Christmas 2008

Evan's letter for Santa

Evan and his PSP

Night vision goggles-they really work!

Don't be jealous of how good I look in the a.m.

Evan and Grandma

Pick your nose cups

The Peppermint Pig

Liz and her nose

Evan's nose

Nice overbite

So, Christmas 2008 has come and gone. We had a great day with the family. We decided to head out to London Christmas Eve and spend the night with Mom, Liz and Cathy. I just wanted them to experience Christmas morning with Evan after Santa has come. We had our traditional Christmas Eve Chinese dinner and then went to church. As always, I felt my dad's presence and knew he was with us. Christmas morning came too soon although I was actually up before Evan. It was nice to be able to lounge around in my pajamas all morning since we didn't have to go anywhere! My brother and his family arrived around 10 and we had Mom's cinnamon rolls that she only makes on Christmas. So yummy. Mom's new addition to our Christmas festivities (it seems as though she finds something every year) were Pick Your Nose cups-see pictures. Need I say more? At dinner (roast beef), we opened our traditional Christmas crackers (http://www.oldenglishcrackers.com). Some years they contain little animals along with a paper crown and some years, like this year, they contained little horns. Each are suppose to be a different note and are numbered. The conductor (my nephew Sam) then has sheet music and he attempts to "direct" us in different musical numbers. The videos are really for my benefit because it's one of those things where you have to be there to fully appreciate the humor! I have about 8 of them but decided to only show you two. Let's just say that we laughed ALOT. The meal ends with the passing of the Peppermint Pig (http://www.peppermintpig.com). He's put in a little red bag and each person at the table takes a turn at whacking him with the little hammer. It's suppose to bring good fortune for the coming year. We laugh alot when we do that as well!! I hope you all had as wonderful a day as we did.

The weekend

Andrew, Owen and Evan
All I want......
Evan and friend
Me and Shellie

Evan and Mike

We're resting today for two reasons. 1) We all feel like crap and 2) we had a busy but fun Friday and Saturday. Friday we went to the zoo with our friends the Crawfords and while it was cold, we had a good time. They have Winter Wildlights at the zoo every year and this year they switched over to LED lights-you could definitely tell the difference. They were beautiful. They had a synchronized light show around the pond and while my camera takes crappy videos, I tried to capture a little of what was going on around us!

The boys were able to see Santa which was fun although the folks at the zoo have things set up so that when you take a picture with your camera, their photographer's lights flash so you end up with a crappy picture and then you HAVE to buy theirs!! I didn't think the one I'm posting was too bad though so take that Columbus zoo!!

Yesterday we went to the annual Silcott family party. Shellie and I have been friends since 1981 and I've managed to go to their Christmas party ALMOST every year since then. They are family to me and we always have a good time. However, I ate and drank just a little too much! What else is new??

Just a Moment

Just a Moment
by Max Lucado

It all happened in a moment, a most remarkable moment.
As moments go, that one appeared no different than any other. If you could somehow pick it up off the timeline and examine it, it would look exactly like the ones that have passed while you have read these words. It came and it went. It was preceded and succeeded by others just like it. It was one of the countless moments that have marked time since eternity became measurable.

But in reality, that particular moment was like none other. For through that segment of time a spectacular thing occurred. God became a man. While the creatures of earth walked unaware, Divinity arrived. Heaven opened herself and placed her most precious one in a human womb.
The omnipotent, in one instant, made himself breakable. He who had been spirit became pierceable. He who was larger than the universe became an embryo. And he who sustains the world with a word chose to be dependent upon the nourishment of a young girl.

God as a fetus. Holiness sleeping in a womb. The creator of life being created. God was given eyebrows, elbows, two kidneys, and a spleen. He stretched against the walls and floated in the amniotic fluids of his mother.

God had come near.

He came, not as a flash of light or as an unapproachable conqueror, but as one whose first cries were heard by a peasant girl and a sleepy carpenter. The hands that first held him were unmanicured, calloused, and dirty.

For thirty-three years he would feel everything you and I have ever felt. He felt weak. He grew weary. He was afraid of failure. He was susceptible to wooing women. He got colds, burped, and had body odor. His feelings got hurt. His feet got tired. And his head ached.
To think of Jesus in such a light is—well, it seems almost irreverent, doesn’t it? It’s not something we like to do; it’s uncomfortable. It is much easier to keep the humanity out of the incarnation. Clean the manure from around the manger. Wipe the sweat out of his eyes. Pretend he never snored or blew his nose or hit his thumb with a hammer.

He’s easier to stomach that way. There is something about keeping him divine that keeps him distant, packaged, predictable.

