Merry Christmas, Vietnam!

Christmas 2010

Life has been a bit of a blur around here lately, and for us Christmas 2010 (observed) is almost over. We'll be heading to Vietnam and Cambodia in a couple of days, and since we'll be traveling over Christmas and New Years, we had Santa come a bit early this year. Leading up to the big day, we continued on with a few of our young traditions and added a couple more. This is what we've been up to:

Putting up the tree...

Stocking the Christmas trunk with books...

Role-playing...

Counting down on Eric Carle's Dream Snow advent calendar...

Reading (mumbling? singing?) a couple of Christmas stories - The Gingerbread Baby by Jan Brett and Dream Snow by Eric Carle - to Granny and Tom via Skype...

Hosting another Cookies & Cocktails evening...

Continuing with our Christmas Countdown Calendar...

Making edible Christmas wreaths (think Rice Krispie treats with green food coloring and some red hots)...

Adapted from a recipe in Susan Branch's book Christmas Joy...

Delivering holiday treats to school...

Following Mickey's lead...

And having a Christmas camp-out of our own under the tree...

Opening a couple of pre-Christmas gifts (needed items for the camp-out: new pj's for D and an old-fashioned lantern for me)...

Waking up on Christmas Eve morning with nothing better to do than eat Christmas cookies and watch Christmas videos in bed...

Helping Santa deliver the gifts...

Opening stockings (still unfinished due to sewing machine malfunctions - grrr) and gifts on Christmas morning...

Working on a new Christmas puzzle together (Christmas just wouldn't be Christmas without a new puzzle)...

And fixing our duvet with a (toy) power saw. As you do.

Several times today, Denis would hug us spontaneously and say one of two things, (a) "We sure are having a good time today. Aren't we, Mama and Papa?" or (b) "When is it going to be real Christmas? You know, with snow?" (We were in North America last Christmas with lots of snow.) As I was tucking him in tonight, he gave me one last hug and said, "We really had a nice Christmas today, didn't we?" In the end, I guess it didn't matter that it didn't snow today. It was a nice Christmas. A real Christmas!

40

So I turned 40 the other day. And it wasn't so bad. Who can complain about a day that starts with a friend delivering a "40 Sucks" birthday cake (40 cake balls that look like lollipops, hence the 40 sucks - get it?) just in time for your morning coffee? Thanks, Julie!

...or about a day that continues with a lovely gift from your husband that has not only pictures of your two very favorite boys inside, but also the words to your very favorite Fleetwood Mac song (and wedding song) engraved inside? Who knew he was so romantic?!

...or about a day that ends with a Kobe beef dinner, during which your friends humiliate themselves by singing Celia-esque song lyrics to you in front of perfect strangers and restaurant staff before you even get to the karaoke place? (Sorry, I've sworn to never post photos or footage of this part of the evening!)

So, 40 isn't so bad. Thanks for all the good wishes, everyone!

Shichi-Go-San

This past weekend Denis participated in a Shichi-Go-San ceremony at the Ikuta Shrine in Sannomiya. This is a special festival for kids who are 7, 5, and 3 years old, and is a rite of passage of sorts. Odd numbers are thought to be lucky in Japan, and it certainly felt like a lucky day. The weather was perfect, Denis was oh-so-handsome in his kimono, and the day was genki!

For Your Viewing Pleasure

I don't really know what to say about this one...! Is it his outfit or his dancing that I'm still laughing at?!

Christmas Stockings

Here are three of the Christmas stockings I've been working on over the last couple of weeks. I have a few more I want to make (still need one for Jon and a couple extras for Christmas guests), and I need to put the cuffs on these three. I'm quite pleased with how much I've gotten done and how they're turning out.

Here's the typical Christmas side of two kids' stockings (Denis gets to choose which one he wants and Kid Two will get the other someday!) and my gingerbread stocking:

Flip these over, and here's the Christmas-at-the-beach side of the stockings:

Denis says he wants the monkey stocking. We'll see if he changes his mind come Christmas time.

Happy Halloween!

We celebrated Halloween today by carving our pumpkin and going to a party this evening. Denis was Thomas the Tank this year (thanks, Granny!) and was much more excited about Halloween than he was last year. He loved the trick-or-treating, the Garfield Halloween movie, and most of the costumes of the other kids - except for the one that brought him to tears. Poor D!

All in all, it was a happy Halloween. But Denis definitely needed extra hugs and a prolonged tuck-in at bedtime tonight. I can see how a three-year-old would find this night a bit frightening. Here's hoping for a restful sleep!

Here are some shots of Halloween 2010.

Denis has changed so much in the last twelve months. Take a look at Halloween 2009 here. Sorry, no cute little video this year!