A Heartfelt Thank You

I thought I would take a minute to thank everyone who remembered us this Christmas.

To our families. Your love and support each and every day of the year is more than gift enough, but thanks to you as well for the presents sent, phone calls made and memories shared with us during this Christmas season. We missed your presence this year, as we celebrated Christmas in Fort Collins, but we spent a good deal of Christmas Day remembering Christmases past when we were fortunate enough to be with you. We look forward to those in the future, when we are able to do so again. We are blessed beyond measure to have you.

To our friends. Thank you for the gifts, phone calls, time spent and laughter shared. We especially loved hearing your Christmas stories, seeing your Christmas pictures and knowing that even though working through the holidays wasn't optional, work was something to look forward to because you were there. We are blessed beyond measure to have you.

Love and Best Wishes for a Spectacular 2009!

John, Kristin and Taylor

Christmas Morning

Merry Christmas!

Without further ado, let the picture show begin. :)

This is the sight that greeted John this morning, when sounds of
glee erupted from the vicinity of the front room...

Taylor made the very wise decision to let her parents sleep in while she made short work of going through the presents from Santa in her stocking. Among them were an Ugly Doll named Ox, chocolate and mints, that elusive Wisconsin state quarter we spent all year looking for, juggling balls, a new Hello Kitty water bottle. The piece de resistance though, was the Nintendo DS personal game system. I'm pretty sure that's what all the squealing was over. :)

Taylor played the role of helper elf, as usual. Even though 99%
of the gifts under the tree were for her, as usual.

Among all of those bright, shiny packages she found a massive
make-up set from Uncle Henry...

the much coveted "Fat Man Book" from Grandma Lou...
(so called because of the 3D pic of the World's Heaviest Human inside)

Games from Grandma and Grandpa...

And a game for her DS from Mom and Dad. I was surprised she
didn't wonder how we knew she was going to receive
a DS from Santa...

And, after about 37 gifts, give or take a couple, it was time
to make Mickey waffles.

Every year that we celebrate Christmas at home, we make Mickey waffles.
We started this family tradition on Taylor's 2nd Christmas.

I stumbled to the kitchen to whip up the batter, break out the fruit compote and whipped cream and get the table ready. 10 minutes later, Mickey joined the festivities. I even felt brave enough to attempt a bite or two, which very soon thereafter proved to be a huge mistake. No regrets, though. It is Christmas after all!

The rest of the day was spent together, talking to our loved ones on the phone, enjoying the gifts we were blessed to receive. Late afternoon was nap time for everyone. John cozied up under the beautiful afghan his mom crocheted for our Christmas gift this year.

The best nap accessory ever--a 100% wool afghan made by Mom.

Alas, the festivities are winding down. John is scheduled to work this evening and Taylor is ready for bed. I am planning on taking up semi-permanent residence on the family room sofa until this illness is gone once and for all!

We were separated from loved ones by distance this year, but as always, feel very close to them in heart. May love and peace be with you all.

Kristin

The Santa Set-Up

Thank goodness for husbands.

I don't know if I've ever uttered those words out loud before, but I'm sure I should have. More specifically, thank goodness for my husband. Without his help and attention to detail, I'm quite sure our Christmas morning celebration tomorrow would be rather dismal indeed.

You see, I have caught the dreaded stomach plague that has been making the rounds in Fort Collins over the past several weeks. The past 24 hours have been truly miserable. When not writhing on the sofa in agony, I have been making repeated sojourns to the Throne of Horror. Yes, you know what I mean. I am not feeling very Christmasy--not at all.

But my husband has saved the day. Wrapping presents. Faking Santa's handwriting. Putting out Santa's snack and some Cheerios for Rudolph (a Grandma Lou tradition). Making sure all of the little things are done that will make Taylor's Christmas of 2008 a thing to remember with happiness.

First, the message board. Ever since Taylor was old enough to care about Santa and Rudolph, we've been having her write a message to him on her message board. We continued the tradition this year.

