Lazy Days

There's not been much going on here. We took all of our Christmas stuff down yesterday and now it looks like we just moved in. All of my shelves and my mantle are bare. I was glad to get the tree down though so I could see out my front window again.

Gabe is now taking naps again (well, he is today). He's also talking a lot more. Today he handed me a plastic candy cane filled with m&m's and said, "eat". He is getting it little by little.

I have been sick since last night. It is either the flu or food poisoning. We're not quite sure. I ate some toast and am starting to feel a little better. Madison has been talking about calling the doctors all afternoon and then just came over to me and introduced me to Mrs. Marsh and Mrs. Dennis, the doctors. She told me they're going to take care of me (which Dave has been doing a great job of, by the way). She has such a wonderful imagination. I hear her talking to her "friends" or "children" all the time.

That's about it for now.

Big Boy Bed = No Nap

Enough said.

What color Christmas tree should you have?

You Should Have a Blue Christmas Tree

For you, the holidays represent a time of calm, understanding, and peace. You avoid family fights, and you don't get too stressed out - even when things are crazy! You like to make Christmas about making everyone's life a little bit better. You don't get caught up in greed or commercialism. You're too sincere for that. Your blue tree would look great with: Lots of silver tinsel You should spend Christmas Eve watching: It's a Wonderful Life What you should bake for Santa: Chocolate chip cookies

What Color Christmas Tree Should You Have?

Reminds me of Christmas when I was little...

Merry Christmas To All!

So, we're going to be pretty busy from now until Christmas so I wanted to post this while I had some time.

While my side of the family has some interesting history when it comes to Thanksgiving, my husband's family has Christmas covered in that area.

Charles W. Howard is my husband's great, great, great, great, great, (give or take a few more greats - I'm not exactly sure) uncle. He is known as the most noteworthy santa of all time. He began enacting as Santa in 1935 after working as a toy manufacturer. He worked as the Santa-in-chief at Macy's in New York. During this time he appeared in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and in the store throughout the season.

Charles W. Howard opened the first ever Santa School in Albion, New York in 1937 because he saw so many Santas perform poorly. Department stores would send their Santa impersonators to his school in the fall for training. They learn everything from proper Santa hygiene to how to answer children's questions to the history of St. Nicholas. The school is still open, but is now located in Midland, Michigan.
Here is an old brochure from the school:

According to Dave...

When Dave took Gabe to speech tonight he said two, three word sentences.

1. This my cup.
2. This my bowl.

Madison - 3 going on 16

We were driving along this morning and out of nowhere Madison yells out, "Dude, this guy won't get over!" I laughed so hard. This time I know exactly where she got it from - me. I was out with my friends last night and out of nowhere I caught myself saying, "Dude, I can't believe you saw so and so." Here I am a 20-something (closer to a 30-something) using the word "Dude".

She also gets the backseat driving thing honestly. I am the worst. I usually apologize in advance when riding with someone.