How Do I Love Christmas Parties? Let Me Count The Ways...

Apparently this year the answer to that question is 9.  I attenteded 9 Christmas parties this year.  And you know what?  In my world that is awesome, because Christmas is awesome, and Christmas festivities are awesome.  Bring on the cheer.

1. Chris's Work Party.  One of the perks of working in a tiny office for a small company is a fancy Christmas party.  Bring on the steak house - Papa Brother's Steakhouse, to be exact.  Which just happens to be our favorite in the whole city.  There were only 8 of us, half of which were engineers, so I did my wifely duty and kept conversation moving along when needed.  Regardless, you'll never find me complaining about a night off with Chris!

2. CTK Women's Christmas Dinner.  Ugh I have a love-hate relationship with this annual event.  Long story short, the way that tables is assigned is a little strange and the best way that I have found to get around it/insure an un-awkward evening is to host a table.  So I have for the past several years, in spite of the fact that it stresses me out (I am completely incapable of decorating a "pretty" table) and I am always assigned a table in the back corner by the sound booth.  But I always have a lovely time once I'm there, which is what brings me back the next year.  This year my friend Kelly and I hosted a table together, so the pressure wasn't all on me.  And we invited a friend, which was fun.  Yes I had fun, yes I'm glad I did it.  Maybe I'll do it again next year.  (please note that Kelly had not yet placed her centerpiece and decorations yet - our table did actually look better than this when we were done!)

3. Happy Birthday Jesus Party.  Hosted by one of Annabelle's classmates on a Friday morning, complete with birthday cake and party favors.  We even took a gift - a stuffed animal to be donated to a local toy drive.  I got to chat with some class moms a bit more and Annabelle had fun playing with her friends.  We made a cute craft, ate pizza and cake - well, she ate the candy and frosting, I ate the cake.  My poor sweet girl, stuck with her sometime clueless mother - she sat in a chair in front of the birthday cake whining, turning her back, calling and reaching for me.  I scolded her a bit, thinking she was being anti-social and whiny.  And then she got a bit panicky and I finally realized that she was afraid of the birthday candles.  Oh heavens, this fear of fire is for real.  I guess there will be no candles at her birthday!

4. Sewing Seeds Party.  The annual church kids Christmas party, well for kids birth-kindergarten and their siblings.  That's right, next year Sam will only qualify to attend as Annabelle's sibling.  It gives me great pleasure that she has more things that are just hers these days.  Anywho...we had a lot of fun!  Someone "activity snack" - edible markers, anyone?  Ornament crafts, the "cookie walk," bounce houses, festive photos, and friends.  And a petting zoo.  Sam hates petting zoos, wouldn't even consider entering.  Annabelle loves the idea of animals but has grown timid of them over the past few months.  On this day she decided that she was completely safe with the animals as long as she was holding onto one of my fingers.  That's all she needed, one finger, just enough to know I'm there.  I feel like there's a life lesson in that somewhere...

5. Lights In The Heights.  What a great night!  An annual neighborhood street party that is all about family fun in the early hours and has a reputation for getting a bit crazier as the night progresses.  We always leave to put the kids to bed, so we love the festive family atmosphere.  Our friends live on this year's "route" and graciously hosted a party.  Super fantastic for so many reasons, one of which is that we only feel the need to walk the streets for 30-60 minutes and then we are pleased as punch to hang on the front porch, people watch and chat and hang with dear friends.  The kids loved walking the streets, though, especially the bands that were playing on each block.  They'd find a spot, claim it and sit down.  Didn't matter the genre - church choir or heavy metal.  But as the crowds grew, my confidence in being able to keep track of them all shrank, so back to "home base" we went.  The kids played inside and out with so many others their age.  At one point I looked over to find Sam with this group and I had this weird flash forward to his tween/teen years - I pray they contain friends like these.  Chris had to drag me away way past the kids' bedtime, reminding me that we moved to the burbs and had a bit of a commute home.  If he hadn't, I might have stayed well past my welcome.  Some nights just feel good, and this was one of them.
 

