Christmas break!

Aiden had his Christmas Program this morning at preschool. He did so great:) He was so cute and really proud of himself, and he really tried hard to sing all of the songs and do all of the actions. We were proud parents!

Chuck did take a lot of video of the program, but I need to get it uploaded and edited. Here are some pictures I took of the kids before we left for school. No bribing even--can you believe it? They were so excited to wear their new Christmas clothes, lol.

No school for 2.5 weeks--I'm glad we have the Y to occupy us and I am really looking forward to Chuck's birthday this weekend, and then Christmas, and then Chuck is taking a week off work and of course then my little Avie turns 3 on New Year's Eve! Exciting December for the Bailey household!

Once upon a winter...

My last post was all rainbows and smiles and sugar plums. Consider this a fair warning: this will not be one of those posts.

We only lived in GA for 4.5 years. Which means I've lived through 24 winters before we moved, yet somehow I completely forgot about what comes after that first snow. This picture above isn't really from Painesville, it's just symbolic of what all the parking lots look like right now. Aiden can't get over it, he keeps asking me why everything is so dirty and slushy and muddy and gross, lol.

I had also completely forgotten about the salt. Oh the salt. The never-ending salty residue that now lives on every pair of pants I own and is eating away at my new faux-suede boots (in retrospect, a terrible buy). I feel like I can almost taste it in the air, and it's dirty and gritty and just...not my favorite part of winter, lol.

Aiden told me today, when it was particularly windy and particularly cold, "Mom, this winter business is rough!" Somehow, I had blocked it out of my mind. I was glorifying the prettiness of the snow and the fun of winter sports and completely blocked out scraping my windshield and having dirty, salty clothes all winter and forgoing any sense of style in order to just plain stay warm.

But still, I think we do get our reward here. Midwestern summers are something of dreams, where the sun sinks low in the comfortable air with the fireflies darting all around. That is something that I couldn't get over missing when we lived in the south. And while right now I might not be loving winter, it sure does make it feel like Christmas. :)

Do you believe in magic?

Our hearts grow tender with childhood memories and love of kindred, and we are better throughout the year for having, in spirit, become a child again at Christmas-time.
~Laura Ingalls Wilder

There is something so utterly magical about getting to experience Christmas once you have children of your own. It brings back all of your own happy childhood Christmas memories, but in a whole new light. I see the way my kids eyes light up instantly when they talk about Santa, when they prance around our lit-up Christmas tree, when we make a Christmas craft or read a Christmas book. I can feel the magic there--I can remember believing in something that didn't make any sense just because believing was the best feeling in the whole world.

Most people don't know this, but I believed in Santa for a long time. Far, far longer than I should have. When my sister and I finally staged a scheme to out the Tooth Fairy (aka: we stayed up all night to catch my mom in the act, lol), and the truth came out about Santa and the Easter Bunny, well, if I'm remembering right we were nearly 12 years old. Yes--TWELVE. I remember running to tell my best friend the news and her saying to me, "Yeah, I know. We've all known for a long time, we just didn't want to tell you guys. You just kept believing in him for so long!" Come to find out that even her youngest brother who was probably 5 at the time knew that the big guy in the red suit was a fairytale. But mostly I remember how every Christmas after that just sort of lost its luster. The magic, for me, was gone.

But this year? It's back. The magic has returned in all of its glory and it's making me feel like a kid again. I have two wonderful children who are finally both old enough to relish this magic, this wonder, this excitement. Children who want the tree lit from dawn until bedtime, who love doing crafts and singing Christmas songs and, of course, talking about their lists! Children who are learning the true meaning of Christmas, the joy in giving to others (although I really might go broke this season as both kids INSIST on donating something to every Salvation Army bucket we see, lol), and celebrating the birthday of Jesus. While this particular aspect of Christmas is not something that I personally believe in any more, I am definitely teaching it to them--they have a right to know the Christmas story and decide for themselves one day if they believe it in their hearts to be true.