But don’t do it. For heaven’s sake, don’t. Let him be as human as he intended to be. Let him into the mire and muck of our world. For only if we let him in can he pull us out.

It all happened in a moment. In one moment … a most remarkable moment. The Word became flesh.

There will be another. The world will see another instantaneous transformation. You see, in becoming man, God made it possible for man to see God. When Jesus went home he left the back door open. As a result, “we will all be changed—in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye.” (1 Corinthians 15:51–52)

The first moment of transformation went unnoticed by the world. But you can bet your sweet September that the second one won’t. The next time you use the phrase “just a moment, … ” remember that’s all the time it will take to change this world.

From God Came Near© (Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2006) Max Lucado

CROUP!!

We just got back from the doctor and while Evan does NOT have strep, he has croup. Not fun but I'm glad it's happening now and not a week from now.

We were able to say good-bye to Evan's pediatrician who is retiring at the end of the year. I wrote her a letter last week thanking her for all she's done but it was nice to be able to give her a hug today. She is wonderful and has always been so kind and source of great support and comfort for me especially during those first 3 years when things were so crazy with Evan. She always listened and she always validated my concerns. We will miss her tremendously.

Oh, and when we were at Kroger getting some ice cream (my poor baby's throat hurts), an employee there in the frozen foods wondered if Evan was my GRANDSON!! Ouch, that hurt especially when I'm already dreading 2009 and the birthday that comes with it.

That's What She Said

A Christmas Story

I LOVE this movie!! So does Evan. Just the other day he stubbed his toe and then started "cussing" like Ralphie's father does in the movie. I couldn't help but laugh. I found this on mental floss.com. Enjoy.

12 Things You Might Not Know About A Christmas Story (even though you’ve seen it 90 times) by Stacy Conradt

Today’s installment of the “obscure facts about my favorite Christmas movies” series covers A Christmas Story. I’m a little embarrassed to admit that I don’t own this one on DVD, but I guess I don’t need to when TBS runs it for 24 hours straight on Christmas Eve. Here are a few tidbits to tide you over until the marathon.

1. Jack Nicholson was very interested in playing Ralphie’s dad. But casting (and paying) Jack would have meant doubling the budget, so he was removed from consideration. Director Bob Clark – who didn’t know Nicholson was interested at the time – says Darrin McGavin was the perfect choice, and I’d have to agree. I think Jack would have been too much of a scene-stealer.

2. What does Porky’s, the raunchy ’80s teen sex movie, have to do with a wholesome film like A Christmas Story? Bob Clark directed both – Porky’s in 1982 and A Christmas Story in 1983. If Porky’s hadn’t given him the professional and financial success he needed, he wouldn’t have been able to bring A Christmas Story to the big screen.

3. For anyone keeping count, Ralphie says he wants the Red Ryder BB Gun 28 times throughout the course of the movie. That’s approximately once every three minutes and 20 seconds.

4. Peter Billingsley, AKA Ralphie, has been good friends with Vince Vaughn since they both appeared in the CBS Schoolbreak Special (their version of the after-school special) in the early ’90s. He doesn’t do much acting these days, but he did make a surprise appearance on the “Vince Vaughn Wild West Comedy Show” in Memphis, Tenn., in 2005. Peter’s doing quite well for himself, though. He was the executive producer of Iron Man and had a brief bit as William Ginter Riva – I’ve seen Iron Man twice, but I can’t place his character. I’ll have to go back and look. Peter also executive produced Vince’s latest movie, Four Christmases (which he also had a cameo in), as well as 2006’s The Break-Up.

5. Mythbusters tested whether it was possible to get your tongue truly stuck on a piece of cold metal. Guess what? It is. So don’t triple dog dare your best friend to try it.

6. Scott Schwartz, who played Flick (who stuck his tongue to the frozen flagpole), was submerged in the adult film industry for a number of years. He got out in 2000 to try to become a mainstream actor again, but I can’t say he’s done much of note: Community College (“A love story between four dudes and their ability to get free drinks”) and Skinwalker, which starred ex-MTV veejay Jesse Camp, if that tells you anything. Joey Buttafuoco is in it, too, and gets billing over our poor Flick. Sad.

7. Next time you’re in Cleveland, you can visit the original house from the movie for only $7.50. It was sold on eBay in 2004 for $150,000. Collector Brian Jones bought the house and restored it to its movie glory and stocked it up with some of the original props from the film, including Randy’s snowsuit.

8. Director Bob Clark got the idea for the movie when he was driving in the car with a date. He heard Jean Shepherd on the radio doing a reading of his short story collection, “In God We Trust… All Others Pay Cash,” which included some bits that eventually ended up in A Christmas Story. Clark said he drove around the block for an hour until the program ended, which his date was not too happy about.