If you've ever seen John's handwriting, you know the effort
involved in this very legible message from Santa... :)

I love that Taylor still writes 'Mary Christmas' for her yearly shout out to Santa Claus, rather than correctly saying 'Merry Christmas'. When she was very little and we were living on Springfield Drive, we had next-door neighbors named Mary and Earl. Both in their late eighties, they were lovely people and absolutely in love with Taylor. Taylor's confusion about "Mary Christmas" came about quite naturally as a result. With no concept of what the word 'merry' meant, she automatically assumed that when we ran around saying "Merry Christmas" at Christmas time, we must be talking about her favorite neighbor. The cute mix-up has become a family joke and tradition, even though she does know what the difference is these days. Mary has been gone for a few years now, but the fond memories will hopefully never fade.

Next, the cookies and milk for Santa. We put out a Santa snack each year, plus some Cheerios for Rudolph. The cookies are always homemade and decorated by Taylor. I was worried about how we were going to accomplish this, as Taylor was sick for the last several days and now it's my turn. Thank goodness for friends and neighbors!

Here's an example of Taylor's finest cookie decorating efforts for
Santa this year. To be honest, this is perhaps the only reason I
can think of to be glad I have the stomach plague. :)

Taylor asked me, "How many cookies does Santa eat when he's
out making deliveries?" I said, "If they're anything like this one,
probably about 3!"

Taylor was invited to attend a sleepover at her BFF's house on Monday, but because of a last minute snafu, the date was changed to last night, the 23rd. The change in plans could not have been more fortuitous. Rather than watch me retch and kvetch, Taylor spent last night at her BFF's house making cookies for Santa and having the time of her life. She and her friend Arianna stayed up until 3 a.m. playing games, jumping on beds and carousing as only 7-year old girls can do. I am most impressed that the girls were allowed to decorate their cookies ad lib, without the influence of an overly anal adult around (me). Very memorable and quite, uh, sugary. I hope Santa enjoys every bite. And brings his injectable insulin with him in his sleigh. He'll need it if he eats so much as a single bite of one of these babies.

Knock yourself out Santa!

John set up the message board, the snacks and Taylor's stocking upstairs in the front room. We've just finished wrapping the last of Taylor's gifts. Everything is set and ready to go. According to the latest Santa Tracker update from 9 News in Colorado, Santa should be making his stop at the Anthony household sometime within the hour. Better get myself to bed!

Kristin

Christmas Caroling 2008

Taylor's Brownie troop has been working on their winter project over the last several months, ever since school started up again. Twice each month the girls met to make ornaments and gifts for their friends at Respite Care. They also decided to plan an afternoon of Christmas carols at the center for all to come and enjoy.

Today was the big day! Taylor was so excited when she got up this morning. It's Christmas Caroling Day at Respite Care! She practiced her songs a little bit this morning, went to school for the day, then came home to change and get ready for the extravaganza. Here's our very own professional Christmas caroler, all dressed up and ready to sing.

I told Taylor the the combination of dressy dress, mary janes,
Brownie vest and antlers was just smashing. :)

Here's a short clip of our very amateurish camera video of the girls singing one of the classics. Doesn't every kid sing this song for a Christmas program? If you look closely, you can see Taylor on the left by the piano, with her antlers jingling, hiding behind her 'cheat sheet'. :)

All combined, there were over 40 girls that attended this year's festivities at Respite Care. The troops pooled funds to buy the facility a new microwave oven and donated their leftover cookie money from last year to Respite Care's camp fund. The girls all reported having a wonderful time and have already asked to go back next year.

It was so rewarding to watch Taylor up there singing her little heart out. I spent the whole time trying to make sure my misty eyes didn't actually well up and spill over. I really needn't have bothered. When I looked around, there wasn't a dry eye in the house.

Kristin

Heaven in Winter

Never underestimate the effect of simple physics on the life of a child.......

What is it???????

A snowball maker?!?!?!?! Let's try it out!

It works!!!!! That is SO cool!

Unloading the wondrous creation...

By the little smirk on her face, can you tell what happened next?
SNOWBALL FIGHT!!!

