Preschool Christmas Program

This morning we went to Ryan's preschool Christmas program, where Ryan and his classmates told the story of Jesus' birth through Scripture read by the teacher and songs performed by the children.  According to his teachers, the children started practicing the songs around Thanksgiving and even learned sign language to accompany some of the lyrics. 

This is our third year to attend his school holiday program, and every year when I see him standing up there doe-eyed and slightly pigeon-toed, singing softly and innocently, I get choked up.  He is such a sweet, happy little boy.  We are so blessed to have him!  (The quality of the photos is pretty pitiful - perhaps in 2011 I'll learn how to use our camera!) 

Ryan smiles at his adoring fans as he enters the chapel.

The children look a little nervous as they wait for direction from their teacher to begin.

During the song, "Away in a Manger," Ryan and his friends show how baby Jesus "laid down his sweet head."

This song, which was the most popular among parents, featured different lyrics sung by the girls and boys.  The girls sang, "where is the baby Jesus boy?" and the boys sang, "we are the wisemen, we came from a far."  When practicing this at home, Ryan would sing the girls' part in a falsetto voice, and the boys' part in a deep, booming voice.  It surprised us the first time we heard him change his voice, but then we couldn't help but giggle each time he did it!

Here the children demonstrate the sign language sign for Jesus.

The children conclude with, "We Wish You A Merry Christmas."  Here is a brief video of their performance:

After the performance, Ryan poses with his closest friend, Josh.

Based on the way Gavin ate at the party following the program, you'd never know he's had the stomach bug for the past 5 days.  He can eat an alarming number of Dunkin Donut munchkins!

Ryan (and Blue Puppy) wish Mrs. Meyers a Merry Christmas!  Mrs. Meyers is the teacher's assistant in his class.

Ryan wishes Mrs. Lomax (his teacher) happy holidays! 

Santa Sightings

Every morning we visit the NORAD Tracks Santa website (www.noradsanta.org/en/index.html) to read updates from the North Pole regarding ongoing holiday preparations.  The NORAD site is the source of all important Santa-related information.  In fact, it announces breaking news before it even hits the mainstream media.  For example, yesterday we learned that "Santa's Chief Elf, Kerstmis Fatato, informed NORAD that 99.23% of toy production has been completed.  In the next 24 hours, all toys will be finished, wrapped, sorted, and loaded into Santa's sleigh for distribution on Christmas Eve.  To accommodate last-minute requests, elves will continue to work right up until the reindeer lift Santa and his sleigh into the night sky."  And, late last week we learned that Vixen suffered an injury to her magical levitation system.  Luckily, the lead elf trainer was able to restore her flying capabilities and expects her to be fully recovered in time for this year's Christmas Eve flight.  Today, NORAD confirmed that the special navigation panel aboard Santa’s sleigh is functioning as planned.  (Sounds like final preparations are being made....sure wish Mom and Dad were as prepared and organized as Santa...with 4 days until Christmas, our progress is far from that described by Chief Elf Kerstmis...)

NORAD also offers a Kids Countdown link that allows children to explore Santa's village to see which shop is the busiest on a particular day.  For those of you unfamiliar with Santa's village, examples of shops include, Santa Packaging Inc, Toy Land, Cookie Shack, Prancer's Puzzle Production, Mixie Pixie Telegram Service, and Santa's Bureau of Investigations (SBI) which maintains the Naughty and Nice Lists.  When you scroll your cursor over each shop, there is a candy cane thermometer that gauges each location's activity level.  Then, when you click on the busiest shop, it directs you to a fun computer game that relates to each location's function.

Finally, on Christmas Eve, kids can track Santa's flight using Google Earth or the NORAD website.  According to the site, NORAD officials track Santa using Santa Cams, which are "ultra-cool, high-tech, high-speed digital cameras pre-positioned at many locations around the world only on December 24th. The cameras capture images and videos of Santa and his reindeer as they make their journey around the world."

Here are pictures of the boys (along with "Blue Puppy" disguised as a reindeer) watching the video clip of Santa's 2009 Christmas Eve flight, reading updates from the North Pole, and discovering which village shop is the busiest.

In other Santa sighting news, several nights ago we took the boys to the mall to see Santa.  Although the timing wasn't ideal (we went in the early evening just after dinner), we hoped that their excitement would make up for their sleepiness.  Although we worried about how Gavin would respond to Santa given his stranger/separation anxiety, we hoped that Ryan's presence would have a calming effect and would give him the courage he needed.  As you can see from the pictures below, the experience did not exactly go as planned...