6.  Annabelle's Class Party.  Guarantee you there was NO way I was going to miss this party.  I made little gifts for all of her classmates, wrapped her book for the book exchange, and arrived right on time - to find three kids at her "party."  Saddest party ever.  Some kind of nasty bug hit her class that week and there were only 4 kids in her room both days (ok so there are only 10 on the roster, but still that's a 60% absence rate).  And then one little girl saw Mommy show up and begged to go home.  So they did.  So three kiddos, three mamas and 2 teachers ate the pizza that the room moms had dropped off (neither of their kids came to school that day), each kid grabbed a book from the pile and we headed home.  Which, ultimately, was probably fine because by the end of lunch it was clear that Annabelle was coming down with a nasty cold herself.  She clearly did not feel well that afternoon.  But I did manage to get her to take a picture with her favorite class Christmas decoration - the singing snowman. 

7.  Sam's Class Party.  Hi I'm Lindsay, and I volunteered to be Grade Level Room Mom Coordinator for my very first year at the elementary school.  Turns out that might not have been the world's best plan, because my co-coordinator and I missed a few somewhat crucial communications (honestly, not our fault, and I'll stand by that for years to come) and there was a bit more effort and drama in planning these parties than there should have been.  BUT the room moms were fantastic sports and willing participants and more importantly, the kids had fun at their parties.  I mean, how could you not?  A sweet Christmas story, cookie and juice snack, and then some gingerbread house construction!  Look at all that candy.  I am honestly shocked at how little was consumed - the kids were pretty focused on construction!  I had to get another sitter for Annabelle that morning, but in the end I am thankful for the school's request that younger siblings not attend the parties.  It was so special to be able to focus on Sam and hang just with him during the party, and I'm pretty sure that he thought so, too.  And I have to note how cute his teacher is: She took a quick minute to speak to the room moms while we were setting up, indicating that one or two younger siblings would probably show up and could we please help direct them away from her tubs of manipulatives, etc.  "I spent a lot of time cleaning up the room, we're having company today!"  I just loved that she cleaned her room for all the parents to come the same way that you would clean for house guests!

8.  My Work Party.  Again, a perk of a tinier office is another nice dinner party!  This time at Rainbow Lodge, which surprisingly enough we had never been to before.  I tried some game, as that is their specialty.  It was good, but I think I am a beef girl through and through.  I also enjoyed an eggnog - how festive am I?!  Again, another excuse to get dressed up for a night out, and a fun time with my peeps.  A fun perk for my 4-5 hour/week job!

9.  The Thornton's Christmas Eve Open House.  This is apparently an annual tradition, we wouldn't really know since this is the first time we've ever been in Houston for Christmas!  The Thornton's are friends from the Heights (who also no longer live there), Sam and their son went to preschool together and Annabelle and their daughter are only a few weeks apart in age.  Something totally different than anything I've ever done on Christmas eve, and a welcome distraction for our poor boy who was having a very difficult time being patient on that day.  We went to Christmas Eve Service right after, so next to their front door was our best shot at a family picture this year - oops!

All of those, plus a Friday night grown-up birthday party, and my kids have started to expect babysitters as a rule rather than exception.  Thankful that they have fun with them and that we have put together a good list!

**My number of parties attended exceeded my number of Christmas movies watched this year.  I'll try harder to even things out next year.

Thanksgiving 2014

Thanksgiving was in Houston again this year!  Chris’s family – Grammy and Papa, Aunt Becky and Uncle Benton, all met in the middle for just shy of a whole week of family fun!  Unfortunately that week ended with a few of our guests, and daddy getting a little bug, but for the most part the trip was a success!

The ladies basically spent 2 straight days cooking.  Geez I picked some time-consuming recipes this year!  The result was worth it, though, in my humble opinion.  A table overflowing with more food than we could consume, even with cautious and intentional usage of leftovers.  I brined my turkey this year and will continue to do so in the future.  My gravy turned out great, too.  There’s only one recipe I don’t feel the need to recreate – not bad, just not great enough to justify the work.  And next time it will be back to two pies – three did in fact prove to be excessive.  But what is Thanksgiving for if not an excuse for excessive food consumption.

The kids were super-pumped to take that picture.  Also, I'd like to document the fact that with all that food available, my two-year-old consumed 3 rolls and 2 baby carrots.  

