In review...

2005, 2006 and this year,which I now know is 2007. My how The Bean has grown. 2005 was our first Christmas with Ev and we spent it all at Grandma's house so they could share the joy. 2006 was at the Beach Box house in Avon, NC and this year was at the farm house in Hatteras.

Christmas Morning

Well, it's all over but the shoutin' - as my Mom always says. Bean woke up at around 8:30 am and we came right down and jumped into the presents. I wish I had a picture of her face when she glanced thru the banisters on the stairs and saw the packages waiting there for her, it was the biggest grin ever. Then , typical Evelyn style, she walked into the room and talked to her Papa and fussed at Billy, completely ignoring the presents for a minute or two, then all bets were off. She opened every present and looked at each one before diving into the next one. She got lots of books and she was very pleased about that. The dollhouse was a major hit which pleased me. Then we spent the day playing and napping and then stuffing our faces this evening. Life is good.

Christmas Eve

This is how we spent our Christmas Eve. It was the second full day of baking and cooking for me with my Tiny Helper, we have accomplished all of my baking goals: we have two kinds of cookies, two batches of Sugar Plums and then Red Velvet Cupcakes. Now, if that doesn't sound like two days of work , remember, I had a "helper" and we had to pause for many meals, snacks, potty breaks and play time. It has been so much fun baking with Bean she really loves dumping the ingredients in and helping me with the mixer. We made the cookies first and then moved on to the cupcakes and this smarty pants said "hey Mama, we are using some same stuff to make cupcakes", I was so surprised that she noticed this, we then went on to talk about what things we were using in the cupcakes that were not in the cookies. During the actual baking, she stood guard right at the oven door, monitoring the cooking. I must say the cupcakes were quite a hit around here.
After baking, nap time and then the icing of the cupcakes, it was time for dinner. I was so sick of being in the kitchen that I just threw together a pu-pu platter (we have these in honor of my friend GeorgAnna who helped us discover the delight of thrown together snackage one year as we were heading home after the Iditarod in Alaska) and a Cheesy Dip - then we all had a pic-nic under the tree. Evelyn was so excited to eat dinner under the tree and then she noticed that I had a small bowl of potato chips out and she sky rocketed into glee (chips are just one of things that we are very careful about having around the house and Ev usually has to have them bootlegged to her by her Grandma).
After the picnic, Ev was allowed to open a gift. It was one that was sent to her by our good friend Sue all of the way form Alaska. She loved the cards, thanks so much Sue!!! It was a pck of the Brain Quest cards and I was quite surprised at how Ev answered some of the questions- these will be so fun for us to do.
Then it was off to bed for The Bean and sneaky-sneaky time for Mama and Papa....Now the house is ready, mostly and Bean is in bed and we are all fed, Les had quiet Christmas music playing as he is reading on the couch and All is right in our world.

I am so happy that I am about to burst. The joy and exhuberance of my little girl is just about to blow me away. I kow what the magic of Christmas is, it's that look of sheer excitement on your child's face as she chomps into a big cupcake or when she thinks about giving presents to her cousins or when she just looks at me with a thousand watt grin and says "Happy Christmas Mama!!!!"

Here is an example of how Bean does not really like Santa to her full capabilities yet.... We were in the back of the house, I was in the kitchen, at the stove (can you believe that?) , Les was washing dishes (terrific man) and Bean was in the dining room playing with Stella and Billy. I looked over at her and I said, "Evelyn aren't you so excited to have Santa come to your house tonight and bring you presents?", well, she stopped what she was doing and thought for a minute, then she got this real funny look on her face, got up, walked over to the back door and LOCKED IT!!!! HA!!! I nearly had a stroke trying not to laugh, then she very seriously asked her Papa if all of the other doors were locked. Funny kid.

Merry Christmas to you all. I hope that you are all at least as half as happy as I have been today.

