Christmas morning photos

Coming down the stairs to see what Santa brought!

Cool! A basketball and a basketball goal!

Whoa! That's a lot of stickers!

And this Woody doll is for me too?

What did Uncle Matt and Aunt Laura get me?

This Elmo from Uncle Connor and Aunt Shannon is rockin'!

Delicious shape-sorting cupcakes from Aunt Bridgette and Uncle Brice!

The saxophone from Mims and Baba is really fun!

Maybe Dada and I should jam!

Perhaps the drum from GG and Grandpa Gallagher is the better choice for a jam session!

Hmmm...what do the instructions say?

Hey! This froggy umbrella matches my wellies! Thanks, Santa!

What else is in my stocking?

(Surf) Away in a Manger

Some of you have probably never seen our Nativity set. Geoff bought it in Jerusalem on a trip some years past, and I love it. It is made from olive wood, and is very simplistic...exactly as I envisioned.

This year, Liam got into it big time. He liked playing with and arranging the pieces, pretending the manger was some kind of boat or surfboard the wise men could scoot around on. We thought it was all fun and games until Christmas Eve, when Geoff and I were struck by a particular arrangement...Liam had moved the wise men and the shepherd way off to the side. What insight! Geoff and I have always kept the Baby Jesus out of the manger until Christmas Day, but technically the shepherds and the wise men shouldn't be there until Baby Jesus arrives, right? Liam's so smart, isn't he?

See--the visitors are way off to the front and side, as if they are making their way to the stable. You can see a blurry Mary in the background.

Christmas morning

Here is a 5 minute video of Liam's Christmas morning. I was staged at the bottom of the stairs with a camera AND my video camera (my phone), so I apologize for the shaky filming at the beginning. There will be pictures and a detailed explanation in the next few postings, so please check back soon for that!

Looking at Christmas lights

Liam LOVED Christmas lights this year. Each evening or nighttime drive, he would beg for "More, more lights?" This is a video I shot...video in name only. You can't see a thing, but my point was to get Liam's comments, and that much I accomplished. Be sure to listen for the whispered "Wow"s (toward the beginning) as well as the exclaimed one towards the end. At the very end, Liam directs us toward more houses with lights by saying "Dis Way" a couple of times. Too fun!

Christmas Eve PJs

Each Christmas Eve, Liam has been allowed to open one present...his Christmas pajamas. This year was the best yet because he really got into ripping the paper and peeking into the box. As he pulled his "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" jammies out of the box, he was SOO excited! It was really cute to watch, and OF COURSE he looked super cute in the PJs as well.

O Tannenbaum(s) Part 3

Liam got really into decorating the tree this year. He loved peeking into our ornament boxes and choosing ornaments to place on the tree. It is always nice to revisit memories from years past by bringing out commemorative ornaments...the trip to Disney World when I was in 6th grade, Geoff's and my first Christmas together, Geoff's trips to Israel, Ireland, Germany, etc., and Liam's first Christmas! We have ornaments from so many special moments. Enough so that our Charlie Brown tree isn't so bad!

To quote Linus, "I never thought it was such a bad little tree. It's not bad at all, really. Maybe it just needs a little love."

The ornament from GG and Grandpa

The "lellow bus" ornament from Mims and Baba

What's next?

One of these?

Helping Dada hang one of his Aunt Nancy ornaments

Wow. THIS baby's first Christmas sure was a LONG time ago, huh?

O Tannebaum(s) part 2

After moving our Charlie Brown tree to the basement, we realized we needed a bigger, better tree for our living room on the main level. We discussed going to a lot to get a pre-cut live tree but had reservations due to our not knowing when the tree may have been cut and how long it had been without water. We also dismissed returning to the Christmas tree farm--one trip a year is quite enough. So, alas, we settled on getting a fake tree. To those who know me well, this is a bit out of character. I have always had a live tree and have spurned fake trees for as long as I can remember. Despite the ease of care and cost efficiency, I could never bring myself to purchase one. I love the experience of cutting down your own (yes, even with a cranky, hungry, tired toddler) and the smell alone brings a calm to me that no other smell can match.

However, since we already had a live one and due to Geoff's job, there may be years we are in a location that doesn't have readily available live Christmas trees, I gave in to the fake tree purchase. Luckily for us, KMart was having a GREAT sale since Christmas was only 2 weeks away. We purchased a 7 1/2 foot tree with white lights already built in. It was quick, simple, and painless...until Geoff tried to put it together.

