Hanging the Ornaments TG Weekend

"Look, guys! Do you hear it?!?! It rings!"

Andrew found the sweet ornaments of Dear Daisy and Miss Molly. For the sake of the excited 3-yr-old, I managed to choke back tears, realizing the chances of this being our last Christmas with our almost-16-yr-old "Dais".

Little Miss exerting remarkable good self-control for a curious 14-month-old!

Christmas is out and up!

In all the spare time of the season, the piano manages to get tuned...crucial so that we can continue to play Christmas music:)

Got the little "Go ahead, take my cute picture" nod from Margaret as she strutted one of her favorite smocked dresses of the season.

Random pic of Margaret's recent sleeping position of choice. Hmmm...

As much as I love Thanksgiving gatherings, my favorite part of Thanksgiving weekend is getting the Christmas decorations out, finally, and watching the BroncosJ That’s been my tradition since back in Columbia,
SC days when my only reason to like the Broncos was because they had little
horsies on their helmets!

First things first – acquire the
Frasier Fir. Thanks to a great local
friend with connections via her father-in-law, I drive about 2 miles to pick up
a lovely 7-9’ tree in my friend’s yard, then easily return home. What comes next everyone knows is not the
easiest part of Christmas on any couple.
But the tree gets hauled inside
(while dodging an anxious 3-year-old, a 14-month-old who is always in the wrong place, and 8 furry
paws), thrust into a stand and tightened.
When the command to slowly let go comes, I mumbled down to the floor
that there’s no way I could let go. The
largest tree we’ve ever had will stay upright in our stand! After determining that there is no place to
safely affix fishing wire to help, the tree is returned to said good friend’s
front lawn and replaced with a smaller versionJ The next morning, up it went, with better
stand procedures, and all is well. Whew!

Next = lights. The back deck icicle lights
were hung first. I want the neighbors to
start enjoying! Since we close our
shades at dark, I never get to enjoy these particular lights I work so hard on. Then, the front porch garland and lights were
assembled. Check. Finally, I got lights
on the tree while Michael handled baths. Check. YEAH! Andrew's reaction to the
tree with lights when he came downstairs after his bath = priceless. He LITERALLY
jumped for joy 5 minutes straight and continued to jump for EVERY SINGLE
ornament he unwrapped for us to hang. LOVE the spirit:) He particularly enjoyed unwrapping our hot
air balloon ornament, which we tracked down last year after moving to this
house and realizing we lived in a hot-hot air balloon zone! He also loved getting our Daisy ornament on
the tree. Give that Daisy is nearly 16,
the reality that this could be her last Christmas sent me over the edge. I tried to compose myself when Andrew got out
the first of many silver bells, shook by his ear and proclaimed, “It rings!”. Oh, how I hope he forever believes that the
bells in his life will ring.

·
Finally, we get to the various
nativities we have. I put the beautiful
olive wood one that my aunt and uncle gave us for our wedding in the dining
room on the side board (i.e. out of reach).
Then Andrew discovered the boxes of Fisher Price nativities that his
aunts Kate and Anne gave him and Margaret last year. It was like Christmas Day was already upon us. Andrew couldn’t WAIT to open the boxes.
And when he did, he asked if he could take them to his room. I suggested
that we put some in the family room for everyone to play with but that some
could go to his room. The next 20 minutes = silence! He immediately
took every single piece to his room (all 3 boxes worth!) just 2 at a
time. He tried to get lots, but would drop them, so settled for umpteen
trips with just one piece in each hand. When I went to check on the
status, all of the palm trees were perfectly lined up in a row and he was
working on another scene. It was all very sweet, until he opened his
mouth, “Okay, it ALL has to stay in MY room. It can’t go to Margaret’s
room. It’s all stays in MY room, okay???” Now he wants “play Baby
Jesus” everyday, which is very sweet. He may be hoarding them, but can I be too upset about that when he says,
"Mommy, come to my room. Let's play 'Baby Jesus'. I'll be Baby Jesus and
you be the Mommy, okay?" Whew!
Thank goodness I get to be the Mommy.
That I can do. Afterall, I have
been Mary in not one, but in two LIVE nativities, with LIVE babies….neither of
which were mine (despite having had an infant of my own last Christmas!). Where were the casting calls for me in
2010???

Unrelated to the holiday season, but a milestone of sorts in this season of life was Little Miss Margaret's first haircut this week. All in all, she was a champ. She only fussed when she couldn't have the water bottle intended to wet her sweet locks in her mouth, but other than that, she politely refrained from questioning the whole experience. The precious bow lasted all of 2 seconds, but that's to be expected. I have continued to try periodically when she is distracted, but she is on to me.

The Drunken Sailor and Thanksgiving Goodness

While Margaret started taking steps in October, her wide-legged full walk didn't arrive until November. And just as soon as she realized she could cross a room, her drunken sailor stumbling morphed into a mere tipsy straggle. We've no doubt she'll be running by Christmas... hopefully not running to tear down the tree!

"Mama" continues to be a delighted sound of choice and "Uh-Oh" has quickly been perfected...both in sound and in context. She will even drop her cup on the floor and profess "Uh-Oh" just to prove to us she knows what she's doing!

Miss Margaret remains cute, sweet, cuddling, and determined. Her new favorite things are drawers (except when she smashes them on her own little fingers) and anything plastic, which it's in her mouth, of course. She is still all girl, loving to help you help her get dressed (which Andrew STILL doesn't care to do) and is fond of brushing her own hair and teeth. Neighbors plug your ears when I take the toothbrush away from her!

Thanksgiving: A fun few days in Vienna, VA at Anne and Eric's was a lovely reprive for Margaret. The boys (Alex 4, Andrew 3, and Nicholas 2) couldn't get enough of each other. Who knew how many hours you could play "football" (i.e. run laps around the house and make a pile of boys by the back door!). Some of Margaret's bruises had time to heal:) The highlight (besides time with family) was a trip to the Air and Space Museum by Dulles. I'm not sure who in our family was more mesmerized by the exhibit, which Eric told us is going to get the Discovery! We will definitely be going back. Andrew also participated in his first 5k.

The Turkey Trot in Vienna was a great Thanksgiving Day race. Michael was a trooper pushing the jog stroller and all 40 lbs of Andrew up and down the tremendous hills on Center St. He finally relinquished the stroller a mere 100 yds from the finish line. Considering our baggage and how many YEARS it had been since we had raced, we were proud to sneak in under 30 minutes.

Football in the Tsibertzopoulos front yard.

Andrew at center, Eric playing QB, Alex an anxious running back, and Nicholas primed to follow the crowd and join in on the tackle!

Nicholas' instructions for Margaret!

Thanksgiving Parade at the
Reston Town Center, Reston, VA

"Time Out" for Cocktails!

Before the Thanksgiving craziness set in, we hosted a "Time-Out for Cocktails" party for the other parents of tiny tots at our church. The evening appeared to be a success, until we went to kiss the kids goodnight on our way up. Little Miss Margaret was standing straight up like she'd been that way the whole party. At only 14 months, she refuses to miss a party, and wants Mommy's purse, wallet, phone, and keys more than anything else on earth.

11:15 pm

Picures after church on a beautiful fall morning.

Starting basketball!