Kristin

Send Me to the Moon

Wow! Did anyone else stop dead in their tracks to stare at the moon tonight? I knew nothing about the lunar specialness about to show itself, but it was breathtaking. Here's what National Geographic news has to say about the phenomenon:

Look for an especially large and bright Full Moon later this week. The Full Moon of 2008 DEC 12 will occur very near perigee. That perigee will be the closest between the centers of the Moon and Earth since 1993 and until 2016. The Earth is not far from its early January perihelion. That enhances the brightness of reflected sunlight. The closest perigees occur when they coincide with a Full Moon and the Earth near perihelion. Since this month’s Full Moon will be happening near the Winter Solstice, it will appear especially high near local midnight for observers north of the tropics. Where there is snow on the ground the lighting effect may be breathtaking.

No kidding! I walked upstairs to turn off the kitchen lights and looked out our patio doors. I was stunned by the oh-so-bright moonlight reflected off the pristine snow in our backyard. I tried to take pictures of it all, but no luck there. I didn't realize exactly how hard it is to take good pictures of the moon.

For we peeps in North America, the moon will be fullest and closest during midday tomorrow, the 12th. But the difference will be barely noticeable during the two nights on either side, so in essence we’ll be seeing the effect twice. If you missed it, there's still a chance!

Kristin

Puttin' Up the Tree

Today was Put Up the Tree Day at our house. Woo hoo! Every year we try to find one new ornament that we can't live without. This year Taylor's aunt Christine helped us out with that. A box arrived in the mail with this little cutie inside. Taylor was thrilled!

If you're a seven year old girl, this ornament is the cat's meow.
Thanks Aunt Christine!

Taylor also picked out the tree topper this year. We've used this one before, but she looks especially lovely with all of the dark red ornaments on the tree. Dad helped Taylor get her to the top of the tree.

Taylor loves angels, so no surprise on her choice of tree topper
this year.

With the tree up and all of the lights working, we feel ready to start the countdown to Christmas. Let the season begin! We've got Christmas carols to practice, cookies to make and many festivities to attend. We'll have posts up in the next few weeks to chronicle Taylor's holiday activities.

Kristin

The Only Child

It seems everywhere I go these days (supermarket, library, car ride to Tae Kwon Do) I am bombarded with messages concerning only children. No kidding. The last three books I've read have had entire passages devoted to the topic. Just yesterday, my favorite afternoon radio show had an entire portion devoted to discussing the Only Child Curse. Then, Taylor piped up from the back seat on the way to Tae Kwon Do class to tell me that she hated being an only child.

For about two nanoseconds, I was furious. Furious at the situation that I hated. I wanted to slam on the brakes and ask her if she actually thought for one second that I had planned things this way. Then I almost started crying. Because even after all this time I still feel guilty. About what, I don't know. Just guilty about all of it. And I couldn't think of one thing to say to her about being the one and only.

Wow. If I ever thought I was prepared for this discussion with my daughter, the overwhelming wave of guilt I felt yesterday assured me that I'm very, very wrong in that assumption.

I've heard over the years many, many opinions regarding only children. The litany of negative comments is one I can recite by heart. As in: They don't learn how to share. They're spoiled. If you don't take extreme precautions against it, only children turn out unsocialized and selfish. The teenage years will be hell because of the extreme pressure an only child feels from parents. Only children are lonely. She'll hate you because she doesn't have any siblings. She'll be all alone when you die.

I think the only way I'd feel more guilty about our family size is if I had been brought up Jewish. Seriously.

Then I picked up my fourth book dealing with only children and found my saving grace. While I think Taylor is far too young to listen to discussions involving my life-long bout with PCOS, or the several miscarriages I've had, I think she's probably ready to hear something like this:

Haroun wanted to know why his parents hadn't had more children, but the only answer he ever got from Rashid was no answer at all: "There's more to you, young Haroun, than meets the blinking eye."
Well, what was that supposed to mean? "We used up our full quota of child-stuff in making you," Rashid explained. "It's all packed in there, enough for maybe four, five kiddies. Yes, sir, there's more to you than the blinking eye can see."

Haroun and the Sea of Stories--Salman Rushdie

Yeah. I think Rushdie got it right.

Someday Taylor will be old enough to understand that we tried and failed. That we didn't have a fortune to spend on 'treating the problem', that we didn't plan it quite this way, but having her made it all okay. And we'll do everything we can to make being 'the only one' okay. Or even better than okay.

As for me, I no longer have many worries about how my only child will be. If the last seven years are any kind of proof, I think Taylor will turn out great. Maybe even more than great.

Kristin