celebrations Family Time mostly photos Tiny & Buba: Christmas Day Christmas Eve
by reanbean
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The Christmas Report (2010)
This year was the first year that Tiny and Buba really started to get the idea of Christmas. They knew all about Santa watching them and how he would deliver presents: “If you’re good-yes! If you’re naughty- no!” It was so much fun to watch their excitement grow as we got closer and closer to the big day.
But then the Tuesday before Christmas, Buba got sick. By Thursday, Tiny was sick too. Then T became sick Friday morning, and spent the better part of Christmas Eve Day in bed. We had to cancel our plans to attend the family Christmas Eve service and dinner with the in-laws (an annual tradition), and instead had yet another “resting day” at home.
But it wasn’t a typical resting day where we read books and lounged about. The kids had a good number of gifts shipped from relatives in Iowa, and they spent the entire day opening and enjoying those gifts. (T and I knew there would be plenty more the following day from his family and agreed that this would help to space things out a tiny bit more.)
They opened their gifts slowly, trying on each piece of clothing (and bath towels too!) and taking time to play with each new toy…
It was just before dinner when the last presents were opened…
And in spite of not feeling 100%, it was still a pretty great day.
By Christmas morning, everyone was feeling pretty well again. Buba and Tiny opened the two gifts from Mommy and Daddy…
And then dug into their stockings to see what Santa had brought them…
We spent the rest of the morning at Grammy and Grandpa’s house, opening another set of stockings and presents from Santa and playing with the California cousins. We returned home for nap time (just a 10 minute drive) to be sure the kids would have a good nap (and continue to recover from their latest illnesses), but went back again in the late afternoon to open even more presents (from the grandparents, aunt, uncle, and cousins) before having a delicious roast beef dinner that both Buba and Tiny devoured.
It was truly a magical Christmas for Tiny and Buba. And one that I hope to remember for a long, long time.
celebrations Conversations Tiny & Buba: baking with toddlers Christmas cookies
by reanbean
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Christmas Cookies
Earlier this month, I mentioned that I wanted to try having Buba and Tiny help me with some holiday baking. We made our first attempt about a week ago, but I never mentioned it here, because, well, it didn’t very well at all. While they were good at dumping the pre-measured ingredients into the big mixing bowl and assisting me with the electric mixer, my visions of having them help any further were just disastrous.
But, on Thursday, I decided that we would try again with this very simple butter cookie recipe. Tiny and Buba helped a bit in preparing the dough, but the part they enjoyed the most was when the time came to smush the balls of dough with the bottom of a glass (we did not have a cookie stamp). Oh, and tasting time too. They probably enjoyed that part even more.
We decided to add a little Christmas touch to ours and made some with red and green sugar crystals mixed in with the plain white sugar.
While I planned to have some for us to enjoy as well, the bulk of these cookies were to go to our neighbors. This was not easy for Tiny to understand:
Tiny: Can I have sprinkle cookies?
Me: You can have one.
Tiny: I want to eat them all up.
Me: Well, they’re supposed to be for our friends.
Tiny (with a cheeky little grin): No, they’re supposed to be for me.
Still, both Buba and Tiny were extremely excited to each choose one cookie to leave by our tree for Santa. And I had no trouble making those cookies disappear before morning. Those things are tasty!
Holdiay Card Outtakes
Last year, creating our holiday card was easy. We got some amazingly cute photos taken at Sears, bought a portrait package that included the photos on a CD, and our card was created by simply uploading a cute photo into a snazzy red and green Shutterfly design. I assumed it would go the same this year. But you know what happens when you assume things.
To make a long story short, our holiday photo shoot at Sears went horribly. Tiny and Buba were between viruses, and were in good spirits, but the photographer wasn’t great. She didn’t interact with them in a way that got anything more than cheesy grins, so we weren’t getting any authentic smiles or giggles. When I tried to help out and got down on the floor to make them giggle, she complained that they weren’t looking at the camera. After the shoot, we waited for over 30 minutes to see our pictures, and the place wasn’t busy (we had the first appointment of the day). I’m pretty sure she was trying to see if she could some how doctor up the photos to make them look like something worth paying for, but really, it was just a complete bust.