Myspace Graphics at WishAFriend.com

Outtake

What we are reading at Christmastime

These are the books that have been a big hit with Bean this season. We read them at least twice a day, sometimes more. She is starting to quote them during her play time. Snowmen at Christmas is a story in poem form about Snowmen coming to life on Christmas Eve and celebrating Christmas together- this idea has enthralled her and she is longing for snow to make a snowman of her own. Bear stays up for Christmas has been a favorite year round but it's now a daily read, this one is about Bear and how his friends wake him up so that he can celebrate Christmas, also in poem form (the rhythm and cadence of this book will bring Billy from anywhere in the house so he can listen too- really). Then we have the quintessential Christmas story- a classic for a reason, Ev loves it. This book is a cloth book that my Grandmother sewed for Bean and I think that's part of why she likes it so much.
Les is reading Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and I am reading The Looking Glass War by Le Carre ( also Chocolate and Room with a View).

Comprimise

The Bean apparently has a comfortable temperature range that is something like three degrees. This means that we have spent days trying to figure out how to dress her to stay comfortable, I tend to be cold alot so I like to see her dressed warm and wearing slippers. This means that about 50 times a day she is stripping to cool off and then re-dressing in a hurry as she chills. I finally decided to just leave a stack of clothes and let her take charge to see what combination she would find. This is it, no pants is the way to go- why didn't I think of that? It was so obvious.

Shell Santas

This is the Butter Bean being very into painting some seashells. She just loves to paint, she was so involved here that she could hardly stop to show me her shell. We are painting Santa faces on Oyster shells because I thought that after the Snowmen were done, there just wasn't enough pressure to complete a project!

Increased Lankiness

I loaded these two pictures up to show how much Billy Bones has grown since he has been with us. I can't believe how big he is getting! He is a pretty lanky cat, I have never had a lanky cat before so I am always surprised at how long he is when he is stretched out on the couch, sound asleep and taking up the entire chaise. (In my next life, I want to come back as one of my own cats.) His increased size does not prevent The Bean from carrying him around and being generally controlling of his activities, he is ever tolerant. Although, I have noticed that these days, when he has had enough, Ev gets a little nip at her hair and then she leavs him alone for a bit.

A collection of random thoughts and happenings

* When you hear your child yelling " NO!! Billy Bones do not drink my pee!!" when she is in the bathroom and you know that the cat really is in there- is it really necessary to drop everything and run in there or is it just too late?

* If you tell Bean that she can't eat anymore candy and then you forget (are too lazy) to remove her tin of Lifesavers Fruit Mints from her kitchen. Do not be surprised when she finds the loophole inherent in that dictate and proceeds to DISSOLVE her candy in water and then DRINK the candy flavored water.

* Christmas trees in a house with a nutty kitten and a Power Mad Toddler are , what you would call "dynamic" at best. There is one branch on our tree that now holds 5 ornaments. I have also found ornaments as far away as the kitchen and I have a sneaking suspicion that there is at least one upstairs- how did it get there, who is behind that? They don't know, they are not telling.

* If you bring in a wild kitten in from outside and then for the first few days that he is yours, you feed him fresh deli meat...... Don't be surprised if he keeps a permanent parking spot right in front of the fridge, even if you just THINK about being in the kitchen. He doesn't beg, he just sits there, attempting to control you with his mind- usually I find myself in a half trance giving him delicious morsels of ham or turkey. I need to work on my resistance to hypnosis.

* No one tells you this but when you have kids, it is impossible to even entertain the idea of an un-interrupted shower. GOD FORBID you should have to do more than pee either. At this point I am not sure that I could even get my body to function without keeping up a constant stream of conversation and advice while wrangling the cat off of my lap. I know, ew.

* We have been shopping on-line for Christmas. I have no freaking idea who is getting what and then if you factor in that half of the stuff is being shipped to my parent's house so we don't have to fit it all in the Neon when we drive to Ohio, I am clueless. Seriously clueless.

* If in a lap crazed desk party (where the kid and cat show up uninvited) in which you are trying to get your Christmas cards ready and ordered, you get the wrong year on your card. Don't freak out, send 'em anyway (and you don't even have to e-mail everyone on your list to confess your abysmal ability to keep a grasp on time or your computer keys) - because the folks that you are sending a card to both love you and know what a kook you can be and no one will even mention it.