One thing is for certain, whatever you celebrate this holiday season, be it Christmas or Hanukkah or Kwanzaa (or Festivus! A Festivus for the rest of us! lol), make it magical. I hope your heart is filled with the spirit of the season, the warmth of family, the joy of giving, and the miracle of life. I wish you blessings so many that you can't possibly count them all. I know I definitely can't even begin to count mine. :)

PS--We were listening to Christmas music in the car the other day and an instrumental version of "Oh Holy Night" came on and Aiden said, "Mom, this song just makes my heart feel so big, like it can't get any bigger or it might burst!" I know the feeling kid, I know the feeling:)

Happy Thanksgiving!

My baby Avie is sick. Probably the most sick she's ever been in her almost-3-years, and it is pitiful. This is probably not going to go down in Bailey history as the "best Thanksgiving ever," but that's ok. It's all part of the journey, and we still have much to be thankful for this year.

I am so thankful for my little family: my sweet, wonderful boy, my adorable baby girl, my amazing husband. We're lucky to live so close to Chuck's family and be able to see them often. I'm thankful for a year full of blessings, we sold a house, we bought a house, we moved across the country. We've settled in, we're making new friends, and enjoying making new memories with old friends as well. Aiden loves his new school, and is learning how to write (and hopefully soon read!). I'm thankful to have my sister back in my life.

I sincerely hope you all have an amazing Thanksgiving. I will be cooking and taking care of my sick little girl. But it makes me all that more thankful that I have people who need me to take care of them.

Happy Thanksgiving!
Barbara

Happiness is...

A night of reflection when we gain an hour to ourselves in the utter stillness...so rare and yet so precious:)

Happiness is:

* the first November snowfall after 5 mild winters and insufferable summers. It didn't quite stick, but I felt that same pure excitement that I felt as a child when we would all gather at the window and marvel at the giant flakes falling on the lawn. There is something contagious and almost holy about the season's first snow--and even if I will be resenting it come January, today it was true bliss:)

* my 2-year-old's original song "I love you" belted from the top of her lungs in the YMCA pool tonight. "I love Mommy, I love Daddy, I love Aiden, I love everybody, and I LOVE YOU!" She can be the sweetest child you have ever met, so full of love and hugs and kisses, and she fills me up:)

* Seeing my firstborn so very proud of himself. In just one week at the Y, he has taught himself how to float on his back in the pool, swim underwater with his eyes open, and jump off the edge in the deep end and swim to the ladder. He has a non-stop smile in the water and I've never ever seen him more proud of himself. He is born to be a swimmer and I intend to encourage it as long as it makes him happy. He so rarely accepts compliments (a little something from his mama, I'm afraid) but he is all too happy to declare, "I am a GREAT swimmer, Mom!" Indeed, my little man. Indeed:)

* Taking care of my body without feeling guilty. Since my children were born, working out meant either waiting until they were sleeping (and thus never finding the energy!) or sacrificing time with them to exercise while they were awake, and they were usually not happy about it. Joining the Y has made taking care of myself AND my children possible. They absolutely LOVE the childcare and I get to exercise for an hour by myself. Could it be any better? I don't think so!

* An amazing husband. We have our trials and tribulations, like any couple does. But my husband loves me, and he shows it in the little things he does for me, day in and day out. We struggle at times, but at the end of every day he is there for me, he is a fantastic father, and I couldn't have created a better partner for myself. Lucky doesn't do it justice. He's everything to me:)

I can almost always find the things that went "wrong" in my day, but I so very rarely take the time to appreciate what went right. I think luck has so much more to do with it than most people know, and I know that I am lucky. Happiness is smiling, loving children, a terrific husband, and a fulfilled life. I search sometimes for more meaning in what is already a very meaningful existence. Tonight I just wanted to use my manners and say...thank you. My life is good. And I am happy:)