9. The Wonder Years was inspired by A Christmas Story. In fact, in one of the last few episodes, Peter Billingsley appeared as one of Kevin Arnold’s roommates.

10. The real Red Ryder BB Gun was first made in 1938 and was named after a comic strip cowboy. You can still buy it today for the low, low price of $44.99. But the original wasn’t quite the same as the one in the movie – it lacked the compass and sundial that both the Jean Shepard story and the movie call for. Special versions had to be made just for A Christmas Story.

11. While we’re talking shopping – you know you want the leg lamp. Put it in your window! Be the envy of your neighbors! It’s a Major Award! You can buy it here, but if you’re not feeling quite so flamboyant you can get a replica that serves as a nightlight for $14.99. The people who own the house also run a gift shop, and they sell pretty much everything you could possibly want from the movie – the decoder pin ($7.99), Lifebuoy soap ($3.99), the leg lamp variants mentioned above, and even pieces of the original house.

12. There’s a sequel of sorts, My Summer Story, which came out in 1994. Kieran Culkin plays Ralphie, Mary Steenburgen is his mom, and Charles Grodin is his dad.

I’m not sure if it’s because of this movie or A Christmas Story, but whenever our dogs are running around together in a pack, my husband always yells, “It’s the Bumpus Hounds!”

Merry Christmas! Happy Holidays! Don’t shoot your eye out (kid).

Getting ready

Our little tree

Christmas card pic


Our angel

We put up the tree yesterday as well as the circus train that belonged to my dad. Evan LOVES that train. Unfortunately the video is very dark but I didn't want him to know I was there when I took it. I'll have to try and catch him again. Evan loves to get down on the floor and watch the train go around and around, just like he did when he was a little boy-he would get so excited at Grandma and Grandpa's when the train was put out. The angel on top of the tree was made by my nephews when they were 7 and 4 (now 22 and 19). It was the year of the fire and Liz and I lost any decorations that we had so they made some for us. :) I have cherished that angel ever since and it will top my tree forever. Our poor little tree has very flimsy branches so half of our ornaments have to stay in the box because they are too heavy!! I wasn't really thinking of that Saturday night while freezing my ass off as we tried to agree on a tree. Oh well. It smells good though.

Random

Just a couple pictures that were in my camera. One is Evan's Thanksgiving "essay" that I thought was so cute. Of course I did-I'm his mom. The other is of my strange cat. She loves the bathtub. She especially loves to get in it after Evan's had a bath-she licks up water. It's gross soapy water. Why??

Love it!

See more Jack Black videos at Funny or Die

Welcome to Holland

We are including this in our latest NICU newsletter at work. This is standard reading for any of us who have had a child with special needs. I remember being introduced to it by the home health nurse that came to visit Evan those first few days he was home from the hospital. I wanted to share it because it sums up exactly how I felt and some days continue to feel.

Welcome To Holland

I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability - to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel.

It's like this . . .

When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip-- to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make wonderful plans. The Colosseum, Michelangelo's David. The gondolas in Venice. You may even learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting.
After months of eager anticipation, the day arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, "Welcome to Holland!'
"Holland? You say. What do you mean, Holland? I signed up for Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy." But there's been a change of flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay. The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy, place full of pestilence, famine, and disease. It's just a different place.

So you must go out and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.

It's just a different place. It's slower-paced than Italy. Less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills. Holland has tulips. Holland has Rembrandts.

But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy, and they are bragging about what a wonderful time they had there.

And for the rest of your life you will say, "Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned."

And the pain of that will never, ever, ever go away, because the loss of that dream is a very significant loss. But if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things about Holland.
© Emily Perl Kingsley

I loved this video!

Nativity set

I don't know what got into me yesterday but in the midst of a ton of laundry and grocery shopping (we had no food in the house), I put out Christmas decorations. I was very excited to set this up-Mike surprised me with it last year (so I didn't bother setting it up after Christmas) and it's something I've wanted for a long time. I could never find a Nativity set that I liked until I found this one.

Thanksgiving

Mike's friend John gave Evan this tank-thanks John!! It's very loud!

Evan's favorite

Helping with the pie

At John's

Uncle Walt

Cousin Steve

Cousin Steph

Aunt Carol

Bowling (I actually got 3 strikes!)

We spent Thanksgiving with Mike's family this year in PA. We left Tuesday and came back Saturday and like always, it was a busy few days! Evan had a great time with everyone-he cried when we left. :( It's hard to have family so far away. Oh and too bad I didn't get any video of me singing w/ Rock Band. I NAILED Wanted: Dead or Alive by my boys Bon Jovi. 100%. I even think my nephew was impressed. :)