* If your husband is in the Coast Guard it is completely normal for your three year old to say things like " I am just getting on this coat floaty to go run a case and I will be home later. ok? After we get the boat tied. OK? 'Cause I have to go now". Of course all of this is said while she is struggling into a polar fleece jacket and attempting to cajole Billy to go along (he remained un-interested).

* When the kitten comes walking through the house looking a bit haunted around the eyes and all of the fur on his head and only his head, is soaking wet- just assume that he really did need his hair washed and let it drop. Trust me it's easier that way, for you and for the cat.

* If at some point in the Holiday shopping, you decide that your kid's main gift will be something expensive and then will require other tangent gifts to go along , so that her whole Christmas is basically this one present (like a dollhouse). I think it's ok to freak about if she will like it or not. I am really freaked about this. I mean she is so funny (not funny ha ha- funny weird) that she may take one look at this gift and never look at it again OR she may just love the hell out of it, there will be no in between, it will be indifference for eternity or love.

(Oh and I had to include that picture because I love it. That was Bean being just done, done, done with the card photo shoot.)

In the Parade

Evelyn and her Papa rode in the Coast Guard boat today as it was towed along in our town's Christmas parade. I sat on the sidelines so I could get pictures and footage. I will say, I never thought that I would get teared up at a little po-dunky parade. But, that was before I ever saw that tiny brown face coming towards me, scanning the crowd for ME and smiling big and waving when she finally saw me. She was so cute sitting there clutching a candy cane to give to me , on her Papa's lap with a red nose and rosy cheeks. I looked up and there was my family, my entire world , right there chugging along in that parade and I couldn't have been more proud or happy.

Breakfast with Santa

Well Breakfast with Santa was this morning. This was something The Bean really wanted to go to, she was thrilled. Then we get there, she sees Santa and just freezes up. I knew this would happen so, I wasn't surprised or dissapointed, that's just Ev (and most kids really and when you think about it, who can blame them?). I actually thought that Santa would be up and walking around and waving Hello and that sort of thing but they just had him set up in a small room and that's where he stayed. OK , except that this was the only Santa type picture I could get, Evelyn looking at Santa and being nervous. Well, the food was good and even if it wasn't MY idea of a Santa type function, Bean had fun and is completely satisfied, that's all that counts.

Our Christmas Tree

Let me say that brownies plus candy plus short nap plus Christmas tree equals crazy, silly kid! Putting this tree up was a blast. Evelyn just dashed about hanging and then re-hanging ornaments while Billy Bones did his best to keep all ornaments off of the tree. To me, this was what I have waited years for, my child to be absolutely beside herself with happiness at Christmas time. I know that Bean seems to others like a quiet withdrawn child but nothing can be further from the truth and if you could all watch the video we made while decorating the tree, you would know exactly how much Ev talks. Les always sets the video camera up on intervals that record for a second , in every frame Ev was in the middle of some story or fussing at Billy- it was so funny. I love that she is so exuberant and happy, I love all of that talking, I even love when she is so nutty that she can't hold a single thought in her head for more than 4.8 seconds.
There was also a hilarious moment, before the decorating when Ev had a beater to lick and she was standing there trying to tell me how Billy Bones had licked her beater and attempting to relay that she was mightily displeased about this.... I look down and she is holding her beater about half up and half down and it is swaying as she is gesturing and Billy is standing there on his two back feet, swaying in time and licking that thing clean!! HA!! She never even noticed until she tried to lick some more and the thing was shiny and clean, then she just looked at Billy, sighed tossed the beater in the sink and walked off, as if to say " well, I can see that I am going to get no help here", then I could hear her in the other room trying to convince Les just how sinister Billy and I are.

