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Black Friday 2011
This year in support of our 99%, we chose to boycott Black Friday sales (no, that did not prohibit us from looking at the ads for the deals). This was the first black Friday in years where we have not counted ourselves among the early risers hustling through the Targets and Toys R Us stores seeking the awesome door buster specials. No, on this day, we slept in until 7:00, had a lovely eggs benedict breakfast, leisurely got ready and headed to downtown Seattle to catch the parade.
Several years ago, in fact, when I was pregnant with Jude, we started our tradition of going to the parade. That first year we headed down with our friends Jeff and Michelle. We crowded into our car, found a spot on the end of the parade route, and our kids were perfectly happy to watch as the bright colors, balloons, floats and bands paraded by us. It was cold that year, but nobody complained. We wandered from Pike Place to the galleries on Capitol Hill. It was a pretty epic day! After that we decided to make it a yearly tradition. We no longer go with Jeff and Michelle as their parade route does not always allow for downtown, but the Littlejohns always make it streetside to catch a Frango or two.
In the past we’ve tried, with some success, to take our Christmas card picture while we were downtown. Ironically, our picture is all ready to go, printed and everything this year, but this year was our best picture taking year ever for the parade! Funny how that happens.
Ok. Weird, right? A band with a mascot of Abe Lincoln? Absolutely weird. AND it just so happens that Honest Abe can bust a funky move and is, hands-down, absolutely the most talented and funny school mascot I have ever seen. Yes, EVER. The end. I’m not saying I have standards for judging this type of thing, but if this were the awesomest mascot pageant, Abe would be walking away with the biggest crown, the two dozen roses and the scholarship money. No question.
The parade always culminates with our good pal, St. Nick. In the early days we would plant ourselves at the end of the parade route – seeing all the floats yet missing Santa as he exits the parade at Macy’s to take to his throne. A few years ago we ACTUALLY got a spot earlier in the parade route and caught a glimpse of the man in red. Gigi got excited. Like really really excited – a lot like Jude got excited on this day. And we felt like bad parents, that we had denied our daughter this rare opportunity to see Santa. Who does that?! Ever since then her request has been to please, ACTUALLY SEE SANTA. It is the Santa Claus Parade. One would think we would have realized this earlier on!
The last stop on our parade route is the Westlake Center hot dog in a park. This may not seem like a big deal to many people, but for vegetarians to find a place that actually serves vegetarian hot dogs is very rare. So when we find a place that serves our kind, we patronize the heck out of it! And you might be able to tell, yes I did enjoy my bratwurst with onion, cabbage,potatoes and sauerkraut on it very much. Thank you!
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Books
11.25.11 | Permalink | | Comments Off on BooksThis December we’ve decided to start a new tradition.  Last year I read about a family who ended each December day with a book and hot cocoa by candle light. This mom had taken the time to wrap 24 Christmas books and each night one of her children chose one from the collection. Together they would open the book and read it before heading off to bed connected and content.
Even though December isn’t on the calendar yet, we started to read by candle light soon after Daylight Savings. it is safe to say that our children have embraced this cozy and connecting tradition.
This weekend one of my tasks if to wrap our 24 books and place them under the Kidmas Tree. I look forward to a season of reading together by firelight, sipping our hot cocoa and loving one another’s company.
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Thanksgiving 2011
11.24.11 | Permalink | | Comments Off on Thanksgiving 2011It was quiet, peaceful, full of love, affection, laughter and fun. It was just the four of us, and it was lovely.
To-do List
Breakfast
Ads
Hot Tub
Gingerbread
Nap
Eat (Gigi created our tablescape)
Eat a second helping(I realize this was not on the list. in the interest of not humiliating the hubs, I left this photo out and he wanted it back in!)
Christmas Tree
Kidmas Tree
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Goodnight Snuggles
11.21.11 | Permalink | | Comments Off on Goodnight Snuggles
Tonight Jude did not want to go to bed. Â He stood at the bottom of his ladder balking. Â “I am not tired! Â I don’t WANT to go to bed!” I knew this statement to be untrue because a. He did not have a nap today and b. He had JUST told me, “Mama? Â I tired.” I offered to climb up into his top bunk to snuggle for a minute, and never have I seen his little legs move faster. Â He was at the top of the ladder lickety split and inviting me up before I knew it. Â I climbed up and lay down next to him, he reached out his chubby little hand, touching my hair. Â “I love you mama,” Jude was laying on his side, half asleep when he said this.
“I love you too, Jude.”
“No, I LOVE you, Mama,” he countered.
“Aww, Jude, I know. Â I love you too!” I answered.
“Cept, mama? Â I REALLY love YOU,” he sat up and said this while looking me right in the eye.
And then I knew what he really meant. Â I knew he meant that he loved me so much right then that he felt like his heart was going to burst. Â He loved me so much that it surprised him, that he felt there was no way that I could know the depth of his love, that the level of love he was capable of couldn’t be comprehended by me. Â He loved me so completely that he wanted to gaze at me, keep me in his thrall, he wanted to kiss me and compliment me.
“Thank you, Jude.” Â And I meant it. Â I couldn’t be more thankful for his love.
He followed it up with, “Cept you’re cute, too. Â And your a good one. Â Not a bad guy. Â Cept I love you with giraffes and sharks.”
I wasn’t exactly sure about how giraffes and sharks fit into our relationship, but I also noticed his eyes were half closed and droopy. Â His face was mashed into his blanket when he suddenly sat up and looked at me. Â “You stay, Mama?”. Never, in his whole life, has Jude chosen me for his comfort person. Â It has always been Bradley, so of course I couldn’t turn away this invitation.
“Yes, Jude, I’ll stay until you fall asleep.” He dozily looked at me and laid his head back down, a smile turning the corner of his mouth. Â He did that several times, assuring me each time that he “REALLY” loved me before he fell asleep: picking his head up to be sure I was still in his bed, a smile, a kiss, a compliment or expression of love and down his head would go again. Â Finally, his breath became measured and he was out.
I didn’t want to leave the embrace of my little baby boy and his baby boy breath, the beads of sweat on his little brow, sticky fingers working his blanket over. Â But there was a sweet little girl to see to, and I had to slip out of his little heaven and into hers.