First, as they waited in line, the boys tried to catch a glimpse of Santa.  However, Gavin ended up falling face first in the poinsettia display.  

Finally, it was the boys' turn to tell Santa what they wanted for Christmas.  With two failed/abandoned attempts the week before, we were hopeful that this visit to Santa would be successful...

 

In Gavin's defense, it's probably a little scary to be plopped in a stranger's lap, especially one with a scraggly beard and a red suit trimmed in white fur (not to mention the stale breath, sickly pallor, and awkward conversation).  Once Gavin was safely in Mommy's arms, he peered curiously over my shoulder to see what Santa and Ryan were doing and did accept the gift that Santa offered at the end of the visit (but from arm's reach since he refused to get any closer!).

O Christmas Tree

This year may have been the coldest temperatures we've ever braved when picking out a Christmas tree.  With temperatures in the mid-20s, we spent far less time evaluating each tree on the lot.  In years' past, we would carefully scrutinize each tree's needles, height, shape, and general appearance.  This year, we were less interested in seeing all of the available options and then far less critical of those we narrowed it down to for further consideration.  We ended up with an 8 1/2 foot Fraser fir, that I believe is one of the prettiest trees we've ever had (I say that every year though!).

Despite the frigid temperatures, Ryan insisted on visiting the baby goats, particularly the one he picked out when we visited the petting zoo in the Fall. He's really attached to the little fella; I wonder which grandparent is going to receive the Christmas present marked "fragile" that bleats when you shake it?!  Nana and PopPop, since you rejected the idea of a puppy and a Vietnamese pig, we assumed that meant you were game for raising Ryan's pet goat.  I think the baby goat on the right in the second picture below is the one that will be delivered to your house next week.  ;-)

 

When we got home, Ryan helped Daddy mount the tree in the stand, carry it inside, and position it in the corner of the family room.  He then got to do the honors of cutting the string that held the branches in place while we drove it home from the tree farm.  Despite his best efforts, Gavin was not able to saw his way through the string since we only allowed him to use his plastic Handy Manny tools!  Then, since they were already half-frozen, Ryan and Daddy decided to hang the pre-lit outdoor garland over the front door.  Gavin and Mommy watched from inside where it was warm!

The next day, Mike strung the lights and the boys and I decorated the tree.  We listened to holiday music and wore reindeer antlers and Rudolph and Frosty hats to really get into the Christmas spirit.  The boys had a great time going through the box of ornaments, hearing us reminisce about the stories behind each one.  Although most of these ornaments are held together with superglue now that we have little clumsy hands that help us decorate, they're still very special to us.  Each ornament represents a memorable time in our lives, like the UMD Terrapin (college years), Guinness' first Christmas, Southernmost Point monument (engagement), first married Christmas together, first house (Germantown condo), glass parrot (Jimmy Buffett Parrotheads), hula Santa (Hawaii), baby's first Christmas, angel kiss with Heaven-sent love (Gavin's birth mark and NICU stay), Disney cruise, etc.  This year we added a Batman ornament to our collection to remind us of the year of all things super heroes for Ryan!  And, true to form, the batarang broke off and had to be glued back on by Daddy (that Daddy magic never fails!). 

This was the first year Gavin was able to help decorate the tree.  I think for every ornament Ryan and I put up, Gavin removed at least 3 in its place!  And, he has proven that shatterproof ornaments truly do live up to their name.  When we brought out the box of glittery shatterproof ornaments, he immediately went for them, saying "ball" as he threw them down the hallway!  We briefly considered only decorating the top half of the tree, but since Gavin is such a climber, we figured he'd view that as a challenge.  Somehow, he'd find a way to scale the tree to take off the ornaments!  And, with the tree wedged between the sofa and love seat, it would only encourage him to climb the furniture to reach the ornaments at the top.  So, instead, we constantly re-decorate the lower half of the tree to rehang the ornaments Gavin takes down every day.

I really like the photo of the boys with the Santa snow globe below.  I think it's one of the few good ones where both boys are looking at the camera and smiling.  It also makes me chuckle because there's just something about the Mann boys and snow globes.  A couple of years ago, Ryan nearly shattered Mike's kneecap with one (by accident of course!).  And, the one in the picture below is no longer with us since last weekend Gavin decided to roll it down the stairs onto the hardwood floor!

