Christmas Wrap-Up

Dane's second Christmas has come and passed. We can't possibly begin to tell you how much we all enjoyed ourselves - eating yummy food, catching up with old friends, opening shiny presents, and celebrating the birth of Jesus. We did sooo much stuff that to report it all would make for an unending post. But here are some highlights. Pictures will follow shortly.
We spent Christmas Eve at Belk Theater for our church's "An Uptown Christmas" service. We held four services over two days and 8,000 people came out to worship and celebrate. It was, without question, THE service to be at in the Charlotte area. This was our fourth Elevation Christmas, and it did not disappoint.
We had friends and family over for Christmas with Santa. The house was packed and everyone had a blast. There was an insane amount of food. And tons of presents for the young ones. ALL faces were smiling through the day. If you weren't there, you should have been.
Pictures say more than words, so here's an account of our fabulous Christmas. Hope yours was fantastic and that you're all ready for the new year! 2010, here we come!

There's Nothing Better Than...

...Tiny bells jingling and a little boy giggling.

Favorite Things: "Yes, Virginia"

Being that this is the last weekend before Christmas (yeah, that's right), I thought we'd do something a little different. I just can NOT believe that we have a week to go. Last Christmas was the best of our lives, so much so that to try to think of a second best... we fail. But this Christmas? Oh, LOOK OUT!
And truly I am excited to begin our countdown to next Christmas. Although, I will not hurry the time along so much, as Dane Thomas grows, and the little moments caught in a giggle or a bear hug seem to hurry themselves.
And as the holiday season moves forward, we've become more and more busy leaving less time for the day to day chores as well as the Christmas obligations. And so it seems that Dane and I have get less time together. So it's almost hard to understand how the time doesn't pass when I am trying to get done that which needs getting done and Dane is saying he wants to eat for the seventy second time that day, or attempting to flush foreign objects down the toilet, or beating the dogs, or climbing on the Christmas tree, or throwing toys in the fire place, or ... you get it.
So we measure the day in belly laughs and nuzzles as we TRY to slow down the rush. We know, we know, we KNOW though, that no matter how successful we are at slowing down to enjoy our beautiful seventeen month old son this holiday season, we will be doing this again before our heads stop spinning from this round. And next year? Our Baby Dane will be 30 months old.
So, as we wrap up Dane's legos and cars and books, and daydream about his smiling face when he opens them... it is WE who get the real gift; a true understanding of the pure magic of Christmas. And of childhood.
I leave you with my very favorite piece of Christmas tradition, which has come to be known simply as "Yes, Virginia". Have you never read it, you must do so right now. And if it's a favorite of yours as well, well go ahead and read it again anyway. Think of your youngster as you read it. And if they are all grown, then all the better the piece is for you. Please do enjoy, "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus".


Eight-year-old Virginia O'Hanlon wrote a letter to the editor of New York's Sun, and the quick response was printed as an unsigned editorial Sept. 21, 1897. The work of veteran newsman Francis Pharcellus Church has since become history's most reprinted newspaper editorial, appearing in part or whole in dozens of languages in books, movies, and other editorials, and on posters and stamps.

"DEAR EDITOR: I am 8 years old.
"Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus.
"Papa says, 'If you see it in THE SUN it's so.'
"Please tell me the truth; is there a Santa Claus?

"VIRGINIA O'HANLON.
"115 WEST NINETY-FIFTH STREET."

VIRGINIA, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except [what] they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men's or children's, are little. In this great universe of ours man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect, as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.

Yes, VIRGINIA, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus. It would be as dreary as if there were no VIRGINIAS. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.

Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies! You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas Eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if they did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that's no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.

You may tear apart the baby's rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived, could tear apart. Only faith, fancy, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, VIRGINIA, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding.

No Santa Claus! Thank God! he lives, and he lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay, ten times ten thousand years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.

Urrrp!

We’re testing out something new, a program that DOESN’T rely on blogger to get photos and videos up. It’s been so frustrating working to upload a short video and it failing and failing! If this program is a success, you can expect us to be back in the blogging business soon! Only the first video is ours. Not that you CAN'T click and watch the others, just don't expect to see us in them. =)
Here’s a little something to give you a glimpse into our day. If you’ve spent any time around Dane lately, odds are he has burped at you. He thinks it’s the greatest thing. Watch this clip and see if you don’t agree. =)
Please excuse the shaky camera work. YOU try watching this and not laughing!

