It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

It is the weekend after Thanksgiving and I think I have been the model of restraint when it comes to starting the Christmas season. I have only been listening to Christmas Carols for the last two weeks. Can I help it if they are already on the radio?! Thanksgiving gives me the official go-ahead to start decorating. My tiny house will have four Christmas trees this year... 1 big and 3 little. We are trying something different this year and giving the kids their own little Alpine trees to decorate as they want.

Here is our version of the Christmas hearth. Although it is not the fireplace of my dreams, I love to decorate it each year. This year I have chosen to highlight the Nativity on the "mantle" (just a little shelf above the electric fireplace). Travis was so excited because this is the first year he could read all of the names on our stockings.

This is the little mini tree in the kitchen. I call it the "star tree" because it is the one tree in the house with a theme. It is also the only tree with a color scheme of maroon and white. The other trees are a mish mash of decorations and colors.

In an effort to disperse some of our ornaments we came up with a plan to let the kids decorate their own alpine trees. Our son was especially into it. We call this the "train tree" for the obvious reason. He is definitely MY boy, as he insisted on using every ornament he had. The tree is a little more than full at this point. At the rate the kid is going, next year we will have to invest in a full sized one just for him!

Here is Chelsea decorating her little tree. Chelsea is an easier name to find than Travis, so she has a lot of ornaments with her name on them. Chelsea's idea was to put 4 or 5 ornaments on a branch and leave the rest bare. When she wasn't looking I switched some around so the tree wouldn't tip. She loved seeing her Dora, Princess, and Sesame Street ornaments. When I envisioned the ornaments she had, I though for sure the tree would be entirely covered in pink.

The finished products... Travis has his tree on the right and Chelsea's tree is on the left.

Here is our big tree. John and I decorated this on our own, as the kids had lost interest after their little trees were done. True to tradition, I managed to stuff almost every ornament that we had on the tree. Lots of our ornaments are from places we have visited, like our honeymoon in St. Lucia or the cruise we went on with his family to Key West. As of late, the ornaments are from places like Sesame Place, Edaville Railroad and Storyland. How the times have changed!!!
After all was done, we looked out the window and saw the first sleet and snow of the year. Perfect timing. And while I wouldn't call the night "silent", as my son and his friend are playing trains upstairs and being rather loud, I will admit that, for the time being, "all is calm, all is bright" here at Casa Campbell!

Thankful??? You Bet!

My favorite season has officially started... the "Holidays"! It started this week with Thanksgiving. As a child I wasn't a fan of Thanksgiving. Too much food, too much "grown up talk", and me always at the kid's table (if I made it there at all. I do happen to recall a Thanksgiving with my cousin Cheryl and I sitting at TV trays in the hallway). It was also the day my parents seemed determined to make me eat new things... things that they, themselves, had tried and hated, like spinach and squash and peas.

As an adult I have a new appreciation for the holiday. I have so much to be thankful for! I think this became overwhelmingly apparent to me when I became a mom. Maybe even more as I see how much sadness there is out there. I look at my wonderful husband and beautiful children and feel so grateful it takes my breath away. My family of origin is terrific. My mom and brothers, aunts, uncles, cousins, and my grandmother are such pillars in my life. I am also tremedously lucky to have married into a family that treats me like I was born into it. We are healthy, for the most part, and safe. To have so many people to love and be loved by is truly a blessing. Although this is something I wish we could express more often, I feel that this time of year gives us lots of opportunities to show people how much we care.

Here is my daughter posing in her holiday best. Such a ham! People kept saying "Don't you look pretty!" to Chelsea. She replied with an honest (and not-so-modest) "YES!"

Our Thanksgiving started at my mother-in-law's house. It took my kids 3 minutes to take out the toys and trash the place. But did they complain about the mess? Nope! They were just happy to have us there.

Then it was on to eat at my mom's house. It was her first year hosting the Thanksgiving feast. My grandmother moved into a retirement complex and passed the torch to my mom. At first I worried that Gee (my grandmother) would be lost without the hustle and bustle of hosting the meal, but she seemed fairly relaxed and happy to actually sit and eat with the rest of us. It went off without a hitch.

My brother hangs out with Travis and my cousin. The little boys were rambunctious at times. They had a great time.

My grandmother celebrated her eighty-first birthday this year. Her birthday is so close to Thanksgiving that we usually celebrate it on the holiday. I consider myself very fortunate to be a part of such a close knit family. With 4 daughters, ten grandchildren and 3 (soon to be 4) great-grandchildren, I am sure my grandmother feels blessed, as well.

