Movie Time!

Today we took Jack to see a movie in the theater for the first time. (My first choice for the day was to go snow tubing, but since I'm pregnant and Jay messed up his back over the weekend, throwing ourselves down an ice-covered hill didn't seem like such a wise idea.) We finished reading The Tale of Despereaux last week, and as soon as we closed the book, Jack said, "Now we can go see the movie!" I had heard from several people that they thought the movie was extremely dark, but I didn't think so--especially compared to the book.

Outside the theater

Jack chose a big bag of M&MS from the concession stand.

The movie was quite a bit different from the book, but it was still enjoyable. After hearing some of her comments about the movie version of Because of Winn Dixie, I am curious to know what Kate DiCamillo thinks of this adaptation. You know, because I'm a nerd like that. Anyway, Jack had a good time and thinks we should go back again!

Shu Flots

Today was flu shot (or as Jack called them in a state of panic, shu flots) day. It will probably come as no surprise to many of you, but I am pretty pro-vaccination. For some reason, though, I have the hardest time actually following through on flu shots. In fact, when I got our records today, I saw that the last time I had one was 2003 (when I was pregnant), and Jack only got one his first winter. Oops. I will try to remember to get us all in when next year rolls around. Really.

Jack was determined to go first--he told me that the scaredest one always goes first--and he cried a little, but did pretty well. Jay's former tech was the one giving the shots, so she let him pick out an extra sticker. After my shot, he chose a sticker for me, too. The torture of the whole experience subsided when we went to Target afterward and Jack got to spend some of his money on another Planet Hero. Yippee!

May you all have a happy, healthy flu season!

Random December Pictures

Since I wasn't able to get pictures on my blog for a while, here are a few random pics from December!

Jay with his bacon cookies--they really weren't too bad!

Cookies for the Christmas party (rotated for some unknown reason)

The big mammoth modeling his Santa hat

Playing with gingerbread playdoh

I *think* I have beaten the pregnancy fatigue and wretched cold that have haunted me for the last couple of months, so I am hoping to be blogging more consistently in the new year!

Christmas Pictures

We left town Wednesday to begin the Christmas festivities at home. Every other time of the year I always have my camera nearby and am taking lots of pictures, but for some reason I never seem to have very many of Christmas. Here are a few I did get!

Every Christmas Eve we go over to Jay's former neighbors' house for a Christmas Eve party. This is the one picture I took there--Jay and Jack with Linda (and of course, the dog, Rufus).

After the party, we headed over to Jay's parents' house to spend the night and open presents in the morning. Jack had some company while he waited for the presents to be passed out.

These are the cutest pajamas that Jack got from his Nana and Papa. You can see them (and more like them) here.

Around lunch time we went to my parents' house to celebrate there.

Jack and his cousins.

Everyone trying to ride on Grandpa's feet.

What there are no pictures of:

• Christmas night all of my aunts and uncles and cousins came over and we all had dinner together.
• Jay met with a builder and saw some plans for our house.
• We got together with some old (only in terms of the time we've known them, not in age) friends from high school (and before).
• Jack spent the night at a hotel with my parents and his cousins.
• Jay and I looked all over the house for at least twenty minutes trying to find Boris. We eventually found him curled up in some blankets in the back bedroom. He really hates leaving Grandma and Grandpa's house.
  

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

"For every year the Christmas tree,
Brings to us all both joy and glee.
O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree,
Much pleasure doth thou bring me!"

The Real Christmas Dinner

A while ago there was some discussion on a message board I visit about people being "real" on their blogs. I will be the first to tell you that I am not the world's best housekeeper, and I will crop junk out of a picture when I can. But in the interest of being real, here is what our Christmas dinner table looked like yesterday. Let me take you on a little tour...

Starting at the top of the table, you'll see the rolls. They are perched (kind of crookedly) on top of a pile of drawing paper. Doesn't the colorful bucket of markers next to the rolls add a certain je ne sais quois to the set up? And don't forget the matching crayon bucket, too. It looks like R2-D2 and Luke Skywalker are hiding out there next to the Cherry Eggnog Tea Bread--the end of which is cut off, because when I baked it the day before, I couldn't resist trying some.

Moving down the table (don't overlook the assorted plastic placemats!), we had scalloped potatoes and ham. There was also some broccoli, but it wouldn't fit on the table with all of the other fun decorations. At the bottom of the table on the left hand side, you'll see the box of Christmas cards. Yes, I still have a few to mail.

Just above the cards, you will find the butter dish, atop some magazines and Jay's recall roster. Rounding out the ensemble is the laptop, where Jay was hard at work all weekend, finishing up his CME for the year. And of course, don't forget the lovely expressions on the boys' faces. You can tell how impressed they are about all of the preparations.

So there you have it: my holiday preparation deficiencies exposed. In my defense, I did dig out some snowman placemats, but then I realized that I would need to get out the white dishes, and those are in the garage, and it was about 15 degrees. I almost went out and got them, but in the end I came to my senses and threw lunch on the table and called it good. I am just thankful that Jack ate his ham without too much fuss and that we aren't spending this Christmas season getting ready to send Jay off to another country. And there's always next year for the table to look better!

Christmas!

Pictures are back! I *think* I have figured out how to work with pictures on our new computer set-up. For some reason, though, I have forgotten how to work with them on Blogger, so for a while they may be oddly placed.

Each year we have our own little Christmas here at our house on the day closest to Christmas when Jay doesn't have to work. That means that this year, Jack got to have Christmas four days early. Poor kid. It just killed him to have to go ahead and open his presents.

The top picture is Jack on "Christmas Eve." He was extremely excited about Santa coming and told me he thought he might not be able to sleep. He asked for some Star Wars figures, a gun (that shoots puffy balls), and Planet Heroes. It seems the days of the yellow pencil are gone.

Jack was extremely excited to get the original Pluto.

He also got a Scooby Doo game and some Legos, but they weren't nearly as exciting.

There were also some presents under the tree for me and Jay. I got Jay a Star Trek shirt and the new Dido CD; Jack got him a set of mechanical pencils. For me, Jay got season two of Magnum PI and season three of Perry Mason. Jay and Jack went together and got me a gift certificate for a massage, or as Jack calls it, special pettings. I have been dying to lie on my stomach, so I was excited to get this!

Now we have just a few days to recuperate and then we're on to Christmas with our families!