THE BEST PART OF THE HOLIDAYS...FAMILY

Add a little whip cream to the evening and we quickly realized just how tired we all were.

SANTA CAME TO MY HOUSE FIRST!...

LEARNING TO BE GRACIOUS...
It was lesson time. If you open a gift and suddenly discover that it is not what you expected what should you do? I quickly learned what not to do. You do not under any circumstances, throw the gift, say "I don't like that or That is not what I wanted" or pout. You should on the other hand thank your mommy for trying to find you something you would enjoy while encouraging you to use your gross motor skills to improve your future baseball pitch. Moral of the story...be gracious. It took me all of 5 minutes to realize the error of my ways. I made a real effort to apologize to mom and tell her thank you for my gift. I even threw in a few minutes of play with the unwanted gift and a dozen extra kisses for mom. I guess the greatest gift this go round was a lesson in itself. Be gracious.

CHRISTMAS IS SPELLED, F-A-M-I-L-Y + L-O-V-E...
It's a compound word :)

SUPERMARKET FUN...
Grandpa Malone, Daddy and Uncle Dusty have worked in one. I thought I should give it a-go. Scan it all--fruits, veggies, cans. I could do this all day!

DILAPIDATED GINGERBREAD HOUSE...
Let's just say it was not as easy as we thought, but more on that later.

HOLIDAY LOVE...

LOOKING FOR SANTA!...WE FINALLY FOUND HIM!...

CRACKED NUTS...
It was Nutcracker time again, a mark of the season, and mom was really looking forward to it. We had weeknight tickets and the show started at 7. Mom knew she was starting the show with a challenge because my bedtime is typically between 7:30 and 8:00. But, I have to be honest, since moving to the extended day class at school, I am plenty glad to crawl into bed even before that time. I am a growing boy with no naps and I NEED MY REST! Holiday seasons really don't provide much time for that though and we had F-U-N scheduled for the evening.
We picked up dad from work and sped to the Hard Rock Cafe. It was already 6 so we had order and eat in a hurry on our minds. Dad showed his age (oh yes, 32) by stating that the music was too loud and the crowd too young and showy. I was just glad to see the spiky hair guy again. He literally has hair like a unicorn. ONE BIG SPIKE. It is fantastic! Even his beard has spikes. I don't know how he does it. Mom says he must have super-strong, super-hold gel or egg whites in his hair. She's really not sure which, but my hair does not follow suite. We have tried. I have actually begged (tears included) to have blue, spiked hair. So, while I am here smiling pretty, curls cascading, sweater vest and all...inside lies a little man who longs for spikes! It may be true what they say (mom and Lala that is.) I very well could become the tatted up doctor who drives to work on a motorcycle to fix peoples brains, but mom hopes not. I can fix all the brains I want, but she loves me just the way I am. Peachy skin, beautiful, brown curls and eyes to match.
Back to the show...Our evening of fun was just that. A time to spend as a family, a time to enjoy the start of another season and to relax in the arts. Dad slept some...make that the first act, but he really came to love the second half. The music was wonderful, the flying bakers (my personal favorite) amazing, the dancing superb and moms dream of the perfect evening complete.
My cupcake and cocoa induced sugar rush failed me and I had to give in to the visions of sugarplums dancing in my head. Mom may be allergic, but we really love cracked nuts!