Accessories in a Row OR My Daughter is OCD

So last year my Mom got Ev these cute little snowman magnets for the fridge. They came "naked" but with magnetized clothes and such so you could dress them and play with them. This is currently Ev's new obsession, dressing them and changing the little shoes and keeping things neat and tidy. Please note that there are no other non-Christmas magnets on the fridge, they had to go- completely excommunicated for a distinct lack of spirit, will they return? Only the Empress knows...... When the sun is shining in the kitchen windows, Bean dashes in and takes tiny magnet hearts and places them over the snowman eyes because " that snow face will melt right off in the sun is shining in the eyes " .......okay. The snowmen get a wardrobe change about 6 times a day, I am acutely aware of this as I am required to dash in and give commentary on EACH new combination - 6 times a day. Please note how the accessories are kept in a line together- OCD much??? (In the second picture, Evelyn is helping the snowmen keep still)

A December Day at the Beach

Evelyn and I spent the afternoon at the beach today. It was wonderful! The weather was warm and sunny, we were the only ones there except the birds and we had alot of fun. Butter Bean was in her element- sand. We dug holes and buried feet, ran along the water's edge, did Jumping Jacks, made sand angels.... I got alot of pictures but they were all so good that I just put them all in this big slideshow. Enjoy!

Swing!

This is what we call in these parts, a "Swinging Tornado" because The Bean just can't swing normal anymore, it has to be extreme swinging. If you watch you can see Billy dart through the yard and right up a tree , you can't miss Bean fussing at him though.

Papa and Bean and TV fears

I know that this isn't a new picture, I just love it though. Leslie has made such a great Father. He always takes the time in his day to make Evelyn feel special. They have a couple of activities that they always do together: Playing the peeetar (guitar) and swinging in Evelyn's little red swing. Everytime Les heads upstairs to practice on his bass, Evelyn is right behind him, sometimes you can hear him up there strumming and she is singing her made up songs at the top of her voice, He even has her sit on his lap and strum away herself. Les and I particularly enjoy when she is picking and singing at the same time, with her eyes closed and her face showing deep emotions. She is usually singing something like " Well we just have to do it and do it right you know. That's all we are just gonna do it right...."
When they go out and swing together he has the patience to push her as long as she wants which is in the neighborhood of 30 mintes or more. I love to hear them out there talking and laughing, trying to out-do each other in the joking department. I too swing with Evelyn, I Just don't have the patience to do it endlessly like that.
I have also noticed that when Les is around, Ev will be more adventurous , whether it's with trying a new food or a new game or even tolerating a fear, she is always better with that sort of thing when Les is around. I think it's just that he is so much more patient than I am. Well he's patient with a little hint of "Dad-ness", you know a bit more committed when he asks her to do something.
Oh! Another thing that they do is smoke pipes together. She has a child size corn cob pipe and they sit out on the front porch together while he smokes his and she pretends to smoke hers. That's always great fun for her.


An aside here.... Last night we were at a local restaraunt and the only seats that were open were right in front of the tv. Not good as we are still having trouble with Bean and her tv fears. So i get her all settled in and she is copacetic and then WHAM!!! Shrek the Halls, the Shrek Christmas special comes on and she absolutely freaks the hell out. Now think about this from Bean's point of view: nice dinner, tv is neutral and then suddenly there is a big, ugly green man talking loudly and being upset and belching and hollering , then there was a scene where the gingerbread man was screaming in terror over something, Santa I think. So we spend the ENTIRE meal talking Bean dowm from a major freak out. Then as we were getting ready to leave at 8:30pm what comes on??????A Pooh Christmas!! WTF!!!! Who plays Pooh for the younger kids AFTER Shrek for the older ones?!?!?!!? ABC that's who. Now if Pooh had been on while we were there, no problemo, Les and I could have even had a decent adult conversation. sigh.
Now we are not huge tv folks. We do have tv, we watch movies. Bean has watched bits of tv her whole life, it's just that recently it freaks her WAY out. It seems silly to me and it is so hard for me to be patient with it. It really took everything that I had last night to remain calm and comforting and not just start griping and being "Nag Mom". At this point I think it's just that she is a bit used to acting afraid and then she is afraid. She just can't seem to take the quick changes and wierdness that is inherent in about 95% of tv shoes and movies these days I can get her to watch and enjoy old musicals, Charlie Brown Christmas, Pooh movies and Big Big World ( I know sis, but she loves Snook. ) and she will watch musical concerts and live performances of Bach's Mass in B Minor. Another thing is that she can take some imagery but if the sound is strange or threatening or loud- she's gonna freak. Like last ngiht, the loudest Bean reaction came when there was a big loud burp from Shrek, which was hard for me becasue to me it was funny, and she wasn't even looking at the tv.
Any advice out there? I am stumped as to what to do next. This seems so silly and it's going to be a problem over the holidays as I do not expect or want anyone that we may visit to turn off the tv's and re-arrange what they normally do. As we were headed out the door for a birthday party , Bean asked " Mama is there going to be a tv on there?" - this is how it is. There was a tv there, and it was on, playing Cinderella, she acted afraid for like 2 minutes and then when the other kids weren't bothered, she wasn't either so that was cool and maybe that's the key- other kids who are not afraid. Then agian Cinderella is mostly innocuous.
Sorry to go on about this but it has been a pain in the ass. I really would appreciate any advice.