So, I had to take matters into my own hands. I found a white artificial Christmas tree in the appliance section of Sears, and did my best to get just one cute picture of Tiny and Buba. Easier said than done…
It was beyond hard trying to get them to both look at me and smile and equally challenging to get a shot where you couldn’t see merchandise in the background.
I had promised Buba and Tiny that we would go see the crocodile outside the Rainforest Cafe if they cooperated with my impromptu photo shoot, and even though my shoot seemed not any better than the professional one, I kept my promise. I even tried to get a couple of shots in while they were being all spontaneously cutesy watching the crocodile. But I didn’t come up with anything better…
I’d have used the last two in a heartbeat if they weren’t so blurry (most likely due to the low lighting and my unprofessional photography abilities).
But never fear, more photos were taken and there will be a holiday card after all! It may be close getting them out on time, as they were just ordered and my not arrive here until the 17th, but it’s a darn cute card if I do say so myself. Of course, you’ll have to wait to see the winning photos. Can’t spoil the surprise!
Fire Station Birthday Party
This morning, we attended a 5th birthday party for our friend and neighbor, J. J was just about Tiny and Buba’s age when T and I brought them home from the hospital. At that point, it was hard to see that they might all turn out to be playmates someday, but over the summer their friendship really blossomed. Tiny and Buba both seem to love having an older companion, someone who knows how to play with them, not just near them, and J is usually pretty good at playing on their level. They were all very excited that we would be able to attend J’s party.
As luck would have it, J’s father was chosen in a drawing back in September to have a birthday party at our town’s fire station. I had no idea what to expect, but the entire event was very well planned, keeping the kids engaged and entertained for the entire two hours. It started off with a tour of three vehicles- an ambulance, a hook and ladder truck, and a fire engine. All the kids (maybe 20 or so) got to take turns climbing up inside the vehicles while the fire fighters gave bits of information about the use for all the gear inside. Then we settled down for a delicious pizza lunch before returning for a group shot in front of all the vehicles. Next up was pinata time. Everyone got to take a few swings at the fire engine pinata before one of the men just ripped it apart and sent all the kids diving for the candy inside. Then we returned to the tables to sing Happy Birthday and enjoy cake and ice cream. Once Buba and Tiny had finished, it was time for us to leave. There was still about 20 minutes left of the party (during which the fire fighters demonstrated how they put on all the fire gear they wear), but I wanted to get our guys home in time for their nap.
Everything seemed to be going fine as far as our nap routine goes, but then Buba and Tiny started behaving poorly during book time, and T and I chose to cut that portion short. They were not happy. They protested, but we were sure they’d go down. With all the fun they’d had, they were bound to be exhausted. But 90 minutes later, with neither of them having napped much (if even at all), I declared that nap time was over. I entered the room to find Buba bopping around his crib with no clothing from the waist down. He had removed his sleep sack, his pants, and his diaper. I’m guessing the look on my face was not a pleasant one, but he just smiled at me and said, “I need to go potty.”
Tiny and Buba tend to be pretty good nappers, so I’m going to blame today’s nap failure on the excitement of the fire station birthday party. Perhaps there was something in the frosting…
Trick-or-Treat!
We had a wonderful week of Halloween. Tiny and Buba attended two Halloween parties and went trick-or-treating twice! We considered it a practice round as they went trick-or-treating at local businesses in a neighboring town on Thursday, and then we had the real deal last night. They were so excited and had so much fun!
celebrations Family Time mostly photos Tiny & Buba: Halloween jack-o'-lanterns pumpkin carving
by reanbean
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Pumpkin Project
Today, we finally got around to carving our pumpkins. And by we, I mean me (of course!). I guess I’d forgotten what I big project carving pumpkins can be. All the scooping and scraping and drawing and carving. It probably took me close to an hour and a half to carve two rather smallish pumpkins.
