Christmas Memories

Our Christmas trip to San Antonio started off with a rough patch last week. The morning involved a call to poison control after Grant decided to make a science experiment with his medicines and a trip to the doctor for me to get 2 shots in an effort to keep sickness at bay. Thankfully, by the end of the day, we safely arrived in SA and were able to celebrate Christmas for a few days with both sides of the family.

I really enjoyed the Christmas season this year. And while I know it's not over yet (Brad keeps reminding me that the Christian calendar allots 12 days to celebrate Christmas starting on December 25!), I know it will be over soon and I'm already a little sad. We were able to make a lot of good memories this year and I felt like I actually slowed down and savored the season - and it made it so much more special to me this particular year.

Some of my favorite memories from this Christmas season:

1. Learning to make homemade marshmallows and enjoying them in hot chocolate - quite the indulgence. (by the way, I got a juicer for Christmas and believe me, I am in need of a juice fast to detoxify after the last couple of weeks - yikes)

2. Spontaneously driving around to look at lights - we did this a lot. We frequented a particular house in Waco that has got to be an award winner for tackiness. Grant would often ask to go see the house with 'the most lights you've EVER ever seen!'

3. Learning to appreciate the ups and downs of parenting. Example: I wanted us to try to be purposeful about observing advent with Grant. The very first night, I made us all hot chocolate from scratch. I set everything out in the living room. Grant comes in and we take out his Fisher Price nativity so we can set it up together and explain everything. He immediately (accidentally) spills his hot chocolate all over the carpet and I try for the next 30 minutes not to cry as I try to get it out before it stains. Sigh. We resume, but it's not quite like the picturesque version I thought would happen. This scene replayed itself in various ways throughout the month. Sometimes (or all the time) I just want everything to be perfect, but I keep learning to appreciate the moments as they come - in whatever package.

4. The Children's Christmas musical at church. The tripping over the risers, the one kid that belts out the words over the others, the little boy that keeps putting his choir robe over his head and hiding, the little girl that got whisked off stage just before vomiting on everyone - I mean, really - it never disappoints in entertainment factor.

5. See #3. After a couple of nights of telling him the Christmas story, Grant tells me one night, "Mommy, I'm tired of that story. Can I hear another one?"

6. Lastly, I will not forget that Grant stole Santa's cookies right from under the tree. We had a lot of fun making them. He even got to eat one or two. Then he seemed very uncertain about putting the plate under the tree... Sure enough, an hour later he was discovered in his room - the stolen cookies in hand with a very guilty look on his face.

Here are a few pictures from the past week:

Brad and Grant at our youth Christmas party.

Attempting a ginger bread house at the party. They are harder than they look, aren't they?

Grant was probably already plotting how he could keep all these to himself...why did he have to inherit my sweet tooth?

Opening gifts with kids doubles the fun. When I need to laugh I will look at this picture. I guess she is retaliating against all the boys in her life. Notice the pink hair dryer and red purse. Sophia loved all her girly girl gifts. Why did I think she'd like crayons and a coloring book?? I should have just wrapped up some of my old jewelry and nail polish. She makes me hope for a girl one day!

I know that our Christmas trips home are probably getting fewer - I'm glad we were able to be there this year, even if we did miss the 'first time in a 100 years' snow here in Waco!

ICE

Yesterday we all traveled to Grapevine to see the Ice exhibit at the Gaylord Texan.  It was a very festive day.  The hotel is amazing.  The atrium is huge and everywhere you look, there is something special to see.  The Ice exhibit was very impressive.  The theme was 'the Grinch'.  Because everything is made of ice, the temperature is only 19 degrees and so they give you huge parkas to wear inside.  One of the the neatest things was the slide room.  They had a big slide made entirely of ice.  There wasn't a long line for the children's slide and Grant loved it.  He went down several times and probably would have kept going for a long time if we didn't stop him.  It was a very fun day!

Grant's favorite part.  If you got a push, then you could go down super fast!

All bundled up in our bulky blue parkas!

You weren't supposed to touch the ice, but Grant really wanted to give the Grinch a hug :)

Our Real Food Journey

Today was another step along the way in our journey to eat better food. We visited Sand Creek Farm near Cameron, TX. We left with 2 gallons of raw milk compliments of their jersey cows, several cuts of meat compliments of their 100% grass fed cows, fresh homemade yogurt, fresh gouda cheese, and we almost left with a dozen fresh eggs. There is nothing I like more than fresh eggs. Unfortunately, I dropped them all over myself on our way out....quite the mess. We had been going to a farm near Abbott for our milk, eggs, and meat but decided to try this place since it offered more.