FOR THE BIRDS...
Here is a throw back. A craft from way back in mom's Girl Scout days. Mawmaws was the troup leader and mom was eager to earn as many badges as Mawmaws could find time to sew on. EXIBIT A--the bird feeder.
It was a real family adventure, this one. We don't have pine trees in our yard. In fact, as we came to find out, most of our neighbors don't either. We headed to the duck pond in search of pine cones. It is surrounded by loads of trees. We took along 2 loaves of bread and boy were we glad. The ducks must have been starving! They were quick to approach and even quicker to quack. They followed me every where I went (hey, that is an idea for a new book...Reagan had a little duck.) I challenged my feet to grip to the slippery slope and mom and dad's ability to let me be a kid as I walked right by the water in search of turtles. I guess they were snug underground because we did not see a one. Ducks a plenty. By this time I was beat! I had scooted my scooter all the way there, chased ducks and I was ready for a ride. After a few hundered whines, dad gave me a lift on his bike as mom toted my scooter on back.
I had the best view (atop dad's shoulders) as we searched long and hard for a messy yard with lots of needles and cones. We did not have much success. We carried a sack thinking there would be lots for the choosing, but as it turns out 8-12 cones is about it. Our neighbors must be highly dedicated to the raking process. No fault to them, but it is a little difficult to make a bird feeder with out the proper supplies. Mom remembers huge pine cones with large gaps in between each section. These were tiny, little cones and bunched up tight. Never the less, we were excited. We grabbed our jar of smooth peanut butter, a bag of cranberries and the most delicious bird seed Kroger carries and headed to the front porch to slather. And that we did. I was stuck to myself, my porch, the bird seed and at least 5 pine cones and I never blinked. Mom made her way through the process a bit neater and when the cones were covered and looked good enough to sample we tied them up with floss and strung them in our trees like Christmas lights. Now the waiting game began...who would be brave enough to try them? We quickly found birds and squirrels alike munching and crunching and pecking at our treats. We even had to discipline a few...just kidding, but we did watch as one squirrel jumped out of our tree and ran into our neighbors yard toting a line of 2 pine cones with him. I guess he was storing our feeders up for the winter. Well, that is what they are there for so the throw back adventure was a success. Such a sweet memory for mom and one she is sure will "stick" for me too.

BLACKENED!...
And just in time for my scheduled photo session. I guess we will put it off another month. My teacher told mom that I was acting silly in class with a buddy when I fell out of my chair and hit my face on the tile floor. She says that I was lucky I did not get a pencil injury too. I was working with several of them when I fell. Apparently teachers love to tell on kids--I admit it--I like to play! I was all tears after it happened though.
Mom gave me plenty of healing kisses. First kisses, then words about coulda and shoulda and all the attached ifs, then more kisses.

DEAREST SHELF ELF...
Mom and dad insist that you are real. They continually tell me that you are watching and you are faithful in reporting my doings to Santa. However, I must insist that "YOU ARE PRETEND! You do not talk. SANTA IS REAL. Not you." So, I am sorry to disappoint. I will not be walking on egg shells this year. I plan to take my chances, look around a few times and act. If Santa has a problem with my behavior I will speak to him myself. Thank you very much.

THERE WILL BE SINGING!...
It was my second Christmas concert LMS and I belted out the most beautiful notes as I sang. I knew the words to most every song and believe me when I tell you that is a lot of words. 10 songs, every verse with lovely little hand signs and gestures along the way. I was "on stage" with my 30 classmates and we aimed to wow! I am sure we succeeded, our parents surely do not know all the verses. I know mine don't and mom loves Christmas tunes (minus the month long marathon on KSBJ.) Mom was thinking back about last years concert, me standing front row with a jingle bell necklace around my neck. Oh, how that thing was a distraction. This year, I demanded focus. I smiled at mom and dad, giggled a bit and sang so sweetly. When the show was over, I served lemonade to each member of my family and made sure that everyone had a cookie too. I was the perfect gentleman and mom was so proud to be seated front row at my concert. I'm growing up. Pretty soon it will 5th grade choir.

A LITTLE NAUGHTY, BUT A WHOLE LOT OF NICE...
This picture says it all. 4 year olds (like the rest of us) have their ups and downs, their likes and dislikes and a whole lot of opinions. Every day...make that every moment...is a new adventure!

THE POLAR EXPRESS...
Oh what fun it is to ride!  We arrived just in time to capture some pictures on the tracks and see the engine pulling into the station.  There was smoke and a whistle.  I was so excited to board the train and thrilled when I heard him call out "ALL ABOARD!"  My excitement grew when I saw a giant mug of cocoa topped with more whipped cream that a small child should ever ingest and chocolate shavings set before me.  We were riding first class and mom and dad were so thankful.  We had a table and picture window to ourselves but more importantly a little extra wiggle room.  I'm a little wiggly...especially after drinking 2 mugs of cocoa and snacking on a chocolate brownie at bedtime.  When the conductor came through the car I was quick to hand him my ticket.  I was wondering if I would hear the bell.  Sure enough, when the door opened I saw Santa and he had a bell just for me.  I must have tested it ringing it softly then loudly and right in my ear hundreds of time.  I had the Christmas spirit about me.  I sang out loud all the carols I learned from our school program and gave mom and dad some winter chills.  My innocence was precious to say the least.  After pulling back into the station we opted for a more traditional dinner.  We traveled into town by car this time to enjoy a meal with our Houston pals the Vasentines.  It was a long way home that night, but an evening full of memories I will not soon forget.