I tried to involve the kids as much as I could, and was pleasantly surprised by how interested and willing to participate they were. I took tips from Quadmama (here) and Sadia (here) and worked with both Tiny and Buba to draw up a plan for their pumpkins. They both had a choice of shapes for the eyes and nose (circle, triangle, square, rhombus, star) and each got to determine the number of teeth in their jack-o’-lantern’s smile.
Scooping out the pumpkin guts was actually pretty challenging. I should have cut the top holes larger, but once they were done, it didn’t seem there was any way I could fix that problem. Fortunately, both Buba and Tiny were happy to turn that job over to me and had a lot of fun playing with the seeds and goop while I labored away. The carving wasn’t too difficult, though I did have some trouble with the star nose on Buba’s pumpkin. Still, I think they turned out very nicely. Tiny and Buba were both quite pleased with their glowing jack-o’-lanterns, and for me, that’s all that really matters.
Buba’s pumpkin (left), Tiny’s pumpkin (right)
Can You Keep a Secret?
Tomorrow is T’s birthday. His 40th. I wanted to do something special to celebrate. Something more than just dinner at a restaurant. But T was not up for anything exciting. Given that his birthday always falls right at the beginning of a new school year, he likes to keep things low-key. He’d much rather relax at home. Fine.
But since T was not going to go along with my ideas of a somewhat larger birthday celebration, I decided that yes, there will be presents this birthday. For the last few years, T and I have skipped presents for each other on birthdays and holidays. Money has been tight, and honestly, there usually isn’t much that we want or need. That is still the case this time around, however, I decided that a few simple gifts couldn’t hurt.
But what to buy for a guy who really doesn’t have many wants or needs? I asked Tiny and Buba what they wanted to get Daddy for his birthday, and they both shouted, “Meatballs!”- their response to almost every question these days (and not as funny as it was the first time). However, they did approve of a Sesame Street t-shirt that they saw in the Men’s department at Kohl’s, and I’m sure T will find it funny and will enjoy wearing in on weekends. Next, we picked up a new pair of shorts pajamas since T’s were completely worn out this summer (holes all over the place, and yet he still continues to wear them). I think he’ll like the style and with it being the end of summer, we got a very nice discount.
My final idea was to get a photo take nof me with the kids to frame for his desk at work. He’s always saying that he needs a photo at school to share with his students and colleagues when they ask about his family, so off to Sears we went. Tiny and Buba were so well behaved and cooperative (it was almost scary), and the photographer did a fantastic job. I’d still love to hire a professional photographer someday to do both portrait and candid photos of our family. But, for now, this will do.
Now, I just have to hope that Tiny and Buba can keep all these secrets to themselves until tomorrow. I tried explaining to them what it means to keep a secret and how surprised and happy Daddy will be when he sees everything we’ve done to wish him a happy birthday. So, all morning they were telling everyone we saw while we were out and about, “It’s a secret! Don’t tell Daddy!”
4th of July Fun
This was Tiny and Buba’s third 4th of July, but really it’s the first one where we attempted to participate in any associated activities.
Their first 4th
Their second 4th
The first year, they were just shy of 4 month old, and I cannot even begin to tell you how we spent that day. The second year, we were visiting my family in Iowa. I remember that there was a big cookout, but I don’t believe we took them to any parades or festivals.
So this year, it was quite a change. We started out by heading over to a small carnival in a neighboring town on the 3rd.
an attempt to get a shot of the two with their first carnival prizes
playing the “pick a ducky” game
having fun in the bouncy house
riding their first carousel ponies
When asked about their favorite part, Buba said his favorite part was all of it, while Tiny’s favorite part was “eatin da fried dough.” If I hadn’t been so busy chowing down on some fried dough myself, I’d have gotten a picture of that too. 
The next day we headed over to Grammy and Grandpa’s house. We went down to the town center to see the kids’ bike parade and then had a picnic in the park. After a nap, Buba and Tiny wanted to brave the heat and play outside for a while.
sprinkler fun
riding around the cul-de-sac
nature hike
With a 7:15pm bedtime, there were no fireworks to be seen this year, but perhaps in another few years I’ll brave the traffic and crowds and take Buba and Tiny to see the display on the esplanade.