My Late Recap of Christmas 2013

Our attempt at holiday traditions continues to have roadblocks. Since Steve and I were married we've gone to the Holidazzle parade every year (with the exception of the year that we were down there and it was literally so cold they cancelled it). We usually grab something to eat and pick out our new ornament at Macys. Well, this year was the final year of parade and we didn't even bother going. I guess if the tradition was going to end next year, we decided to stop forcing us to complete our tradition that we hate (I mean really its alway so cold even but  last year we did have fun bringing Simon for the first time). The U's engineering department started a lightshow last year. We attempted to go last year on referralversary and there was like a massive snowstorm so although we were on the roads on our way to a holiday party we ended up skipping the show and going right to the party. This year it was "back and better than ever" so we attempted to replace Holidazzle with the U's show. First we took Simon to his first theatre event "Llama Llama Holiday Drama". He did really well and the twizzlers that I snuck in helped a little. We also had a pleasant surprise and S's bud Silas was sitting two rows behind us. And of course I didn't remember to get a picture of the two of them. Silas actually gave Simon his stuffed Llama Llama as a welcome home gift. The first group of photos S was holding the program upside down, which I noticed and thought was funny. He asked to see the pictures though, noticed, and insisted that I take new ones.

Later that day, we headed down to campus for dinner and the light show...we made it through dinner and suddenly S's stomach hurt and we decided we should just take him home since the only place anyone wants to be when their stomach hurts is at home. So our new tradition is missing our light show tradition.

Before we left for our annual tour of MN Christmases, we enjoyed a pajama breakfast/cookie decorating party at our neighbors. Cute right? We are really enjoying our new neighborhood. In addition to being part of a football pick 'em league with some couples, we've been invited to Birthday, Halloween, Fall and Christmas parties.

Next stop was Rambeck Christmas in Alexandria. We relaxed, ate lots of food and enjoyed a Christmas church service (which came with a light show of it's own). Simon soaked up all the attention and got in the gift opening mood.

Then it was on to Thief River Falls for more gifts and visiting with lots of family and friends. Simon got to see two of his Great Grandmas, and tons of cousins and aunts and uncles. He is evidently in charge of gift opening protocol and gave everyone a very serious speech before gift opening commenced. Luckily we got it on tape and will blackmail him with that in the future. If you are wondering what it with the letter puzzle I'll just say that a certain someone was floating around in the background with the letter D and see if you figure out where we are all going in March:)

It appears that a spaceship is about the land on top of them.

Then back home again to try regain some routine and sleep. With the New Year and then missed days of school because of cold weather we still aren't really in our routine. We were going to bring Simon to his first movie on New Year's Day (as an attempt at starting a new tradition) and he had a lingering cold so we decided to make it a pajamas all day at home day instead. So this morning we finally brought him to his first movie.

Archer was in our hearts and we hope that he was loved on and hugged on his second Christmas. We wrapped up some presents and sent to him including:

With the exception of the larger book because even though I tested it out once they were wrapped I couldn't get everything back in the bag. I let Simon pick out whatever he wanted to send to Archer for Christmas which is why a Buzz Lightyear car is included. Funny story to go with that purchase. We had just gotten home from my cousin's wedding over Thanksgiving and we were all kinda tired but we had to take out all of our Christmas stuff and start decorating because Simon had been bugging me to decorate and I kept telling him that we would do that after Thanksgiving. So sure enough, it was technically after Thanksgiving and that meant we needed to do it immediately. Once his stocking was up he started obsessing about when Santa was coming. Also-this day was FILLED with whining. All day, I was going bonkers. So I had to go and mention that we would make something to help him know when Santa was coming and thus that turned into a project that neededtobedoneimmediately. Ugh. So I told Simon that I would take him to Target to get the materials and for him to pick out a present for Archer's care package but that those were the ONLY things we were buying and there would not be any whining or arguing. He agreed. We are in the entryway and the whining begins! Fairly certain he saw me gritting my teeth and before I even said anything Simon says, "I'm real sorry about that Mom, do you want a back massage?" AND Simon is officially more skilled at getting himself out of trouble than his father.