‘Twas the Week Before Christmas

Yes, I’ve been missing for a LONG time.   Needless to say, I’ve resurfaced for a day to give you a throw back Christmas post from long ago in THD history.

Where have we been?  Well, we’ve been busy… you know, the kind of busy that can only come from a tornado of a 4 year old.   It’s a good busy.  And a tear out my hair, barely know my name, busy.  But all-in good.   Maybe someday, I’ll find time to get back into blogging – MY OH MY, DO I MISS IT!

If you’ve missed me…. let me know.   It would be awesome to hear from you – IS ANYONE IS STILL OUT THERE READING!?   PLEASE SHOW YOURSELF and let me know if you’ll still be here when I find time to write again!

Anywhoooo… in the spirit of the holiday.  Please ENJOY this throw back!

 

 

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Christmas Magic?

It’s been a whirlwind couple of months at the THD household.

 

We kicked off November with ear tube surgery for mini hubby.    This was necessitated by about 14 million ear infections since we started day care (ok, maybe not 14 million – he was after all, only a year old.  But, let’s just say one little munchkin shouldn’t have been on as many consecutive doses of antibiotics as our little guy was).  About 2 weeks after surgery, mini hubby was toddling along, and as new walkers tend to do… he toppled right over……… fracturing his little mini wrist.  Have you ever seen an x ray of a of a tiny little hand.  It’s like a freaky, mysterious picture with tiny floating little bones…. It’s just NUTS!

None of this stopped him.  He still laughed, and giggled and toddled around the house like he was a skilled tight rope walker (minus the tiny balancing line and plus a whole new dimension to balancing with his itty bitty little cast).     Hubby could learn a lot from the little guy.  He’s tough as nails and none of this phased him.  No awfulizing.  No grumbling.  No complaining.

 

Then Thanksgiving week came and mini hubby brought home the plague from day care…. And, it wiped out the entire family.   I think it was Rotavirus. And, if you’ve never experienced lovely ailment… I’ll say a little prayer that you never do.   Hubby and I spent all night with dueling bathrooms as we raced past each other to vomit and twist ourselves into a pretzel as we agonized with the worst abdominal pain ever.  A few days earlier,  mini hubby had vomited a bit, cried a bit and then toddled around the house throwing blocks and racing cars.  Man, he’s a trooper… and he recovered quite nicely as his dad and I prayed for death for a full 24 hours as we dealt with this doozy of an illness.

 

You may recall how hubby deals with sickness (if you forgot you can get a refresher HERE).  For me, it was simply wonderful.  There’s just nothing better than throwing up all night and then getting out of bed the next day to care for your toddler and your sick husband…. All the while, wondering how you could possibly vomit more when you haven’t eaten anything for hours upon hours.  This lovely day ended with a trip to the ER to treat hubby for dehydration.  Yes folks, it’s been a fun holiday season.

 

So we are definitely in need of some Christmas magic… BUT, we are getting there….. S L O W L Y……

• The Christmas army has taken their positions on the front line
• The Santa pig stands proudly in his place of honor (smack in the middle of our family room)
• The Christmas tree glows brightly with it’s colored lights (yes… I’ve given in and let hubby have colored lights on the tree again this year!!)

I have revived the Hubby Diaries version of “A Very Married Christmas”… if you’ve missed it (or would just a reminder chuckle – click HERE or on the image below!)

 

Now if only the Christmas magic would wrap my presents AND bake my cookies AND clean my house AND finish my laundry AND.. AND… AND……

 

HAPPY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!   Hope your holiday season has been less dramatic and more pleasant than ours so far……………………………….

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Have A Wonderful Holiday!

It’s been a whirlwind year here at the THD household….. and it’s been a crazy year outside of our home, with disasters and devastating events around the world.  At this time during the holiday season, tell your family how much you love them, hold your little ones tight and smother them with kisses and be thankful for everything you have.

From our family to yours… Have a VERY Happy Holiday!

 

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It’s Going To Be A Colorful Christmas!

Some of you who have been reading for a while may remember that we have some traditions at our home for the Christmas holiday.