The tree came in three pieces which had to be perfectly aligned so the lights could plug in properly. Despite doing everything right, all sections of the tree did NOT light up. Geoff tried several times to fox the problem to no avail. So, Geoff went to KMart to return the tree. Alas, the only one left like ours was the floor model, complete with messy fake snow and tacky ornaments that had to be removed before he could take it home. Before the entire tree could be dismantled, Geoff had the good sense to ask for top portion instead of the entire tree, since that was the faulty part. What a smart guy!

He brought it home, spent very little time aligning the parts, and voila! Only the bottom part of the tree lit up! At this point, we just had to laugh. What else could we do? Clearly, the Christmas tree gods did not want us to succeed this year! Geoff twisted and turned the tree parts, and unplugged and replugged lights for a few more minutes...until we FINALLY had success! Liam was fascinated by the tree, and I snapped a picture of him staring at it (BEFORE I fluffed the branches. It looks MUCH better now--see the bottom photo).

I must admit, the tree looks nice, and I don't mind it not smelling like a Christmas tree, in thanks to the Yankee Candle Christmas tree candle we light when we want to pretend the tree is real. We also like the fact that we have a "pretty" tree and a "fun" tree, so we can decorate one how we see fit, and Liam can go crazy hanging ornaments wherever he wishes on the Charlie Brown tree. I think this is a tradition we will keep for years to come.

Dangit! Stupid tree!

WOW!!!! COOL!

Hanging ornaments.

Oh Tannenbaum(s)! part 1

Well, Geoff and I are nominated once again for the annual Glenn family Griswold award, of which we were the inaugural recipients back in 2006 for our Christmas tree antics that year (we tied our car doors shut when trying to transport the tree home which required some interesting tactics to get into and out of the car). Where to start this year's misadventure? How about with a decision...Geoff's decision to "do something different this year!"

The week before we planned to go tree hunting, I sent Geoff 3 links to Christmas tree farms out toward the mountains. One link was to the farm we've used the past 2 years, which we know to be reliable, with plenty of trees and hot cider and fire pits. But it was the Lowelands Christmas Tree Farm that caught Geoff's attention this year, and reasonably so. The description on the website states, "Come on out for some Christmas cheer in the heart of Middleburg Hunt Country! Hay rides, hot mulled cider and gourmet food tastings!"

They also listed animals they house on the farm...horses, sheep, donkeys, and Scottish Highland cows (the really shaggy, furry cows with huge horns), AND they raise their own honey which we could sample in their holiday shop. We simply KNEW this was the farm for us.

It started off as a beautiful, yet chilly day…perfect for Christmas tree hunting. We grabbed coats, hats, and our camera and set off. When we arrived, Liam was excited right away because you could see the sheep and a horse from where we parked. Liam gave the sheep a passing glance as he ran over to the horse. Liam was enamored with the horse. So much so, that we could not pull him away from that thing! We spent a good 15 minutes trying to lead Liam onward…asking if he wanted to see the donkey, telling him that the tractor ride was next, talking to him excitedly about picking out our tree…all to no avail. We ended up picking him up to get him past the stupid horse and onto the tractor so we could ride down to the tree field.

As we approached the tractor, Liam didn’t want to get into the hay-filled wagon. He wanted to climb onto the tractor itself. It makes sense…Baba let him drive Wacky’s tractor at Thanksgiving, so why couldn’t he drive this tractor too? After some cajoling, we convinced him to climb into the back with us. The farm’s owner, Mr. Lowe, started her up and away we went…at all of 1 mile per hour. We could have walked to the tree field faster than he drove us! And the “drive” to the field was actually only a 50-yard AT MOST ride down the hill. On the “drive”, we passed the Scottish Highland cows, which were pretty cool looking, and we even got to feed them before setting off into the field with a saw and some gloves to look for our tree.

As it turns out, the Lowelands Farm is not very big. I am not very good with acreage guessing, but I’d say there were maybe two football fields’ worth of trees, and they were VERY picked over. It didn’t take us long to realize we would be leaving empty-handed. After chasing Liam around the trees and snapping some pics, we headed to the holiday shop where we drank some cider made from local apples and sampled the local honey. It was all warm and DELISH, especially after the brisk temps outside.

