin did not have the best of smiles and I think he is slouching.  This will be used for comparison next year to see how much Peanut has grown.

I made them snap a photo before we went into church.  I was so proud of myself.  I thoroughly enjoyed this time and did not turn into a blubbering mess wishing I was in Ohio.

In mass, I leaned over telling the Big Guy that he was the only one wearing a turtleneck.  I did not know that Pumpkin had already commented.  I guess we'll have to work on the Big Guy's wardrobe.  He's morphed into a dad with 10+ year old clothes.

Mass ran long and we missed our reservations for a nice dinner.  It was all good.  We headed to our favorite burger joint, Huey's, eating a late dinner before the kitchen closed.

We even enjoyed wine and beer.  Pumpkin was our designated driver.  It was so fun.  It took about five shots to get this picture.  We were cracking up.

We stopped at the gas station to get lottery tickets.  I wanted to use them for favors on Christmas Day.  We bought four $5 scratch off ones for us.  We think Peanut's card might be worth $150.  We are gonna go today and see.  That'd be nice!

 We had plenty of sweets.  Peanut made his standard ET bars, chocolate and peanut butter.  Pumpkin made a pecan pie which he has yet to try.

This was the Big Guy's request for Christmas morning.  Inside each pull apart is a chocolate surprise.  Peanut helped him make it.  Fearful that it would fall apart, they reinforced it with toothpicks.

More sweets - Peanut bought these for the Big Guy.  He remembered them at 4am.  He got up used printer paper and wrapped them up.  He drew decorations on the outside.  It was great!  When I first saw the gift under the tree, I was a bit jealous that I did not have a homemade gift.   Little did I know it was just the brownie mix.  Too cute!

 Pumpkin got some clothes, a mini, xbox games and some other things.

This tshirt says it all about Peanut.  If it has bacon on it, he will love it!  The new Xbox was plugged in and set up.  I forgot about the background noise from the Xbox.  It is not a bad thing, yet!

 Buddy joined in the festivities too!  Unfortunately, he doesn't like to wear his Christmas shirt.

We had the Big Guy's family over for dinner.  I went all out with chili and hot dogs.  It was easy and was enjoyed by all.  It was nice seeing them.  I got a fancy camera.  We can only hope good pictures are to come in 2013.

Glass Blowing

About a month ago, I bought groupons for all of us to attend a glassblowing class creating an ornament.  I thought it'd be the perfect way to start our family holiday.  We are staying home this year for Christms.  It is my first time in 45 years!  Believe it or not, I am at peace with it.  We are going to go to mass on Christmas Eve and enjoy a dinner out.  On Christmas Day, we are entertaining my in-laws.  It is going to be very simple.  We are all looking forward to the time with family.  We will make the trip to Cincinnati for New Year's.  Anyway...

We got a tutorial before being set to blow our own ornaments.  Can I just tell you?  It looks so much easier than it really is.  You start with a piece of Pyrex glass and the torch --

Peanut is a natural.  He is steady, focused and had a natural knack for the glassblowing.

 Pumpkin licked his lips the entire time.  It takes so much concentration.

 Peanut's first blow once the glass is all warmed up.

 Pumpkin's first blow.

 Peanut's finished product waiting to go in the vermiculite to cool down.

 Pumpkin had some mishaps requiring some rework.

 The Big Guy was all thumbs, but a great sport!

Oh!  My!

 The Big Guy blew so hard that his ornament popped.  He had to melt it back down.

 His ornament has some scars from the bubble bursting incident.  I happen to like it.

 The family that blew their 2012 glass ornaments  - -

They are proudly displayed on our tree.  It was much much harder than I thought it was going to be.  Peanut got the award for the most skilled.  The Big Guy colored his with black.  It looks very cool.  It was an interesting night.  Learned lots about glass and have a memory to cherish.

This Week's Collection

At work, we choose names.  I made this scarf for my coworker.  It is made out of ribbon yarn by Broadway.  Perfect - as her family is in NYC celebrating the holidays.  The ribbon yarn takes a bit of time to get used to.  It did not help that I was working on metal needles.  When finished, though, it makes a very dramatic statement.

Pumpkin finished his required eye and medical exams.  The eye exam was in a sketchy part of town.  I was so proud of him.  We had to wait forever.  When we got in the car, he said that this doctor practices for all the right reasons helping those that really need it.  He taught me a lesson.  Here he is filling out his medical exam paperwork.  It was the first time he went back w/o me.  I was a bit melancholy.  It was a harmless exam and he liked that doctor too.  Now, we wait...