Billy and Random Pictures

It has been very warm here these past few days and we have all been taking advantage of it. These pictures are from a day in the yard together , just the Three Musketeers ( Les was on duty and Stella always sleeps, in the house on the softest piece of furniture that she can haul her carcass onto). I got a few good pictures of Billy Bones. OK I know enough about the cat, but if you are a cat person and have ever had a super cat , then you understand while we go on and on about him so. He is always around us and always participating in what we do. The other Day Evelyn was in trouble for something and she was getting a taling to and Billy was not happy about this, so he stood in front of Ev and chattered at me while trying to nudge me away. How can you not love a cat that protects your child- even if it's from you? So anyway, here are some shots of Billy Bones.
I didn't take any pictures of Evelyn on this day, she had been through a major photo shoot the previous day ( Christmas stuff ) and I didn't want to push my luck. I got some video though, like the one of her being taken down mid-run by her cat ( I know that video isn't the best quality, I am not sure why You Tube couldn't get it any more clear).
We found a tattered and fluttering Monarch too. He was beautiful and I got a few pictures of him before I helped him to a safer place than the middle of our yard just waiting for the resident hunter to find him. Yes, my hydrangeas are that color now, the blossoms from summer are still on the bush and they have gone from a dried mess to that pretty pink. I am not sure if I was supposed to take those blossoms off or not, so I just left them and now they are adding some winter color.

Bushwhack!!!!

No one is safe.

Is that a Santa I see?

Snowman Factory

I had this idea that Evelyn and I would make foam snowmen to add in with our Christmas cards this year. Great idea, slow progress. We need like 47 of them and it took like and hour to get about 18 done last night. The thing is, it's fun though. I like to sit there chatting with her and being the glue master (I have to do the glue part as she HATES to get glue on her fingers) and watching the parts that she picks for each one and the places she chooses to put them. Some of her snowmen have very original faces indeed. It's so cute to watch her tiny fingers manipulating these little bits of foam, as she takes the whole thing very seriously. She worries about the men not being able to see until she gets the eyes on. So remember if you get a crooked little snowman in with your card, it was made with the utmost care and consideration, even if his eyes seem as of they are about to melt off of his face.... and if you don't get one, well we just ran out of time.

Christmas is coming

We have been decorating a bit for Christmas and Evelyn is thrilled. Every night when we turn on the outside lights, she smiles big and wants to go out and look at the house from the street. We have a few decorations up inside but we are waiting a bit longer for the tree. The night that we decorated inside, Evelyn got into my stash of pine cones and set them about the house, it was so funny to see the places that she chose to put them, like right in the center of chairs and all over her little painted table. She was very proud of this and we have kept the pine cones where she put them (for the most part). She also keeps talking about getting to give presents to her cousins and she has decided that she can't wait to play with Audrey and Kate ( her big girl cousins).

Harry Potter Personality

Harry Potter Personality Quiz by Pirate Monkeys Inc.