Empty Nest

So early this morning Dad and Jean left... the last of our holiday guests. It was so much fun spending Christmas together and now the place seems empty. For several days there were 10 people in our house sharing two bathrooms, sleeping in three bedrooms and on one futon couch... and it really didn't feel too crowded, but it's my thing to be surrounded by friends and family. Pile them on... the more the merrier is how I see it. I would forgo the family gift exchange every year if we could spend this holiday together. We had some snow this year, giving us a dreamy white Christmas. Of course, Christmas day was filled with gift opening and a nice big meal, but probably my favorite moment of the visit was one night when we stayed up playing games after putting the kids to bed. We had hoped to fit in another night of game-playing... but the kids really wore us out and we couldn't outlast them too many nights. Anyway, it's back to the regular routine around here and the return of a certain privacy and quietness that we're accustomed to.

Does It Have Wheels? I Want It.

Sanjay is into anything that has wheels... you name it, cars, trains, buses, bikes and fire trucks... he loves them all. So much so that he even sleeps with them. Today he got a monster truck (slightly bigger than a matchbox car) from his big sister in his stocking and he hasn't let it out of his sight since. He thinks that monsters ride in it... doesn't realize that the name "monster truck" comes from it's large size. Anyway, it's his new fave and so tonight it had to go to bed with him. He lines up the things-with-wheels between the 2 pillows on his bed. They park nicely in a straight line all night long. When I tucked him in, he insisted that I cover the monster truck, too. So, I pulled the blanket up covering the monster truck entirely. "No... no, Mommy, like this", Sanjay says as he adjusts the blanket down a bit on the truck so that only the windshield and hood are showing. I guess he didn't want the truck to get scared in the dark! This is also the reason he sleeps with his arms tucked all the way under the covers... he does this every night when I cover him up.

Seriously Suspicious

This year Priya has lots of Santa questions... too many... it's making me nervous. I really need to study up for next year and have some planned responses. I am thinking for sure next year, we'll have to use special wrapping paper for the Santa gifts... something she hasn't seen me use at home. In fact, there's a good chance that she'll notice this year, but luckily we have left the paper in the living room by the tree, so I'll just tell her that Santa borrowed it. I think she'll buy that, but she's a bright one, that Priya. We drove around looking at Christmas lights tonight and that really got her mind wandering. Paraphrased, here are some of the things that she brought to my attention about that mysterious, but jolly fellow we call Santa Claus:

This is a hard decision...but if I haven't seen Santa, he can still be true. I can still believe in him. Who else could do all the stuff that he does?

Does he write "To: Someone, From: Santa" on the tags on the presents? If he does then he must be real because it says it's from him.

She actually flat out asked me a couple of weeks back... "Is Santa real?". Of course, my reply was "yes", but I chose not to elaborate. Seeking proof, she said "Well, have you ever seen him?". So I told her that I've seen him in the malls and at the North Pole (amusement park in Colo Spgs). Whew... again my answer was brief and as soon as possible I changed the subject. There's got to be some advice out there for the parents who are going through this for the first time... I seriously think next year I'll try to find some answers for my interrogating little girl.

Priya's Poem

What a lovely night for looking at Christmas lights. Snow is falling... it's a chilling 24 degrees outside and we're within a few days of Christmas. It's just me, Priya and Sanjay in the car and suddenly Priya starts singing a little jingle that she made up spontaneously as we were driving. It's so cute and nicely rhymed that I thought I would include it here so we don't forget it.

Santa's sleigh is as big as the day.

His reindeer pick up their feet.

Rudolf is the one with the nose that glows

like the traffic lights on the street.

When It Comes I Wanna Wail.... Mail!

For most of the year I don't know when our mail lady comes... and for that matter, I'm surprised I haven't been automatically put on "hold mail" by the post office because my mailbox has been overflowing with unwanted, un-picked-up mail more than once. Now that the holiday is upon us, I know my mail lady arrives at or before 11am, she's usually wearing a Santa hat and she recently got a bigger mail truck. At Christmas I can hardly wait for those cards and especially the handcrafted notes about what happened this year in my friends lives. Love it, Love it, Love it! And each year when I think of shortening my Christmas card mailing list, thoughts of return mail by the dozens keep me from doing it. It's really nice to catch up with the long distance friends and see pictures of what they look like at least once during the year. The best part about the Christmas card tradition is that it starts in early December and goes through Christmas so that means personal mail, my name hand-written on the front of the envelope kind of mail, coming to my house for weeks at a time. Love it, Love it, Love it! Oops, did I already say that?

Funny Things They Say

Sanjay's got a runny, runny nose and a runny, runny bottom... he's been like this for a couple of days now. At night, Bartee insists that we apply Vick's to keep his nose clear. After the application tonight, Sanjay comes to me with a shiny face and says "I don't want it on my forward head". Even after I say, "Did Daddy put it on your forehead?", he still repeats the same "I don't want it on my forward head". How cute! He'll be one day using all the right words for things and we'll miss these funny mistakes he makes while learning English. The other thing he's been doing is when we are watching a TV show, he'll say "When it gets to the end, it will be over"... as if he's really figured something out and he's letting us in on it. Totally cracks me up.

Letter To Santa

So Priya tells me that she has written a letter to Santa. Evidentally, this is what it says...

Dear Santa,

I've been wishing for skates and a sweater for a long time, but now I want a play set with animals and a person. Will you please think about getting it? If you can't make or get that toy, just get something that you would think I'd like.

Love,

Priya

Then she wrote one short and sweet one for Sanjay which says, "Sanjay wants a truck with cars in it".