Peanut was at home making dog treats.  He is the best.  We packaged them up and handed them out to friends and neighbors.  It is a simple little happy for the four-legged ones among us.  Buddy only got a couple as our distribution list has grown!

Wednesday night, a nice surprise came in the mail from my friend Beth.  We love the wreath and found a perfect spot for it.  I'm still working on a few things and am hoping to find lots of needle time this weekend!

Peanut is going to do some more baking.  We are hosting Christmas dinner here.  We all have to put our cleaning gloves on and whip this place in to shape.  I've got a couple gifts to buy and all the wrapping to do.  'Tis the season!

Christmas Concerts

Pumpkin had his voice recital a few weekends ago.  Here he is waiting for the recital to begin sporting his brand new glasses.  It is hard to believe that child of mine has all those curls!

Pumpkin sang "Give a Man a Horse He Can Ride" by O'Hara.  It is always fun to hear a teenager sing about love.  I was slow with the camera and did not get it recorded.

 All the students ended with White Christmas asking the audience to join in.

Here is a lovely picture of Pumpkin with his voice teacher.  I am very grateful for his weekly commitment to the lessons and the exposure to different music.  He can take the pleasure of music with him his entire life.

A few days later, the high school Christmas concert was held.  Pumpkin had solo parts in the song Christmas Story.  It is so nice to hear his voice as he doesn't sing too much at home.  He is in the front quartet on the right side.   The song is very touching and well-worth the listen.  His solos are at time marks 1:21, 3:40, and 5:20.

The last singing event was singing at the Peabody.  The pictures don't do it justice.  The hotel is absolutely beautiful.  It is a must do for the Christmas season.

 This is an annual picture we take of Pumpkin in front of the Peabody tree.

 The Big Guy must be standing on a carpet as he is not that much taller than Pumpkin.

Twelve Days of Christmas Two Tree

A few weeks ago, an idea hit me to create some sort of countdown to Christmas using $2 bills.

I was so happy that the bank had them available.  I got them and told myself to come up with something before December 13th.

When Peanut was little, we celebrated each December with the Lego Advent Calendar.  Recently, we haven't done too much.  As I was eating breakfast yesterday, it dawned on me that it was 12/13.  I had to come up with something.  Determined to use what I had on hand, this is what I came up with.  There are countdown numbers on the tree and each child gets $2 a day.

I built the tree over my lunch break.  When they came home from school, they were a bit curious.  They loved the $2 bills and were even happier when they realized they each got one.  The Big Guy thought I should have attached chores to each one.  Ha!  Ha!

This morning, Peanut got his $2 right away and safely tucked it away.  I know they will enjoy them.  More so, I hope they remember the message of Christmas when they spend their special bills.

Music City Invitational

Last weekend Pumpkin and I were in Nashville for the Music City Invitational swim meet.  We were happy to only have a three hour drive as the other half of the family was headed to Atlanta, a 6+ hour drive.  The moon entertained us for some period of time.  It was impressive and the clouds added to it.

My swimmer had a wonderful meet.  He is very close to breaking the one minute mark on his 100 Breast.  In this photo he is getting ready to swim the 200 Breast in the B final. 

Earlier on Sunday, he swam the mile.  He was pleased with his very consistent splits.  We had to check out of the hotel by noon.  His only option was to take a nap in the car.  He doesn't look too comfortable but was deep asleep in seconds.  I sat in the car with my window cracked and knitted.

I am going to miss these times.  Only six months to graduation.  We are keeping our fingers crossed that we will get to see him swim in college.

Romer Inspired

Growing up, the Romers lived down the street.  Mrs. Romer happened to be my piano teacher.  They had a bay window and artistic children.  Every year, they painted the window and we marveled at how special it was.  This year, the idea hit me to let Peanut paint our bay window.  We headed to the craft store and the hardware store for supplies.  It was a bit chilly.  Peanut has on a mismatch of clothes, clothes he felt could afford to get paint on them.

 Once he figured out his scene, he plotted it on graph paper to match the grid of the window panes.

There is no turning back now...

 I enjoy seeing him at work.  I could almost hear his brain.

The black lettering did not show up at night.  After they dried, they were painted over and stood out.

Here is the finished project.  It makes me smile.  I know Peanut was thrilled.  Not many kids get to paint their windows.  Every time I look at it, I can't help but sing, "Oh, Come all ye Faithful.."

He might have started something and I won't mind this tradition one bit.

-----------------------------------Just remind me of that when I am trying to clean the window.