I have to say that we owe most of this journey to the influence of what I like to affectionately call 'our hippie friends' Bailey and Christine (Since you read my blog, I guess that one's out of the bag. Trust me, I mean it as a term of endearment). Bailey works for The Movement Dallas and he and Christine offer a wealth of wisdom about eating healthy and organically.

We've been listening to them for some time now, some of it going in one ear and out the other, putting some of it to practice but then abandoning it and so on. But for me, everything changed in early October. Brad and I were driving back to Waco from a trip and we were talking to Bailey on the phone. I told him that I felt awful all of the time. I always felt that icky feeling when you're too full, I felt exhausted everyday right around 4pm, I didn't even enjoy eating anymore. He told me yet again what I should start eating. And this time, I actually took his advice.

I'd be lying if I said I took it 100%. And yet, over the past 2 months, I can tell I've really turned a corner. And amazingly, I feel SO much better. My energy is steady all day long and I just feel good. I'm even sleeping better - which is so wonderful.

The thing is, eating organically takes a lot of effort, not to mention a shift in your economic priorities. In Waco, we don't have access to a lot. Not only that, but it takes time to re-shift and learn better alternatives for snacks and meals and re-train yourself away from junk. So, it's a slow journey. I have a long ways to go (case in point, I ate a bunch of marshmallows straight out of the bag last night - pretty sure a marshmallow is as processed as it gets), but once you really start eating better, you literally feel in your bones why its so important.

Some of the things I've come to love over the past couple of months:

• Enfusia. We started drinking it in Feb and I can't go without it. It's the best tea and chock full of antioxidants. I only drink Enfusia and water. Cutting out diet cokes was the best thing ever.

• Eating fresh eggs and drinking raw milk - even the difference between fresh eggs from the farm and organic eggs from the store is quite significant.

• Snacks like sliced frozen bananas, raw almond butter, and coconut milk with a dash of cinnamon.

• Roasted vegetables. I can stop making them. My current favorite combo is brussel sprouts, red onions, and sweet potatoes tossed in olive oil and sea salt. Once roasted, toss with a little white wine vinegar.

• Garden of Life vitamins. They offer raw vitamins and Brad immediately felt so much better once he started these.

Hopefully I'll look back on this post in a couple of months and realize how much further I've come. But for now, I'm happy with my progress and grateful to have started this journey. If you want to learn more about this subject, we recently watched Food Inc and I loved it. I've become a documentary lover, and I know they all contain some sort of bias, but this one was so well done. It summarizes the shortcomings and dangers of our food industry in such an articulate way. Also, I really liked Nina Planck's book 'Real Food'. It's very straightforward and easy to read. Here's to more happy eating!

preschool talk

We went to Christmas on 5th at Baylor tonight - lots of fun but very cold. There was a live nativity (Grant was especially enamored by Mary and Joseph), pony rides, a petting zoo, hot chocolate and cookies, and Santa. It was an evening of funny conversations.

Grant was very excited to see Mrs. Claus and Santa (aka my co-worker and her husband). He climbed right up on Santa's lap and said, "i want a pogo stick and norman wants a car." I have no idea where the desire for a pogo stick came from - i think it was something he saw on an episode of Little Bear...

The dialogue on the way home:
Grant: "mommy, why you being franky?" (franky = cranky)
Me: "i'm not cranky, you're cranky"
Grant (very indignant): "why you being ugly to me?"

And then, this:
Grant: "hmm, why are there 2 santas? one gave me a candy cane and one didn't. why are there 2 santas???" I can't believe he has already found a flaw in the whole santa conspiracy - he's not even 3. He said this because we saw Santa at the Bass Pro Shop in San Antonio a few days ago. I'm surprised he didn't ask why that Santa didn't have a wife...

poetry

reading some of ee cummings tonight. love this one. makes my day turn around a little bit:

i carry your heart with me (i carry it in my heart)
i am never without it (anywhere i go you go, my dear; and whatever is done by only me is your doing, my darling)
i fear no fate (for you are my fate, my sweet)
i want no world (for beautiful you are my world, my true)
and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life; which grows
higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart (i carry it in my heart)