Christmas in Tucson

Our family had a fantastic trip to Tucson. I was nervous about the 15 hour car ride, but we got a 4 am start each direction and the kids were very patient in the car. My three siblings were there, so my parents' house was full indeed. We had lots of sunny weather, and the kids spent much of their time in the backyard gardening, climbing, and Madeline even spread out a few towels for sunbathing. Highlights include seeing the six cousins play together for the first time in two years, attending a Western-style melodrama performance at Gaslight theater with an amazing live pianist, spending time at a neighbor's horse and chicken farm, delivering homemade cards and caroling to hospice patients, hiking to the top of a local mountain for the sunset and stargazing, reconnecting with the only friend I've known since kindergarten and haven't seen in twelve years (gotta love Facebook), delicious Mexican food and desserts, and long walks in the desert along my parents' road. Thanks mom and dad for all your hard work hosting us, Danny for sharing your talent as a photographer, and everyone for a memorable holiday!

The Cannon Family--2 grandparents, 4 siblings, 3 in-laws, and 6 grandkids

The Arizona skies are truly breathtaking

Christmas Eve Dinner

Our family singing "The Orchestra" with my sisters for Christmas Eve program

Caleb and Sierra playing in a stagecoach with their cousins Katie and Grace


Sierra petting the neighbor's horse

The kids loved holding and collecting eggs from the neighbor's chickens

Christmas morning

Caleb and cousin Joey at the mall

The four girl cousins playing at the mall after we all went to see Katie and Grace pierce their ears

A Crazy Preschool Christmas

Since I haven't blogged in over a month, I have a lot to catch up on. I tried really hard to keep Christmas as simple as possible this year, limiting presents for our entire family of 5 and my extended family to what could fit in one suitcase and opting to forgo sending Christmas cards. However, as early as Thanksgiving I was already feeling snowballed with the amount of shopping and things to do in order to prepare for the holiday and our family's trip to Arizona and California over the break. It was my preschool class duties that almost put me over. On top of the usual bustle of the Christmas performance and party, our pre-K team decided to have each child make a handprint calendar for their parents. It turned out to be an over-the-top project with 195 total calendar pages involving several handprints per page. Rather than teaching, my days were spent handprinting one student at a time, and afterwards there were hours of gluing and assembling. The photo below represents one day's handprinting work, a small portion of the total project. The calendars turned out really cute, but I laugh when I think that a preschool project nearly put me over in the month of December.

My preschool class before going on stage to perform their Christmas program

The now legendary handprinting project

Thanksgiving Weekend

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. While I am indeed thankful to have Ted and the children to spend the day with, I've come to the conclusion that Thanksgiving just isn't the same without additional family or friends to add to the excitement. It seems like too much effort making a huge meal for just five people, so if anyone ever needs a place to go, give us a call.

This year, I am pleased to report that our full-sized turkey turned out much better than last year's attempt at a turkey breast. Many thanks to my mom for giving me the courage and know-how to take on the project, Oprah's cooking show, the turkey advice online, Sierra for accompanying me to purchase the turkey, and Ted for removing the giblet bag. This was no small emotional obstacle for a vegetarian to overcome, so I needed a lot of help getting through the process. It didn't help when Sierra was cradling the little frozen cornish hens and singing them lullabies in the grocery store. (She wants a baby chick so badly after holding one at a friend's birthday party, so I think this was the next best thing to having a pet of her own.)

After spending Tuesday and Wednesday making four pies and the side dishes mostly from scratch, I have vowed to make things easier and lighter next year. I've had a stomachache for a couple weeks, and we normally don't eat rich food, so I felt like I was forcing myself to eat what we had spent so long making. I do think the kids enjoyed the holiday, watching the Macy's Day Parade and sampling all the new dishes. Sierra was extremely dainty dabbing her mouth with her cloth napkin, and Caleb tied his napkin around his neck and dug into a huge helping of turkey and cranberry sauce. Madeline loved the pumpkin pie so much she inhaled four pieces without swallowing.

I've always wondered what Black Friday is all about, but have never dared venture out. This year Caleb promised to go with me, so I spent a couple hours looking through the online ads and seeing what was available. Caleb wanted to leave at 4:30 am, but I talked him into waiting until a more decent hour. We started at Wal-Mart just as the sun was coming up on a very dreary morning, and we couldn't find a single item from our list still in stock! We headed over to Target and found everything we were looking for, and then went to the mall and Costco. I don't think we got any fantastic deals, but at least we now know what it's all about.

Life in a Nutshell

I'm having a good day with my hand, so I thought I'd write an entry before I forget what has happened and everyone gives up on checking my blog. For Halloween this year, Madeline dressed up as a pink Care Bear. (She always gets to be whatever Sierra was three years ago.) She caught onto trick-or-treating right away, and very happily ran up to each door. Sierra chose to wear her Snow White dress. The next school day she got a chance to make a creative costume when her kindergarten had a nursery rhyme play. Sierra was the Cat and the Fiddle, and carefully carried Ted's very small childhood violin. Caleb wanted to make his costume, and after nearly deciding to be a vampire, he opted to be a refrigerator. He wore a box with two flaps that opened like a side-by-side model that he decorated with alphabet magnets, kids' drawings, and a shopping list, and on his inside doors he pasted pictures of foods.

