The Nutcracker, Southern Style

     *Sigh*,  It's hard when you realize you've been spoiled your whole life and never knew it. I think it's called growing up.  Whatever it is,  we saw Dothan's version of the Nutcracker today.  I purposely held my tongue and said only good things about it.  Then Ben said, "Mom, I liked the other Nutcracker better, the one where the lady in the big dress is funny when she dances, and the cool guys come out and dance to the fast music, and they have a mean bear."  I was floored.  Ben hasn't exactly been thrilled the last few times we've been and he vowed last year that he wouldn't go again, but this year it got him out of a day of school, so he couldn't refuse. 

      I must give Ballet West serious props for it's presentation of The Nutcracker, and also, a huge shout out to Ogden Symphony Ballet Association for bringing it to Weber State every year.  Their show certainly made an impression on Ben (he's gone every year since he was three) and I must say, I was left feeling a little let down when the Russian dancers  took the stage today and they were young girls...I knew it just wouldn't be the same.  I'm sure New York and Chicago have amazing productions compared to Ballet West, but it's what we were used to.  Dothan tried hard, but in the end Ben and I had our own expectations.  I'm pleased to say Alan LOVED it and kept asking when his Nutcracker would "grow big and dance", so maybe there's a tradition in the making after all, but I will always miss the dancing Bear.

Me and Alan with our Elf hats after the Nutcracker and some yummy Chic-fil-a.

Mall Santa

     Fearing the worst, we braved the Wiregrass Commons Mall during the holidays in order to see The Big Guy in Red.  We had nothing to fear.  No lines, they permitted self photos as long as you were outside their little white fence, and Santa was such a sweetie.  While Sadie tried to figure out just who this guy was, he talked with the boys for a long time and even remembered that Ben had already seen him and asked for nunchuk's. Thank you, Santa, and Merry Christmas!

"Uh-Oh"

"Uh-oh".  It's her new favorite word.  I heard her saying it over and over while I was vacuuming in the other room.  Good thing I already had the Dyson out.

A Christmas Nest

     I was bothered about our Christmas Tree.  Really bothered.  They import one kind of tree to lower Alabama.  It's called a Fraser Fir and it is bushy and stubby looking.  Not at all the tall, lean, elegant tree I'm used to, where you can see the lovely trunk and you can string lights on all the branches. They have to cart it all the way from North Carolina, you'd think they could bring other varieties.
     It may not seem important, we could always get a fake tree, but we have this thing we do where we cut the bottom of the tree off and make an ornament out of it, so it has to be the real deal.  Finally, on the fourth lot we found one that was ok.  It was different.  The man said he'd never seen a tree like it.  Apparently it was the only one on the truck.  It was priced to sell because it was a "mistake".
     Dean was getting it ready to go in the tree stand when he called us all outside to see what he'd found in the bottom branches of our tree....a nest, a Christmas nest.  It made the tree special and wonderful and warmed my heart.  It's usually Dean who struggles with the Holidays, but the Vitamin D has been good for him this year, and though I'm not officially a Grinch, I've been struggling without the snow and the traditions we left behind.  So, I'll step back and gain some perspective from this little treasure in our tree, and maybe my heart will grow a few more sizes this year.

The Sincerest Form of Flattery

   
 I'm a copy cat.  It's undeniable.  I don't have many original ideas, but I do like to be creative.  Thank goodness for Pinterest and AMAZINGLY creative friends who provide me with their ideas so I can harness my creativity.  One friend in particular has provided me with a steady flow of ideas and patterns and information for the last 7 years.
     It is she who came up with this adorable, simple, sweater pants idea.  They're from a thrifted cahsmere sweater, and in her words, "it makes you want to cuddle your little one more."  As I was looking at this picture I realized that everything, and I mean everything, from the amber teething necklace, to my love of Hannah Andersen, to the leather purple moccasins, and obviously to the sweater pants, has been a direct inspiration from her.  I call it inspiration, you might call it plagiarism, but it really is meant as a compliment.

 Best boots ever and a steal at $11, shipping included.  I cherish the early morning phone calls from my friend.  We get to chat, which I love, but it also usually means she's found a fantastic bargain!

Sadly, I left her behind in the move.  I miss her.  Thanks to technology her ideas and creativity are just a blog away.  Thank you for sharing, sweet friend! 

Thanksgiving Break Reflections

(Dean made the small book holder for our bench in the hall.  A-man can't get enough.)

      I was busy putting up the last of the Christmas decorations yesterday afternoon when I realized the house had become suspiciously quiet.  For those of you with young children still at home you know the feeling.  You frantically run around trying to account for everyone, (and the messes they've made/trouble they've gotten into.)  I'm happy to report that all were happy and healthy and not being naughty, mostly....

 A rare cat nap for Benjo

Guess who found the nativities?

Dean and Lil' Sis sneaking a peek at THE game.  

(For those of you who don't live in Southern Alabama the Iron Bowl means nothing, but when you actually live in SEC territory the annual match up between Alabama and Auburn is something you are literally forced to pay attention to.  It's like a religion here and you had better have a team and know what you are talking about if you have any hope of fitting in.  As a side note, I personally had no knowledge of what most of these words meant up until six months ago.)

     I just knew there was some trouble being made.  If I ever get this stocking made it will be a miracle. 

Three balls of yarn are just sooooo tempting when you're little.

Everyone needs a lazy day, I just wish they had all told me and I could have grabbed a nap too.

Squirrel Syndrome

 Have you seen the movie "Up"?  There's a scene where a talking dog is having a conversation with a little boy and mid-sentence he gets distracted and says, "squirrel!"  Dean has taken to referring to our distractions as "squirrel syndrome".  It's like the book, "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie." If you give a mouse a cookie, he'll probably want a glass of milk...etc, etc. One thing leads to another and the mouse keeps getting more and more distracted.  Well, that was us today.  Our Black Friday plan was to put out Christmas decorations.  In order to put out Christmas decorations one must take down Thanksgiving decorations.  Which included the plethora of pumpkins on the porch.  (one pumpkin is never enough) So, there we were, pumpkins a plenty, and the boys begging for roasted pumpkin seeds.  Silly me, I took ONE pumpkin into the kitchen and started to hollow it out.  Dean, seeing what I was up to said, "If we're going to do this, let's at least make it fun."  Out came the machete's and everyone took a swing.  Definitely more fun dad's way.

    Then,  while cleaning the seeds for roasting, we started dreaming up ideas for our Christmas lights. I started lamenting the GINORMOUS palm bush thingy that was planted directly in front of our front door.  I seriously expected this thing to scream "Feed me Seymour" every time I walked by.  I HATED it and knew even Christmas lights couldn't make it look good.  The next thing I knew I heard more "thwacking".  Dean was putting the machetes to good use again.

Before

After

      It's not what we set out to do today, but our squirrel syndrome really paid off.  (Except for the moment I ran out to help lift the deceptively HEAVY stump into the wheelbarrow and forgot about the oil heating up on the stove.  Thank goodness for fire alarms and Ben running out the front door screaming "the house is on fire", as he headed, past us, to our designated 'safe zone' across the street.)
True Story, this actually led to us to opening all the windows to air out the house only to realize the screens were up in the crawl space, so, of course, we left the stump where it was and started putting all the screens on.

     In the end, Thanksgiving decorations were boxed up, the pumpkin seeds were tasty, we now have screens on the windows, the palm bush thingy was sent to the curb, and four Christmas totes made it out of the attic. Not bad, not bad at...."SQUIRREL!"