Here is Travis in his "rock star" pose. I think he gets this side of his personality from his father, who has always semi-secretly wanted to be in a hairband (or is it boyband). This looks a lot like John when he is trying to channel his inner-rocker!

Goodbye Girl

"the place you live in is that much more drab and empty that they're gone. I guess I just miss my friend." -Red in Shawshank Redemption

A friend of mine left yesterday for Abu Dhabi. She is going for two years. I tried to explain to my son that his little friend (her son) has moved away. I think he gets it, but I am not sure. I didn't get to say goodbye in person. And, in retrospect, I guess I am glad. The last day we saw each other we had fun. The kids were getting their pictures taken together and we were at the mall. The kids rode the carousel and played nicely together and in the brief minutes of peace we managed to talk a little. That is the day I want last in my memory, for that memory will now need to last until she visits. I am thankful that it is a happy one.


I know our lives are busy and we never found enough time to spend with each other, but this person has been a fixture in my life since the 5th grade... That is 26 years. Most of the time we were close. Sometimes we lost touch for a while, but came togehter like we had never been apart. Imagine our surprise and happiness when, after years of friendship, our sons were born only 5 months apart and grew to be friends. Then our daughters were born only 3 months apart and were growing into friends as well. And even though I sometimes went a month without ever laying eyes on her, I feel like a piece of my life is missing, like my world is a little less fun knowing she is not across town anymore. So I guess there is nothing to do but to email and send cards and look forward to her infrequent trips home. But I do hope she knows that my thoughts are with her and that I pray that her trip is uneventful in the best way possible. So Leslie, if you get this, hug the kids for me and say hi to all of the sheiks and camels. And most importantly, don't be a stranger...come home soon...safe and sound!

Back in Time Dance Party

It took a sad thing to bring the four of us together after so many years of not seeing each other. But the point is we did it. Our friend is moving to the Middle East with her family so it was time to send her off in style. Usually when we are together it is only two of us, three tops. But for the first time since I can remember we were all in the same place at the same time. Very rare indeed! There were tears and tons of laughing and, of course, dancing. Turns out we have all been having family dance parties with our children at home.

Here we are... the four of us. Class of 1990. Each with our youngest child (all girls around the same age).

Mother and daughter decide to "Raise the Roof".

My daughter has decided to cling to my friend who is moving away. This is kind of rare for Chelsea. She is usually only clingy with John and me. I think my travelling friend's heart was breaking. She asked, "How do you resist those big eyes???" I told her the truth... As her mother, you get over it QUICK!"

Our friend gets a glimpse (and a backache) of what it would be like to have twins. Both girls insisted on being held and danced with by her. Each time she put one down there was a tantrum.

Three of our husbands joined the party. The testosterone was flowing until they heard my husband's playlist on his Ipod. Then they weren't so sure about him. The women and children liked it, though. It definitely got our toes tapping!

Chelsea takes my friend for a spin on the dance floor. My poor friend is used to carrying her own daughter who is much more petite than Chelsea.

Here is our travelling friend with the original dancing queen from high school. She didn't miss a beat as I played DJ with my husband's 80's playlist.

The girls got down and boogied, complete with costumes. Here "Elmo" shakes her groove thing with Princess K.

All the kids got into the music. The big kids had lots of moves (is breakdancing making a comeback????) and enjoyed showing them off. Soon it was too hot for the boys to stay completely dressed. If only they had gold chains and chest hair. Maybe someday!

There was some fighting over the carriages. Two carriages and three little girls who wanted to play with them = big trouble. Overall the kids got along great.

Here are three of us dancing with our favorite dance partners... our daughters. Actually I am dancing with my friend's daughter and Chelsea is dancing with my friend. They loved it.

Here is Chelse's favorite dance move... The Dip! She insists on doing it over and over. My back aches but it is worth it to see the look on her face. Party on, Girl!

Trick or Treat (Smell My Feet!)

Halloween came and went. We were somewhat healthy for the big event. I was lucky enough to get off work a little early to see Trav's Halloween parade at school. Then I joined his class for a little party.
Mr Incredible, a.k.a. Travis, and his buddy Superman walking in the parade around his school. They had a great time showing off their costumes.
We met up with our neighborhood friends to go trick or treating. The loot was good in our neighborhood.
Travis and Chelsea are ready to roll. Chelsea tired out much faster than Travis did, so I took her home while Travis finished the route with our friends. It worked out well since Grandma BJ was at the house handing out candy and needed to leave.