I feel like Christmas is already upon us. This week we've been to a ballet performance of "The Nutcracker" and Dallas Children's Theater's "Madeline's Christmas." The kids also got a special chance to visit with Santa Claus, who amazingly is related to one of our neighbors. Every year she invites kids to come meet Santa in her home, and my kids are convinced this Santa is no elf stand in. He has a real white beard and naturally stuffed belly, drives an SUV with the vanity plate Santa 1, and has a beautiful costume with an etched and painted belt and key attached for opening doors in homes without chimneys. He even has a little bowl of snow that he brings from the North Pole. Every year with Santa follows the same pattern--Sierra brings her very girly request list (this time a Bitty Baby and Mariposa Barbie), Caleb grills Santa with those hard-to-answer questions (did you know he's 840 years old?), and Madeline gets very excited shouting "ho ho ho" until he looks at her and she breaks down crying.

Speaking of crying, my sweet Madeline seems to have a tantrum quota she's trying to fill. Each day begins with a massive fit until I can persuade her to each breakfast. This can be brought on by such atrocities as me trying to roll up her pants so she doesn't trip or not letting her play when we need to leave for school. Once I get food into her (which can be quite a feat), she usually is pretty happy until about 3pm, when she cries off and on (mostly on) until we can't stand it anymore and put her to bed. Despite her toddler size, she's quite strong when she throws her whole body into protest. It can take me a long time to put her diaper on or buckle her into her car seat when she's in full blown hysteria. I will be happy indeed when she outgrows what I'm sure must be a phase --please, let this be a phase. The one thing that always calms her is seeing the moon outside (when it's available). She also loves "Double Double Lovin" by the Osmonds, but I can only take about ten listenings per day.

Ted was able to take a getaway to visit his brother Brent and his old friend Corey. He loved catching up with them and taking long bike rides and walks through the scenic fall countryside. A die hard Phillies fan since he was a little boy, Ted was overjoyed when they won the World Series.

I'm doing well and keeping busy. I became somewhat of an election addict last month, catching Anderson Cooper 360 or Larry King Live every night. I feel lost now during my down time at night--my old hobby of reading doesn't seem quite so exciting as all the fascinating candidates and CNN's magic map.

We wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving. We'll be home all week hoping for sunny weather for lots of outdoor play.

Still here!

I've had family and friends writing wondering how everything is going since it has been a few weeks since I posted. I've been having problems with pain and numbness in my hands, wrists, and elbows, so until I get that sorted out, I'm trying to keep my computer time to a minimum. We are having a wonderful fall and have some cute pictures to share, so I'll try to talk Ted into helping with some posts when he gets a chance. There's nothing wrong with my voice, so I'm always up for a call if you want to catch up!

Cub Scout Popcorn

Caleb became a Cub Scout this year and has the job of selling popcorn as a fundraiser. Not wanting to bother our neighbors, Ted and I have put off the task until this weekend. I hoped that Caleb would have at least one customer given the price of the popcorn (most of the money goes to scouting) and the state of the economy. We have been amazed by the generosity and support of our neighbors. He's had close to a 100% success rate. Caleb loved the experience and says this has been the best part of scouting so far. I even had a pretty good time meeting neighbors and finding out where kids we know from school live. Caleb happened upon a little boy from his kindergarten class, and the mom invited him to come in and play video games. They are a really sweet family, but when I came over to pick him up a while later, he was upset because he wished he could have been selling popcorn. He even met a little boy from his 2nd grade class who we had no idea lived just across the street and down a couple doors. He's an only child, and the mom was really friendly and said to please come and knock any time Caleb would like to play. And to think I thought there were no boys Caleb's age near our house! Whoever could have thought that selling popcorn could be such a positive experience. What wonderful neighbors we have!

Do you love me?

Of my children, Sierra is usually the one I have the most trouble relating to. I often worry that I'm not giving her what she needs since we're so different from each other. Thankfully, she seems to think I'm doing all right. She's the child who always tells me what a great mom I am and that she loves me SOOOO much. She writes me piles of love letters and drawings that accumulate outside my bedroom, on the kitchen counter, and on the refrigerator door. Caleb is usually reserved in his praises, and he would rather die than admit he loves me. I always tell him I love him, and then he'll pause for a second and say goodbye or good night. I've told him he's too old to act that way until he grows whiskers on his chin, and I've even joked about installing a little "I Love You, Mommy" button in his hand that I can squeeze when I want to hear those words. Madeline, of course, is a little young to express all her feelings, but she's getting really good at parroting everything we say to her. I keep telling her I love her and sometimes repeat it again hoping she'll catch on and say it back. I've thought maybe those words were just hard for her to pronounce until I heard her this weekend telling her yellow lab stuffed puppy clear as day, "I love you, doggy." What does it take to get some love around here? Thank goodness for hugs and kisses and Sierra.