 

There have been a number of stories I’ve shared with you; from posts about light up holiday pigs, to hubby’s Santa wish lists, to the army of nutcrackers that station themselves in our dining room each Christmas.  These stories have taken us on the perfect Christmas tree shopping excursion and to the inner workings of my mind (scary I know!) via my rendition of ‘Twas The Night Before Christmas.

 

You may recall last year (like every year according to hubby) when I ruined Christmas.  This of course is hubby’s overly dramatic representation of my desire to add bows to our Christmas tree.  If you remember THIS POST, then you may also recall that I prefer white lights on our Christmas tree.  And after 10 years together, I have won this battle every single year (a small victory given how many battles I seem to lose).  Well, last year I went out after Christmas and stumbled upon an amazing sale on colored LED lights.   And, after much consideration and pondering, and agonizing, I decided to buy enough to decorate the tree with them.   I figured this would be a nice surprise for hubby IF he was a good boy all year (no small feat) and, if you are starting to know hubby, you realize it would take a LOT!  So, fast forward to now.  We have had a whirlwind year.  We found out we were pregnant (notice there’s that word “we” again… when we all know it was ME who was pregnant).  Our little one arrived very early (NOTHING… and I do mean NOTHING was ready for his arrival).   And, since he’s been a part of our lives we’ve had multiple trips back to the hospital, more tears than I can begin to recount and more worries than anyone should have when celebrating the birth of a precious young boy.   But, this post is not meant to be a downer…. It’s just to illustrate that it’s truly been a tough year despite all the joys and excitement of expanding our family.

 

Soooooo, the holidays are upon us and we take the gazillion tubs of Christmas out of the attic.  We then begin to discuss how the heck we are going to decorate amidst the baby swing, pack n play, bouncy seat, etc.. etc..  It’s a daunting task but we are up to it and we are trying desperately to cling to some normalcy to try to move past the difficulties we’ve had the last 3 months.  As we sort through the outdoor lights, hubby gets a glimmer in his eye… as he realizes there are enough colored  lights to put on our indoor tree.  He begins to plan his attack.

 

He pulls out a piece of paper.  He counts light strands.  He makes notes.  He recounts.  He write down more info.  He looks outside.  He looks at his piece of paper.  Then with all his homework done, he approaches me with a suggestion.

 

“You know,”  he says “those 2 trees outside have grown a lot since last year”  dramatic pause.   “So, if my math is right we’ll need 1000 lights on each one rather than the 700 we used last year”.

 

I’m silent…… quietly waiting to see where he’s going with this…….

 

“So, I think we’ll really need to use extra white LED lights, you know, the ones we used inside last year, in order to properly decorate outside”

 

I’m still silent.

 

“Look at my paper here.   We’ll need 1000 for this tree, 800 for this tree, probably 700 for these bushes.  Here’s how many we have (he shows me another column).  So, you can see that we don’t have enough white lights to do all the things we normally do outside… UNLESS we also use the lights we normally put on the indoor tree.”

 

And there it is…. His ploy to angle for an indoor Christmas tree with colored lights…. But he hasn’t said it yet.   He’s smart enough to try to let me get there on my own.

 

Ok, I’ll bite… so I reply “if we used the colored lights on the indoor tree, we’d have enough white lights for outside…. right?”  I can see the glimmer of  hope in his eyes…..   “Ok” I quietly reply.

 

Now I can see it slowly registering in his mind…. Did she just say yes?  Could this possibly be the year I get my wish of a colored tree?  Did I hear her correctly? I’m scared to open my mouth…. What if I say the wrong thing and she changes her mind???

 

Without hearing a response from him, I say…. “YES, you heard me correctly.  You can have your colored tree.  Just don’t expect this to be permanent, I’m just feeling mighty generous this year!”

 

Then, being the smart man he is… he feels the need to plant the seed, to build his case for future years.  He says “What if our little one prefers colored lights too??”   And, since I’m not about to squash all his future dreams I reply “Let’s wait until he can speak so he can let me know himself…. And no trying to sway him to your side!”

 

So there you have it folks… we are having a Christmas tree with colored lights this year…. Hubby won this round…… HOWEVER, we will STILL have bows on the tree.   Do ya think I’ll still be “ruining Christmas”???

 

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The “Magic” Of Decorating?

Before I wrap up posts about Christmas, I have one more story about another of hubby’s “behaviors”, that I’d like to share with you.

