AAAhhh sweet memories

I made a crock pot full of stew last night and made a big pan of cornbread to go with it. Just now, I went into the kitchen wanting a tidbit of a snack. I believe Pooh would call that a smackerel. LOL. So, I got a piece of cornbread, broke it up into pieces and put it in a coffee cup. Then I poured milk over the entire thing and got me a spoon. My grandmother (I called her "MawMaw") and I did this as far back as I can remember. She always had buttermilk in the fridge to make cornbread and homemade biscuits but whenever we had this special treat she called it “cornbread and sweet milk”. Sweet milk was just regular milk. I’m sure anyone else would find it strange to make “cereal” out of your cornbread but for me it was like a step back in time… a little bit of my grandmother and me again at the table. Are there any things you find completely normal but others may find it odd that you can attribute to your parental or grandparental moments? I think I want to keep this little “note” and use it as a reference to scrap a page about her.

Blood Curdling Screams...

Yep...that's what the jolly old elf heard from MY youngest. Did he smile admiringly to the king of the north pole knowing he would be the bearer of fun toys and gifts? No. We made our way along the short aisle to see Mr. Kringle himself but once we reached the end and our turn was next, he would NOT take his eyes off that strange bearded fat man in a suit. Then, the moment came. Josh was elated that it was HIS TURN to sit in Santa's lap and tell him what he wanted for Christmas -- did he say a football -- a bat -- new gloves - anything off his Christmas list? No, he wanted another fish? Another FISH? I said, how is he going to get you a fish that you can fly home with? So I put words in his mouth -- you mean a fish you can leave at your dad's in Iowa? OOOhh...what a great idea! LOL.

I wanted Josh to take his place with Santa first for a picture so that Drew coudl see how much fun it was.... then I walked over to put Drew in Santa's lap and you would have thought I was about to drop that baby in boiling lava. He had the death grip on my clothes. I'm like... dude, I'm not wanting to give Santa a cleavage shot here... let go but the minute I placed him on Santa's lap I think the entire North East Mall heard the blood curdling screams echo throughout all three hallways. I quickly picked him up of course. Santa tried to talk to him...stroke his cheek and smile and talk to him but Drew wasn't having anything about it. He STARED Santa down like he was the devil incarnate! Drew would NOT take his eyes off this man if it was the last thing he was going to do. So, Josh had a few words with Santa (see the fish comment above -- yeah, I wasn't there to intervene so... oh boy look what happens when mom's not around). I was paying for Josh's picture and in the process of me moving, picking up money, etc. Drew was trying to turn his head around as if he were the a hoot owl to make sure this crazy thing in red wasn't going to come get him. It was quite a day.

I got a really cute photo of Josh though. :) And a funny story to tell Drew about later in life. :)

Letters to the big guy

Josh wrote his letter to Santa last night... I helped him with words (spelling).... but on the first page in red he wrote "dear Santa" in a mixture of capitals and lower case letters as he has learned some and not others at school... the next color was green... "I've been very good"....then in blue I think.. he wrote "I want:" and on the next page he listed individually what he wanted and then drew a picture of each for Santa...his simple list: a hummer, a bike, a v-tek video game system, a new cowboy hat, and a stuffed animal.

and then I helped him write Santa Claus North Pole on the envelope and put his stamp on it. and I said, if you want to decorate the envelope, you can. And he started drawing a Christmas tree on it... and he said... I want it to be his best tree for Santa.... my eyes just welled up with tears... like they are right now writing this....

it's so amazing to see the joy and wonder in his eyes while he still believes in the magic of make believe.... I hate knowing he has to grow up to know that Santa is only the spirit that lives in each of us rather than a jolly old elf in a bright red suit. He's such an amazing young boy....
to see him pour his heart and soul into the importance of decorating a simple plain white envelope to be the best that Santa would ever expect....and knowing that I get this envelope to keep is the best Christmas present I could ever ask for. These are the great rewards of being a parent.... these are the best gifts of Christmas... and they don't come from a fuzzy burgundy box, a signature turquoise box with a whtie ribbon (Tiffany's) or from any chain or department store... these are truly gifts of the heart... to me this envelope and letter is worth more than all "wants" on my short list.... this is the true spirit of the season.... in my child.

How lucky am I?