Spotlight On: Signing

Dane speaks Whinese. We are not happy to hear moaning and groaning whenever Dane's sippy is empty or he needs help. We have been working with Dane since he was about 6 months old with sign language. We do not know sign language, but we have a cool book with tips and flashcards and a signing dictionary for the most common words that will help you communicate with your toddler. Dane Thomas first signed around 9 months, and his very first sign was - surprise, surprise - eat.
Dane isn't saying much yet. Still the babytalk: Mama, Dada, Boo (Blue), Duhguh (Dingo), and many many animal sounds (a post all in its own!). But Dane signs all the time, all day.
So here's a list of the signs that Dane Thomas has so far mastered: eat, more, all done, drink, please, car, no, stop. Again and help are the signs we're working on now.
This is such a great time to be working with him because he is so open to learning. So many opportunities come up daily to learn new signs, and Dane is quite receptive. He totally understands the concept and he is doing great. It's really helping us communicate with him and we are sooo proud of him!

Weekend Wrap-Up

What a fantastic weekend we had! Thanksgiving was amazing - great food and good times with the family. After dinner, we threw everyone out and Jackie started planning her Black Friday excursion. She was in line to shop by 10 o'clock pm. She didn't return home until 7 am Friday morning. Got some super deals and DT's shopping is covered!
We got a tree and lazed around on Friday, ignoring much of the cleanup that went un-cleaned-up from our turkey (and ham!) feast. Friday night DT spent the night at Camp Gramps, and as rumor has it, he actually slept in there! More lazing and more Christmas prep took over the remainder of our lovely long weekend.

By the way, THIS is what that Howard photo SHOULD have looked like:

Picture of the Week

What a happy Thanksgiving we had! Hope all of our readers did well with turkey and fixin's. We had about 20 visitors and surprise, surprise - the day went swimmingly! We could not have asked for better. We so enjoyed not having to rush from place to place, and we're thinking this open door T-day is the way to go!

We only took a few photos, and I selected this one for PotW. It is unbelievable how much I hate it. Can we say Awkward Family Photos anyone? I mean, even Dane Thomas looks angry! Makes you wonder what I said before I took the picture, huh?!


Gramps, Daniel, Dane Thomas and Great Grandma

Busy, Busy

Today Dane Thomas helped his mommy prepare for the Thanksgiving feast we'll be hosting tomorrow. We decided to stop trying to make the rounds to everybody and their mama on each holiday. So this Thanksgiving, we're letting the family come to us. We're holding an open door Thanksgiving, and everyone is welcome to visit and eat with us between the hours of 11 and 5. We're kicking everyone out by 5, because Jackie has to catch a COUPLE of hours of sleep so she can face the Black Friday crowds. No hard feelings if you can't make it, but don't grudge on us for staying home! We are expecting about 20 people tomorrow, so the house has been abuzz with cooking and prep-work. Everything smells delicious and we're beat.
To those coming: 1)Do not (not not not) show up before 11. We will not let you in. Go ahead, test us. 2)No fighting over Dane! =)

We're wishing you and yours a very Happy Thanksgiving.

"Put It Back"

Dane's latest craze is putting things away. Once we play with books or blocks, we tell Dane it's time to clean up and put things back. He used to have no interest, but lately our praise is his top priority. So he listens. This also works when he grabs things from the cabinets, shoe racks, closets. We are liking his obedience in this respect, but wonder if he could be taking the act of "put it back" too far.
Today, we get home from a long day in the car and Dane goes off to his rec room. After a short while, Dane brings me the dog bowl from the dining room. I tell him "No sir, put it back". Away he goes and I return to the task at hand. The next thing I hear is Dane picking up dog food. Or was he putting it down? My curiosity won and I decided to go peek in rather than call for him. I watch for a while in sheer entertainment as Dane Thomas picks up dog food from Dingo's bowl, and walks it across the room and puts it into Blue's bowl. Repeat, repeat, repeat until Blue has all the food. Only then does he notice his curious spectator. He flashes a confident smile at his mommy...
And begins his mission to return the food to Dingo's bowl.

Weekend Wrap-Up

This weekend we had our floors replaced on the bottom level. The work was done for us, and we are still left EXHAUSTED. Our greatest accomplishment of the weekend was that we survived. No productivity, no fun.

I've never been so happy to see Monday.
And I've never been so happy to see it go.

Indoor Play Time

"How about this freakin' weather?"
It's all good, we've been having a ball inside. Jackie broke bank and bought a fancy DSLR camera and has enjoyed the opportunity to have some slow photo sessions. Here are some shots of Dane playing in the toy room with mommy.

Monkey Man

For Halloween this year Dane dressed up as a monkey. Jackie sewed the costume herself, which may be why we felt the need to take and share so very many pictures. We took Dane trick-or-treating around the cul-de-sac to show him off and meet the neighbors. Dane was more occupied with his raisins (which you will find in many pictures) than with the candy. He didn't fully grasp the concept of TOTing, and he would try to take the candy he got from one house and GIVE IT to the people at the next house. He did love ringing the doorbells though. He did a great job and we all had a lot of fun. Here's a collection of our favorite pictures of our little monkey man!