This tree is such an improvement over some of the trees we had during our early years together, before we had children and when we were busy with our respective careers and graduate coursework!  Babe, remember that Charlie Brown tree that was shorter than I was?!  Remember how we were so strapped for cash that we actually went from tree farm to tree farm doing price comparisons?  And, after balking at the price of some of the bigger trees, we settled on this one and then tried to angle the pictures from the floor looking up so that the tree looked more normal sized?!  Ahhh, such fond memories...

Santa Mail

After weeks of "research" (i.e., looking through toy catalogs and circling everything but the girl toys), the boys were ready to write their letters to Santa.  Realizing that Santa and his elves probably receive hundreds of letters every day, the boys wanted to make theirs particularly colorful and festive so they would stand out from the rest.  So, using cookie cutters and crayons, they got to work decorating their letters.  Ryan addressed his letter to Santa, signed his name and Gavin's and then dictated the letters, while I served as the scribe. 

Since Gavin's vocabulary is limited to a few one-syllable words, his wish list includes things like "ball," "book," and "more" (which we can only assume to mean more food!).  Everytime we ask him what he wants from Santa, he replies, "ball."  Imagine his delight when he receives an inflatable ball pit filled with 250 plastic balls!!!  (A Daddy idea...I'm already dreading the cleanup and inevitable dodgeball fights!)

Ryan's list was much more surprising, especially given the number of elaborate toys available.  When asked, the only thing he consistently and repeatedly says he wants for Christmas is a big crane that's bigger than he is.  He got an Imaginext crane last year for Christmas and he rarely plays with it.  The only explanation we can think of is that perhaps the crane was one of the first things that caught his attention in a toy catalog. 

We think his coloring has improved tremendously over the past year.  Not only did he do a better job staying within the lines, but he also added decorative touches like colored ornaments and garland on the tree, buttons on the gingerbread man, and a red nose on the reindeer.  The candy cane is black and red striped rather than the traditional white and red because, as Ryan explained, "white crayons don't show up on white paper."

Here are Ryan and Gavin's completed Santa letters.  You should be able to click on the picture below to enlarge it so you can read the text.  Just in case that doesn't work, the text of Ryan's letter reads:  "Dear Santa, I have been a very good boy this year.  I always let ladies go first, I am also nice sometimes, and my little brother always wants to play with me.  So, I think I should be on the Nice List.  I would like...a remote controlled car, a big tall crane (taller than the one I already have), a remote controlled race track, a Nerf ball that flattens into a disc when you throw it, and a big football (soft so that I can play inside with it)."  Gavin's letter reads:  "Dear Santa, I give hugs and kisses and usually play nicely with my big brother.  If I promise to try to sleep in longer in the mornings, will you bring me:  a ball, toothbrushes, and more cookies." 

I love that when asked to provide examples for how he's been nice this year, his first response is letting ladies go first.  Is he becoming a little gentleman or what?!  And, it's cute that he qualifies that he's nice "sometimes."  I think he's kind and thoughtful far more often than not.  And, I guess the fact that Gavin wants to play with him proves that he's nice because who wants to play with a mean bully or grump?!  

True to his word, Gavin has been sleeping in until 6:15 or 6:30 each morning (which may not sound like much, but I feel like a new woman already!).  Although it may sound strange for Gavin to have toothbrushes on his wish list, he is obsessed with them.  Each morning, he lets himself into their shared bathroom, climbs up on the stool, and reaches his arms as far as he can until he finally grabs a toothbrush.  If he could, he'd walk around every waking moment with a toothbrush hanging out of his mouth.  But, big mean Mommy and Daddy won't let him because it's a safety hazard; we worry he'll  fall forward and jam it down his throat.     

The next day, we went to the mall to have the boys' holiday pictures taken and to mail their Santa letters to the North Pole (courtesy of Macy's "Believe" Campaign).  The pictures below are deceiving - despite his disarmingly charming grin, Gavin had just thrown a complete temper tantrum at Picture People forcing us to reschedule their photo session.  I guess the promise of having his wish list read by Santa and his elves and the threat of ending up on the "Naughty List" inspired Gavin's cooperation.  Ryan was exceedingly patient and well behaved despite the ridiculously long wait at Picture People.  And, he helped Gavin stuff his letter to Santa into the envelope provided and addressed it to Santa at the North Pole.  Then together they mailed their letters and curiously peered into the mail slot to see where their envelopes went.