 

As you know, Hubby loves his Christmas tree.  He can shop a full day to find the perfect tree, he can pout for days about the perfect lights AND… he can spend hours getting the ornaments just right in the proper place on the decorated tree (even if he did get fired from decorating this year).

 

It’s this last part that I wanted to discuss today… the decorating of the tree.  (I meant to get this posted before the holiday so it was more timely but I just couldn’t fit it in…..)

 

Here’s a little known fact – hubby is a bit quirky, or maybe a little OCD, or perhaps just a bit anal….. ok, this isn’t a little known fact at all.  I have blogged about it more times that I can count but let’s just pretend, in the honor of New Year’s Resolutions, that this is the first time I’m telling you about this.

 

Hubby likes many things to be just a certain way  and if you use the wrong bowl, gouge the cheese or add unnecessary toppings, you could potentially throw the entire universe out of whack.  Knowing this, there are many elements of holiday decorating that I just don’t touch.  One element, as I mentioned before the holiday, is his Army of Nutcrackers.  The other is a select assortment of Christmas ornaments.  “Hubby’s ornaments”. Ornaments that require:   Special Attention.  Special Placement.  Special Stories.

 

Yes… I said stories.

 

The most important ornament is hubby’s “explorer” elf.  This elf is so important that he was actually kidnapped and held for ransom many years ago.  I kid you not.  Ok, bear with me, I’m about to go off on a tangent.

 
This particular ornament is an ornament from hubby’s childhood.  Like many great parents sending their young’ uns into the world, hubby’s mom packed up a few special ornaments for her son when he ventured off into the world of marriage… this ornament was one of the lucky few to come with us to our new home.   When hubby’s brother realized the horrific act their mother had perpetrated, of gifting this precious ornament to us, he decided to take action.  So, he broke into our house, stole the elf off our first Christmas tree, wrote a ransom note and texted us images of the elf, bound & gagged…. with ridiculous demands for his return.  I only wish I had known I’d be blogging some 8 years later and I would have saved these images… because they are truly priceless.  But alas, I do not have the power to see the future and these pictures & ransom note are long gone.    I have mentioned in the past that my life is filled with laughter and ridiculous behavior when hubby & his brother get together and this is but just a glimpse of why…………

 

Anywho… we did eventually recover the elf and Christmas magic was returned to our home.

 

So, back to the my present day elf story.

 

Each year Hubby likes to create a “scene” within our Christmas tree that reflects a story he’s created for this pioneering elf.  I will do my best to convey this “story” to you.

 

You see, this elf likes to live in a “Christmas cave” within our tree.  He is gingerly situated inside the branches and is surrounded by the itty-bittiest ornaments whose placement is agonized over by hubby to create the perfect scene each year.  The elf holds a single light to illuminate his cave and he sports a nifty backpack for exploration of his surroundings as he discovers the magic of  miniature holiday items throughout his “cave”.

I’m sure I’ve done a disservice to this story… as hubby does it much better and has a certain twinkle in his eye and he describes his elf and the magical nook in our tree.

 

After his little cave is created, hubby likes to step back and admire his work and he likes to talk about the miniature little scene.  On more occasions than I can count, I’ve found hubby all by himself, standing in front of the tree with a tiny smile looking through a “window” in the branches to check on his magical elf.  I can only imagine what’s going through his mind as he thinks about this mini elf cave.   I wonder if he’s thinking about how much better the cave would be with surround sound, or perhaps a mini flat screen tv…. or maybe, just maybe,  he’s wondering how we can find mini soda cans to try to bring the “magic” of his own Man Cave into our Christmas tree.  

 

I suppose the one good thing here is that, while hubby can enjoy this mini elf “cave” just as much as his actual Man Cave…… this one doesn’t require any cleaning.  And that my dear friends is what makes this cave magical for me too.  Well that, and the fact that it’s the ONE TIME a year that hubby actually participates in any sort of home decorating!  Now, if I could only figure out a way to make choosing curtains more “magical”??!!

 

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Happy Holidays!

From our family to yours….. please have a very safe & happy holiday!

And… I hope you get everything you’ve wished for.   I, on the other hand, am probably not getting a live in maid and a bag of puppies but I’m holding onto hope until tomorrow!

 

 

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