The rest of the weekend was spent winterizing the house. Travis "helped" by jumping in Daddy's leaf piles.
Here is Trav taking a running leap off the top of our hill...
He landed with a thump each time, but never got hurt. He always surfaced from the leaves with a big smile on his face.

Onward to the next holiday. Travis had to decorate a turkey for a school project. As a teacher I have given this project to my students for the last several years. Now I am on the other side of the table. Travis decided to use glitter glue for his turkey and Chelsea insisted on creating her own masterpiece.

Jack-O-Lanterns!!!

A Jack-O-Lantern...such a simple concept. So easy to do and it provides so much joy for the kids. You get pumpkins and(this is where I went wrong) you bring them in the house so critters do not decide to burrow into them and take the seeds for a mid-winter snack. My kids and I went to get pumpkins to carve into Jack-O-Lanterns. I left them on our deck overnight only to come home from school the next day and find that an animal had chewed a hole in Travis's pumpkin. When I tell you that this kid was fit to be tied over this, it will be an understatement. He had hand selected this particular pumpkin and I guess he was super-attached to it. It was obnoxiously huge and perfectly round. There was enough eaten out of the top to make in unsalvageable. We came up with a culprit... a squirrel. In his fit of rage my son condemned all of the squirrels as BAD and STEALERS. If the kid had his way he would have gone out the next day with me in the pouring rain to pick out another pumpkin. I held him off, telling him that if he waited until Daddy could take him on a sunny day, he would get to pick a bigger pumpkin because Daddy is so much stronger than me. This made him happy and I came home from work to be greated by a pumpkin that was even bigger than the first one (now sitting under a tree to help the little critters prepare for winter).

Travis helped Daddy by drawing a face on his pumpkin. He was very excited and wanted it to get done as soon as possible. I think he was a little surprised to see how long carving a pumpkin actually takes.
Midstream Travis changed his mind about what kind of nose he wanted to give his Jack-O-Lantern. Daddy dutifully obliged and changed the octagon into a triangle. Then it was time to plan the mouth. It would have been fine but Travis kept adding more teeth to the plan.
Chelsea was a lot more laid back (read: absolutely not interested) in her Jack-O-Lantern. She walked away before the planning started and came back for a glance until it was picture time. Then she hammed it up just like always.
Travis and Chelsea pose with the finished Jack-O-Lanterns. Or we thought they were finished until Travis decided his needed ears!
Finally... the lighting of the Jack-O-Lanterns. Chelsea was a little freaked out by this. Not because of the pumpkins, but because Travis insisted on shutting off every light in the house. He probably would have gone over to shut off the neighbors lights, if we let him. He decided the only way to experience the lights was in the pitch-dark. The thing that matters most is that everyone was happy with the outcome. Now if only they can stay in one piece for 4 days until Halloween! One can dream!!!!

Here Chelsea shows off the lollipop ghost she made at the library. This will probably be the only proof I have that this existed... She is anxious to tear off the tissue and eat the pop. Halloween should be interesting now that she is so into "nandy".

Just Another Crazy Weekend!

The weekends have recently taken on a life of their own. For the umpteenth weekend in a row we have been running in circles. We had a sleepover on Friday night. Travis had a little friend from preschool stay over on Friday night. We had a campfire in the yard and they watched The Incredibles for the hundredth time. They were in bed and asleep by tenish.
The boys decided to dress festively for the movie. They were thrilled with how they looked as their favorite heroes.

We were up early on Saturday morning. Off to Travis's last soccer game. Here he is posing with his buddy at the field. The game went as usual... the kids who were really into soccer were taking it very seriously. The other kids were running around and randomly kicking the ball, sometimes towards the correct goal, sometimes not. Then towards the end of the game Travis dribbled the ball a little and took a shot and it went in! It was nice to end the soccer season on a good note. He almost had a second goal but it was just a bit too wide.
Here they are...The Green Dragons of Fall 2008.

We had a few moments to breathe and eat lunch when we got home and then it was off to a local library to see a kid's performer. Each year at this time friends of ours host a performer at their library to honor the memory of their son. He died right after he turned one and this has helped keep his spirit alive. The kids wore their costumes and danced and sang and listened to silly stories.
Trav was thrilled when I finally found an Incredibles costume. Although when he first put it on, he poked at the quilted chest (designed to look like muscles) and said, "Wow, Mom! Mr. Incredible has big boobs!" Lovely!!!!
Chelsea, of course, was a princess. Her God-parents sent her a princess dress for her birthday. She has other princess outfits, too, but when they were all placed in front of her, she chose theirs. She grabbed her little purse as we headed out the door. She loved her dress. She found out that if she spins, the skirt will fan out all around her. As if that wasn't enough, in the middle of the show, she turned herself upside-down and exposed her royal diaper. A real lady- that one!