Did I mention that the boys busied themselves with some outside cooking this year, as well?  Mmm, Chris’s first fried turkey was a huge success.  I learned my lesson at Thanksgivings past (in Florida) and began to pick at the plate as soon as it came into the kitchen.  I think the men enjoyed the activity aspect of it, although it was not a work-free process.  Or a cheap one.  Any idea how much several gallons of peanut oil costs?!?  But we have learned it is an activity best suited for an otherwise empty afternoon rather than one mixed in with other festivities (see Christmas post to follow).

Our days of cooking were interrupted a bit for what I believe is now a family tradition: Thanksgiving Day Fun Run.  This is the third time doing one for Chris and I, and the second consecutive year.  I think that everyone enjoyed themselves enough to stand by it.  And they are so popular these days that I’m confident we’ll be able to find one wherever we land that year.  This year we ventured to the Katy YMCA.  The kids, each paired with a grandparent, participated in the 1 Mile Kids Race.  Chris and Becky ran the 5k and Benton and I ran the 10k.  The kids loved getting their race t-shirts and finisher medals, and I think we all looked cute in our matching shirts.  And we all felt a little less guilty about those three pies…

The rest of the week held lots of playing and relaxing.  There were Christmas crafts (provided by Grammy) and Christmas decorating, more one-on-one and two-on-two football games in my yard and front hall than Uncle Benton can probably count, a walk amongst the finally-arrived fall leaves to get donuts, and a fantastic marathon of football rivalry games.  There was fort-building and the need to assemble every single kid puzzle we own.  

And then it was back to school and things got really crazy – only three school weeks till Christmas – I mean Winter – Break!

Pre-Thanksgiving Celebrations

Our children are at the age where every holiday brings more crafts, activities and build-up than one could imagine.  That’s not true, I can totally imagine it all.  And not just because I’m living it now, but because I lived it 25 years ago and loved it then.  Truth be told I still love it now, even if it does often feel like pressure and stress.  Here’s to a resolution to making these things fun and not stressful!

Part of the problem with that stress thing is that once I do something special with the kids, I’ve set the bar.  And Sam remembers the bar, and often asks for the bar to be repeated if not raised going forward.  Example: I packed and “activity snack” for a road trip.  String your fruit loops onto a string, make a necklace, then eat it.  After that, Sam wasn’t pleased to be handed a bag of pretzels in the car and asked what the corresponding activity was.  Grr.

Such was the case with our Thanksgiving Turkey Snack this year.  I bought the supplies to use as an “activity snack” at the playdate I hosted for Annabelle’s class.  With the extras I let the kids make one gummy turkey per day until supplies ran out.  They LOVED it.  Score for me!  Until Thanksgiving was over and Sam asked what the Christmas equivalent would be.  “Oh, umm…I’m making 20 dozen cookies this weekend.  I’ll let you know when they’re finished!”

While I might have scored with the gummy turkeys, this mama definitely failed when it came to Annabelle’s Thanksgiving feast this year.  Last year I was Sam’s room mom, so I had to be there.  And yes, lots of parents were, but not all.  This year Annabelle’s class went all out – matching shirts that one’s grandma made, face paint, and all but 2 parents showing up.  Guess who one of the two was?  Yup.  Me.  I accidentally scheduled work on the same day and, because preschool was half day the next day, couldn’t change it.  So I have no pictures at the feast.  But I am told she ate 9 chicken nuggets.  And I’m still eating my mommy guilt.

Sam’s kindergarten pow-wow (really?  We can still do/call it that?) happened without any notice from the teacher and zero desire for parent participation.  A blessing and a curse.  We did, however, get to help with what turned out to be the coolest feather on their class turkey.  In what grade does “family homework” end?

The Friday before Thanksgiving Annabelle did get to attend an event together, a Thanksgiving Playdate at church.  In addition to playing, the kids made some cute little snack for themselves and some sweet cards for each member of the church staff.  Since most of the staff is off on Fridays, we were able to deliver their cards, and a snack, to their desks as a surprise upon their return to work.  They really enjoyed that.  And Annabelle received the sweetest thank you note from one of our pastors in the mail!  And I have to say, as much as our kids bicker with each other, it is clear that they miss one another when they’re apart.  Annabelle could not hear of heading home before she’d had a chance to make one Oreo turkey and one Goldfish/Popcorn turkey for Sam.

Finally, in case you are keeping track, this is in fact the second year that Annabelle has worn that same turkey shirt, and the third year she has been able to pull off the same Thanksgiving tutu.  Rock on my tiny girl!