Christmas is Coming!

On Monday another Christmas Eve will be upon us. This year we did our traditional advent calendar bags for each boy and yesterday the season really kicked into high gear with the arrival of their beloved "Nana" from South Carolina. We'll put up the tree tomorrow and do fun things like see a train show and lights display--the only thing I'd wish for differently is that this rain would become a gentle snow. But all in all I can't complain.

This year the month of December was marked by a terrible tragedy of a school shooting in a place called Newtown, CT.  Twenty 6 and 7 year olds mowed down by a man with an assault rifle. I can't imagine what those families must be going through. Danny's 5 and we've kept info about what happened to a minimum. When he has questions, he'll ask. But seeing him and his classmates at times over the past few days has been a bit bittersweet as they are about the same age as those kids who died. Heartbreaking.

On the brighter side, our beautiful Benji turned 3 this month. On the not so bright side, the poor guy was sick with probably two different gastrointestinal illnesses from about Dec. 3-18. Thank goodness he's finally better. Lots of laundry. It's kind of sad when your two year old starts coughing and then asks you to "get the bowl". At least he's very aware of his own body. Speaking of awarness, he's making fantastic strides in potty training. Wears underpants to pre-school now! Yet another milestone we are happy to reach!

December also for me brings up sad memories of my mom dying on Christmas Day just two years ago. She is so missed and every once in a while I still forget she's gone. I want to pick up the phone and tell her something. Always loved and never to be forgotten that Mommy of mine.

I'll end this post with a picture taken last night at Susanne's annual Bread for the City Holiday Party. The kids got to break open a pinata, and here are our two with their hauls. (And we still have Halloween candy that we're doling out!) I guess we could have worse problems ;-)

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you and yours. -Monica

Where'd November go?

Well, during the month of November, although we took some pics on our smart phones, we only took 3 pictures on Su's camera. And we managed to update this blog a total of 0 times. Not impressive right?

And it's not like it was an uneventful month. November 6th brought that nail biter of an election--President Barack Obama prevailed and I can now breath again. It really seemed for a time there that Mitt Romney might win and the thought of that worried me greatly.  Thanks goodness not only did Obama win, but in all 4 states that had same sex marriage votes, all 4 were positive. Thank you to the people of Maryland, Maine, Washington and the great state of Minnesota!

We also of course celebrated Thanksgiving down at Su's mom as has become our tradition. But unfortunately both boys were sick. Danny got diagnosed with pneumonia right before the trip down and Benji ended up at Urgent Care and also got put on antibiotics for respiratory troubles. I am so grateful that they are both better. Fevers and coughs are tough on little guys. Of course getting vaccinations are also tough on little guys, but they will be going in for their flu shots this afternoon. You may be able to hear them wailing in protest at around 3:30 from wherever you are in the world ;-)

Other than that all is well. We got to to go our friends Mikki and Kelly's wedding yesterday in a castle. I think all wedding should be held in a castle. The boys loved the venue and a great time was had by all.

Now it's Advent so we have our advent calendar bags strung up. The boys cannot wait to get up each morning and cut their bag down to see what's inside. They are learning a lot about waiting (which is very hard for them but very apropos for Advent.) Next up, Benji's birthday and then Christmas will be here before we know it. Hopefully I'll blog again long before then. Happy Day to all, and to all a good night! -M

Advent Calendar Bag opening by Danny in 2009 when he was about Benji's age now.