buck bites: all things december.

Two days before Christmas and the Santa gifts are finally wrapped. I wish I could say that I genuinely enjoy this task but at 9 o'clock at night I just don't. I dug out my Santa wrapping paper, you know, the one that stays secretly hidden so the kids don't find it. I was pretty excited about it, a red and white reindeer pattern that reminded me of an ugly Christmas sweater. I just couldn't pass it up, but I wish I had. As I unrolled this wonderful paper I soon realized that it was more like construction paper which turned my easy wrapping task into a chore, I felt as though I was wrapping gifts in cardboard. By the time all was said and done I ended up going through three, yes THREE rolls of wrapping paper, only one of which was actually hidden, Christmas morning should be interesting.

Earlier this month we took a trip to see the jolly old man. Max is always pumped and eager to rattle off his Christmas wish list. Lila, not so much. The last time Lila sat on Santa's lap she was 6 months old. But this year folks a Christmas Miracle occurred. As we stood in line, Grandma Jean and I did our best at bribing the 4 year old. She wasn't buying it, but once our turn came she walked on up with Max and took a seat on his lap. She said nothing the entire time. No eye contact was made. She gave us a smile, grabbed her sucker, and high tailed it out of there. When she ran to me I made a pretty big deal of her accomplishment, telling her how proud I was and high five-ing all the way. She just stared at me, eyes glazed over. When I asked her how it went she said nothing but gave me a weird smile, it's possible she blacked out during that time and has no recollection of it. Oh well, it was a success none the less.

It's blurry but trust me, she was smiling.

Mid month we attended Max's Christmas program. I set the alarm early that morning, as I wanted to get a nice close spot, plus I told Max I would drive him so he didn't have to take the bus. Trust me, I was doing good. Then we got stuck in the driveway, AGAIN, damn! Dad came to the rescue but we were still stuck for a good 10 minutes, and during this time the gas light came on, and now Max is having a panic attack in the back seat. We make it out swing by the station and of course I pull up to the pump that is frozen. Oh yeah, by this time I was cursing. By the time we made it to school we were late so I parked illegally, grabbed Lila (Max had already taken off), and ran inside. I was greeted by a fellow nursing friend on the way in and we happily took our seat in the VERY. BACK. ROW. As we sat down my friend states "I'm bailing on this as soon as my kid sings!" I laughed only because at this point I felt the same way.

When his turn was up I moved to the front row. I love when he spots me.

We went from Christmas program to holiday dance show. Lila looks forward to this as she not only gets to dance on stage but also gets to wear her Christmas dress. Santa also made an appearance at the end. She hesitated but willingly went with Max to pay him a visit. Max is all "I want legos, like Star Wars legos, pirate legos............." Lila's all "I don't want you near my house."

We snuck in some holiday baking. Normally I'll designate a weekend to this but this month was just too crazy. Lila has become my little helper in the kitchen. She loves cleaning dishes and helping with meals. I whipped up a batch of dough and homemade frosting and let her have at it. It was one big sugar rush.

Made with love.

Last week Max had his scout party where he received this.

Holy crap! My feelings were mixed.

He received this right after I had told a parent that I'm tired of all the candy in our house (Sigh).

And now we're counting down the hours.

Our stockings are hung,