It's CHRISTMAS!

It has been rainy here in southern CA and I LOVE IT! It makes it feel ever so slightly more like Christmases that I remember. The fire is going, the slippers are donned, and the coffee is hot all day long. Did I mention that I love Christmas? I do, even the shopping. Although I do most of my shopping online in the comfort of my own slippers. I am not even sick of Christmas music quite yet.

Speaking of Christmas music, the kids have been learning songs at school and from family and friends and singing them all the time. Of course Dom has trouble figuring out the words sometimes, especially when his cousin Gavin is the one teaching him the song, so he has been running around singing "Deck the halls with all the trollies." And Nico's favorite is "We wish you a hairy Christmas." And speaking of the kids and learning things, they are learning all kinds of things at school this time of year. Dom's teacher is jewish and so in addition to talking about Christmas traditions she has been teaching them about Hannukah and even made them latkes last week. Dom didn't care for them but he did try it so he wouldn't "make the teacher sad" he said.

Both boys will be having Christmas parties in their classes and I am going to have to perform some sort of super hero feat in order to be in two places at once, but by golly I am going to be at both parties! I think there is a 15 minute window where I can get from one to the other. Wish me luck!

I am not sure how much of this Nico gets, and to be honest I hope he stay kind of clueless for a little bit longer. He will enjoy opening gifts, but I think he will enjoy having family around even more. We are trying hard to remind the boys of what this time of year is really about. We have a box that we are filling with change and we will "open" it on Christmas and see how much we have and then decide as a family what to do with the money as a gift to someone else. It is cute, however, to hear the boys talk about Jesus and God in such matter of fact ways. For instance, yesterday Anthony was talking about something and said, "but Jesus could just do that because he is so cool". And on a slightly different note, Dom has been saying his prayers extra loud lately, I guess to make sure God hears them, but last night he started yelling in the middle of the night. I went in to see what was wrong and he was dead asleep yelling a prayer.

I hope you are all enjoying this season and can find the blessings amidst the madness. If we are going to see you this holiday season please know how much your time with us means and how much we look forward to spending time with family and friends. That is the best gift of all. If we won't see you we wish you happiness and joy.

Merry Christmas!