Pumpkin Night

Fall is in full swing and, while winter is a long way off, I can see my winter habits starting to form. I must admit that I am one of THOSE people who get so excited when she walks into the store and sees Christmas decotations. Today we went to a local play farm only to find that they were celebrating "Christmas on the Farm". I was psyched. I tried to build on this theme at home and asked if everyone wanted to listen to Christmas music. A resounding NO from my family. So I sit here typing listening to Stevie Wonder. But the stores don't lie and Christmas is in the air. I abide by the wishes of the majority of my family members and control my urge to decorate and play holiday music...but it will happen eventually...YOU HAVE ALL BEEN FORWARNED!
Part of what I love about this time of year is that my family and I tend to hibernate. Last weekend we cooked a big turkey dinner to share with my mother, her friend, and my grandmother. The house was filled with the smell of turkey and apple crisp. It was a warm autumn day but it was still nice to have everyone inside in one space enjoying the delicious meal.
Here are my kids posing for the camera while our guests looked on.

Travis's school hosted "Pumpkin Night" this past Friday. The parents donated gift baskets to be raffled off and the kids could paint pumpkins. There was a DJ who played the fun music that the kids all knew the dances to. It was a lot of fun and very reassuring to me, as I still have a little trouble with the fact that I am not able to be a volunteer during his school day. I happened to drop him off at school one morning this week and his teacher mentioned how much better he was doing in school now that he adjusted to the full day. I was thrilled to hear it. I am seeing it at home, too. But being able to be there for school events helps me adjust to not being present during the day.
Here are the kids painting their pumpkins. The paint stained our hands and clothes (found out the hard way on that one) but they had a very good time. Even our two-year-old daughter found things to do.
Travis chose to hang out with several friends from his class. This also gave me the chance to meet some of the parents in the class. It was nice to get a glimpse of how he spends his days with the other kids. He seemed right at home with his friends, as they hung out on the railing of the handicapped ramp and chased each other around.

And so fall continues. Soccer ends (mercifully) next week. The weather this weekend was definitely cold and autumnal. And even though the cold weather grows old fast, the excitement and energy that comes with the holiday season is starting to creep into focus. Hooray for me!

Autumn is Upon Us!!

I asked my students to tell each other what their favorite thing about fall is. They all had the typical kid answers...jumping in leaves, going to the apple orchard, halloween... Mine tend to change as my life changes. There was a time when the autumn meant field hockey games, Oktoberfests, and pretending to follow football to impress my boyfriend. Now I have married the boyfriend and we have two children and my answers have changed! Go figure!
My son had two soccer games this weekend. The best part was that he scored 3 goals during the first game. It was so exciting to see.
Here he is during the second game of the weekend. He is #1 on the green team. His buddy is #11 on the blue team. This is the game where his friend scored his first goal! He and Travis approached this game as more of a social hour than a competition.
Done with soccer, our family headed to a local apple orchard to pick apples. It was so crowded, probably because last weekend was so lousy, weather-wise. We went with 5 other families. We lost track of most of the group we went with, but had a great time anyway.
Here we are with our neighbors. We walked up and down the aisles picking an absurd amount of apples. How we will get through them all, I will never know!
Travis and Chelsea show off their rewards. They were very proud. Travis was especially proud to show us how to pick an apple. He had been to the orchard two days earlier on a class trip and spent most of the hayride lecturing us on proper apple-picking technique. "Lift, twist, and pull!"
I am pretty sure Travis's favorite part of the day was being lifted up high by dad to get the perfect apple. Thank goodness daddy is 6 feet and 3 inches because the perfect apples were, in Trav's opinion, at the tip-top of the trees.
Chelsea would go into the trees and grab the apples right off the tree. She would emerge triuphant saying,"I did it!" Then she would (not so gently) throw the apples into the bag.
A big highlight for the kids was finding some ladders set up to pick apples. Travis took the first trip up the ladder, followed by his buddy. Not to be outdone... Chelsea went up, too. She was determined to go up as high as she could and got so annoyed when daddy put his hand on her back to spot her. She will be our independent toughie.

Then it was off to the pumpkin patch. Chelsea had fun just looking at the pumpkins and trying to pick them all up.
Travis and his buddies raced through the pumpkin patch. "It's a maze!" they kept telling us, proving once again that it is simple things that please children (and adults) the most.

Then it was off for a quick trip to the playground and home. Apple crisp for dessert. YUM!
The perfect ending to a great fall weekend!!!