Bloom

I'm still here.  I've been hiding because of the cold and gray weather.  But I peaked out today just to see the sun and show it that I am still here.

A Griswold Family Christmas

Christmas at my house is nothing short of magical.  It always has been and I can only hope for many, many more years of it's twinkling, sparkling goodness.  The Husband and I both come from big families who might make others feel a little uneasy because of the immense love that we all share.  Both of our families will love all there is to love about you, squeeze you real tight until you are just about to squeal, and then they'll squeeze a little tighter.  We are really blessed.  I've always admired how we brought together two families that cannot seem to out match each other in love and pure craziness.
At Christmas it is amazing that our house does not explode with the amount of energy running through it.  My mama spends much of December as a cosmic ball of energy making sure that everyone's Christmas is magical.  She really has a connected spirit with Clark Griswold.  "Is your house on fire, Clark?"..."No, Aunt Bethany, those are the Christmas lights."  A lot of times you can't see the Nettie whirlwind, but she blows through with greenery here and candles there.  You'll smell the Chex Mix and bacon.  You'll hear the ancient Christmas tunes of my grandmother's play on itchy record albums.  It is wild and crazy, but it is what Christmas has always been to me.  No matter what-we always slow down to eat together- even if we have to force Nettie to pump the brakes and sit a minute. 

The slow down is when we actually get to look around and see the little parts of our Christmas.  This was a Christmas of many special little parts, but there were three that really made the Smith house even more exciting.

Lula

Miss E

Lukins

It's the little details that Nettie adds year after year that I love.  I can remember the year we added icicle lights or the year we gave her the glass crystal Christmas trees.  My favorite addition this year was the tiny Christmas tree that sat in the kitchen with my great aunt's old Christmas tags hung on it (it was the Depression-they seemed to save everything). 

Snow was a beautiful finale to our magical Christmas this year even though I always hate to see the season end.  Although the crazy may slow down for a bit, the love our family shares never seems to dwindle.  It's part of the magic that continues to grow throughout each and every year. 

Our Bridge

Jason and Lukins

Jack and Bailey

Think again, Bailey.

   Merry Christmas to all.  See you in 2011!!

O Tannenbaum

Well, we had a rocky start.  We slapped each other around.  We screamed.  We broke things.  We cried.  We called each other terrible names.  We really showed our bad side.  We were ready to call it quits and never see each other again.  But then The Husband stepped in and insisted that we don't give up so soon.  He showed me the beauty of the situation and encouraged me to pick it up and try again.  So after many tears, we came back and picked it up, swept up the broken glass, and we tried all over again.  If it weren't for The good ol' Husband, I would have probably purchased a fake Christmas tree next year that was sure to never fall over. 

Merry Christmas!

Red Wine and a Screen Door

The Husband is a really great uncle.  He loves him some Pat Pat.  So tonight on my way home I snagged Pat Pat from tearing apart his Gammy and Pappy's house and brought him over to see his Uncle Bubbs.  They fed Cricket.  They played in the yard with Jacques and Bay-Oui (both very "French" sounding in Pat Pat's language).  They fed Cricket.  They went through DVDs.  They fed Cricket.  They went in and out of the screened in porch because that is Pat Pat's favorite thing to do here.  He loves the sliding screen door.

Well, then later on tonight-Pat Pat- you got your Uncle Bubbs and his red, red wine.  Real nice.

An Early Start

I suppose I just need it.  I'm looking for Christmas music on the radio rather than being shocked that it is here so soon.  I can't wait to start putting a 12 for the date on my checkbook.  I'm counting down the days until I get to pull down the giant Rubbermaid boxes labeled "Reindeer" or "Ornaments-fragile".  Now, don't worry, I'm not trying to skip right over Thanksgiving and not give it enough attention-no.  I do love some Thanksgiving- turkey, sweet potato pie, ambrosia, all of it.  But I just want to soak up Christmas- actual Christmas- a bit longer this year.  I need it all just a little bit longer than before.  So I guess until everyone else is with me and my early decking of the halls, I'll spend my time with Cindy Lou and Linus. 

 Just 6 more weeks left...

A Lazy Saturday

I love lazy Saturdays.  I love the moment to catch my breath and find myself again.  It takes some time to find me underneath the week of dirty clothes, stresses, pet hair, and dishes; but, I'm in there somewhere.  I get a chance to reflect on my week- think about what went well and what went wrong.  And I had lots to reflect on from this past week.  It was a long week to say the least and it felt like like everything was going wrong.  Until yesterday. 
I realized yesterday that I had created a family.  (No, crazy Nettie and hopeful Papa, no grandkids yet).  And in all honesty, I can't take credit for this creation.  It's one of those things that just seems to happen.  I have a family of students in my classroom.  If need be, I know that these youngins would go to bat for me.  Don't get me wrong- they never miss an opportunity to tell me that I'm having a bad hair day or my outfit doesn't match.  But when it comes down to it, they will always protect me and each other.   
Even though many of them have confused ideas about family, they are learning what it means to have a safe place with consistency.  My only hope is that one day (after they graduate from college and have a job), they foster their own families with the same values, honesty, and unconditional love that has emerged in our classroom.
And so now on my lazy Saturday, I hold onto that small beautiful accomplishment of my week.  I put all of the "what went wrong" to the side and stay encouraged that there are still things that are going well.

Milk Duds and Popcorn

There are some combinations that work so well together and we can't always figure out why.  You might not know it, but Milk Duds and popcorn are one of the most delicious snacks when you put them together.  Sure...they are pretty good on their own, but together they make something that is truly unlike anything else.  It's almost as if they have needed each other all along.

There is an unlikely combination in my classroom that I have just recently started watching.  Derrick and Monti are clearly opposites- a salty and a sweet, if you will.  Derrick is what you might call a "problem child."  He has a home life that few adults would be able to survive in.  He is well below grade level and has severe anger issues.  He's obsessed with watching himself bleed and he always sits by himself.  Most teachers just try to tolerate Derrick until the bell rings.  Most students fear him.  I've never known him to have one single friend.  Monti is also below grade level.  Most assignments are challenging for her, but she always tries.  She is very outgoing and is always making friends, but Monti struggles with childhood obesity.  Each day she faces grade school teasing and hurtful whispers behind her back.  In the year that I have known her, she has never once acknowledged the teasing.  She ignores it and pushes on through her day.

It was about 2 weeks ago when Derrick asked to be moved from his isolated seat and to be back in a group.  He wanted to know if he could sit with Monti.  This surprised me, but Derrick is always surprising me.  I decided to keep my eye on him.  I soon realized that he was different sitting with Monti.  He was protective of her which caused many of the cruel whispers about her to be hushed.  My salty Derrick was becoming sweet. 

One day last week Derrick used a pencil to stab himself in his arm.  He was escorted out of class and didn't return for the remainder of the day.  The next morning before class began I overheard Monti and Derrick talking at their group.  Monti was asking why Derrick stabbed himself.  When Derrick told her that he wanted to do it because nobody cares about him, Monti softly replied, "I care.  You're my friend."

With that, I melted.  I melted just like Milk Duds and popcorn.  I realized that this was most certainly an unlikely combination that has needed each other all along.