After our cider and snacks, we loaded back up into the truck to drive to Middleburg Christmas Tree Farm, the farm where we found the previous two years’ trees. It didn’t take us long to get there, but it was nearing 11:30 a.m., which means Liam’s lunch and nap time were looming large. As Steph said to me, we were “on borrowed time.” We decided to be all business at the farm…no camera, just a saw and a map. About halfway into our hunt, Liam started getting tired. He started out on Geoff’s shoulders, but ended up being carried like a sack of potatoes on MY shoulders. We walked and hiked and huffed…getting hungrier and grumpier by the minute. Liam became obsessed with pulling the tree wagon, which is not easy to drive and therefore proved to be a huge frustration for Liam. Geoff and I made the decision to have Geoff strike out ahead of us, in hopes of finding a suitable tree quicker than we would be able to with Liam trying to drive the tree wagon. This worked somewhat. Geoff found a “not bad looking” tree, called us over, and I said, “Cut it down” despite it not being much taller than me. Geoff put the tree in the wagon MUCH to Liam’s dismay, and I ended up carrying a crying Liam to the truck while Geoff paid for the tree.

Liam fell asleep on the way home, and after putting him into his bed, Geoff and I reexamined our tree. We quickly realized it would not do for our living room with its 9-foot ceilings. We decided to move our Charlie Brown tree to the basement (where it looks quite nice I might add), and buy another tree for the living room.

This would be a funny story, if that is where it ended, but you know us and our luck. That is NOT where the story ended. Check back for part two to our 2011 Griswold tree misadventure!

Look, a horsey!

This horse is AWESOME!

Man, I LOVE this horse!

Finally made it to the hay ride, driven by Mr. Lowe himself (below).

The Scottish Highland cows

Tree hunting = Liam chasing

Thanksgiving in Alabama, part 2

I love a Southern Thanksgiving meal. Meticulously prepared, slowly roasted or simmered or baked, with aromas that that make your mouth water and your mind wander back to Thanksgiving meals from years past. Everyone waits for the turkey to tell us when the meal is ready while we watch the Macy's parade and various football games. It is an amazing holiday, and I am grateful to be a part of a family of wonderful cooks, my mom and Aunt Betty!

This year, we had turkey (of course), cornbread dressing (of which my mom makes the best...ask anybody!), squash casserole (made by Aunt Betty), sweet potato casserole, Southern style green beans, HOMEMADE cranberry sauce (My mom has done this every year. Connor and I would always stand around the stove, waiting for the popping sound the cranberries made as they simmered.), spirited peaches, rolls, and several desserts, including buttermilk pie and Aunt Betty's homemade apple cake. It was delicious, and everybody had seconds.

Afterward, we headed outdoors for some family photos. We used to do this all the time. Uncle Jim would bring his tripod and set the timer, and we would all crowd closely together to get a large family shot. Alas, our family has scattered to various far-away spots, and it has been a while since the tripod has been seen, but we did the best we could! It was a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving in Alabama, part 1

This year, the Howards spent Thanksgiving down in Alabama with the Glenn/Watson side of the family. We drove, splitting the 11-12 hours in half by stopping over in Bristol, VA. (It is always a little odd to think that halfway to Pell City is still in the Commonwealth of Virginia!) Liam held up well, despite not wanting to sleep in the hotel OR nap in the car very much.

After catching up on some much needed sleep Friday evening, Geoff, Liam, Mims, Baba, and I packed up and headed to Auburn for the Homecoming game. Our first stop was at Connor and Shannon's house, where we got to see Baby Avery's nursery. It is GORGEOUS with a palette of dark, chocolate brown with pink and green accents. Then Connor, Shannon, Geoff, and I headed for Mama Goldberg's, an Auburn tradition, where we met up with some dear friends for beers before heading into Jordan-Hare Stadium.

It was a gorgeous day for a game, and despite having to sit near the few Samford fans who made the trip down, we had a blast. After the game, we met Mims, Baba, and Liam at Toomer's Corner, for what is probably our last time (and Liam' ONLY time) to roll the trees. (Read the sad story here if you must).

Liam LOVED Toomer's, and you could see it in his face that he knew this was a special experience. I know some people think it's silly to get upset over dying trees, but it is more than that to me. Generations of Auburn people have been celebrating Auburn victories at Toomer's Corner, and to have Liam and Baby Avery miss out on that due to a crazy, unbalanced man (who is a fan of the OTHER football team in the state of Alabama) just breaks my heart. I hope Auburn's amazing scientists can pull off a miracle.

The next week was all about playtime outdoors, enjoying the BEAUTIFUL weather. Baba hooked a wagon up to Grandwacky's tractor and took us for a ride down by the lake. Liam LOVED it.

After a while, Liam was not content to ride anymore. He had to help Baba drive the tractor!

Liam also enjoyed playing ball/being chased by Uncle Connor.

All in all, it was a fabulous week, topped off by a scrumptious, Southern Thanksgiving meal, prepared by my Mom and Aunt Betty. But more about that in the next post.

Our love to all!