A Girl Thing

When the kids and I went shopping for Mike's Christmas presents, we also decided to get their Christmas outfits - as you've seen in the previous posts. But - I have to tell you about Maddie's dress.

She wasn't really into the whole shopping-for-clothes-adventure that night. We happened to be at Kohl's and I pointed out a dress that I thought was very classy - grown up, but not too much. She said it was okay, but wanted red or something with color. So, we looked a little more, found a couple and just before we went to try them on she decided to give my first dress a try.

It was the first one she tried on - and I'm not kidding that I got a little teary! She just looked so grown up in it - but then SHE lit up when she did a little twirl in the dressing room and it was this great twirling dress! She said so excitedly, "Mom! I'm like that girl in 'White Christmas' - you know where they dance outside and she's in that twirly dress?'" (For "White Christmas buffs - it's the pink dress she's referring to when the boys/girls first meet.) So, she tried on the others, but we were both sold on the first one and couldn't wait to show Mike.

And she twirled for him. And he just smiled - he might have been thinking back to when she was little and she would get such a kick out of her clicking shoes and twirling dresses. He may have been wondering what this cost. I don't know. But, he did smile and told her she looked lovely.

Sunday morning when she got to wear it for the first time she tested it out again -

It's a girl thing.

Visiting the Big Guy

Sunday after the church festivities (and after we had made Jake presentable again) we headed to Nordstrom's to visit Santa.

There used to be this AWESOME Santa there. He had this gorgeous Santa suit and best of all was fantastic with the kids. We've gone to see him for six years! One year he said to Maddie, "My! You've grown so much this year!" He would ask them what they wanted and listen carefully. Then he would tell them how they had to be good all year long and that whenever they were good, then bells would ring at the North Pole - and he would know. I'm not exaggerating when I say that it would be our house in MARCH and one of the kids would do something that we would commend them on and they would say, "I bet the bells are ringing in the North Pole for me now!" After talking, we'd get our pictures with him - which were FREE because I got to take them - as many as I wanted - then we'd head home.

Notice this is all past tense. We headed to Nordstrom's this year and as we rounded the corner - out comes a Santa. Not MY Santa. Not the beautiful red suit - instead it was a crazy elf shirt, velvet knickers and black shoes with funny socks. I'm a bit of a Santa picture nut - I love these and I have them lined up each Christmas. (This is genetic from my mom - we had to take them with Santa until I was 21! When I got engaged we all had an intervention for her and told her it was the end of the Santa pictures.)

When Mike saw this Santa he did everything he could not to burst out laughing because I stopped in my tracks and shot him a panicked look that said, "Where's my Santa!?!?!" But, it was too late - the kids had seen him so we were stuck there.

He was okay with them. Maybe one too many high-fives for me to connect with him. No story about the ringing bells at the North Pole.

So, next year's goal is to find another Santa. With a real suit. And one who is free.

In other words - Mission Impossible.

Wardrobe Malfunction

Sunday morning was the kids' Christmas program at church. Mike and I and my parents seated ourselves near the front and the comedy program began.

When we arrived this is what our children looked like. Please note:

Jake's shirt is a little big but 1) his shirt usually comes untucked - I figured there was no way that could happen with this one and 2) it was the only shirt remotely close to his size that I could find two weeks before Christmas.

The program was titled "Hats off to Christmas" and basically it involved all the different manger scene players finding hats for themselves. They had a lot of songs to learn that were fun to listen to. And who can resist a giggle or two when all the preschool girls in the front are twirling and lifting their dresses instead of singing?

During one portion of the play I mimed to Jake to fix his collar - it had flipped up. Suddenly - Ploop! - off comes the whole tie. Then he was unbuttoning his collar buttons and all I could think was, "Please stay dressed. Please stay dressed." He finally did manage to get the tie replaced...then it was his scene with all the shepherds.

Classy. I've realized I could buy him a shirt that reached his knees and he'd still get it untucked. The tie placed two buttons down his shirt adds that extra flair. Note to self: no more clip-on ties.

But we weren't finished yet - suddenly Jake had to find his hat....

As Mike is lowering himself into the pew he leaned over and said, "Geez....he looks like he hit the tequila a little hard last night!" I practically have tears running down my face from trying not to laugh and I looked at my mom who was in the same predicament. We've decided it's a bad idea to sit so close at these things.

Maddie managed to redeem the Murphy name when she and another girl sang a lovely song together. They really did have a nice sound and I'm planning on recruiting them to sing in the near future.

Mike and I ambushed Jake as he left the sanctuary and put him back together. I trust God has a sense of humor.

Smith Christmas

Last Saturday afternoon we celebrated Christmas with my family. Our traditions may differ a little from most families (shocking...I know...):

When we were smaller my parents decided that instead of a big, fancy dinner, that we would instead all go to the grocery store together and get to put ANYTHING into the cart that we wanted to eat on Christmas day. I remember asking them everytime we picked something out, "is this okay?" Yes was always the answer. We had candy, cookies, chips and dips galore. What I don't think my parents expected was for us to pick things like crabmeat, shrimp and other more expensive items. But, it all went in the cart and every year we went on this annual shopping trip.

Well, not much has changed - still tons of candy requests and still lots of shrimp. We've branched into a few more appetizer things and some other more solid food to get us through the day. My parents do most of the grocery shopping now, asking for requests a week in advance. Maddie and Jake went shopping with them a couple years ago and had such a good time getting to throw whatever they wanted in the cart.

Once we were all back in MN a new tradition began - we started taking a family picture before gift opening began. This year I was about ready to throttle Jake because he wouldn't smile for ONE picture. When I finished the pics and saw this I pulled him upstairs and railed into him for being rude about it. He said, "I just didn't feel like smiling." I wanted to say, "I hope Santa feels like bringing you a present Christmas Eve because right now HE DOESN'T!!" But I didn't.

So here are some pics from the day with the fam. Filled with good food, good games, and good memories:

Bad Sign

This is what I walked into the other night:

That's right - our fairly-brand-new dishwasher (less than 6 months old) is not working. We realized it wasn't draining water after each cycle. Several test cycles were run by Mike with he and dad brainstorming on what the problem might be. After completely disassembling it (the night before our family Christmas gathering at our house) they decided that some valve on a hose isn't working properly. Awesome. We haven't looked it up, but my guess is that the day before this happened the warranty expired.

Holidazzle

Most years we try to head downtown to see the Holidazzle parade. For those not in the metro area, this is a parade done four nights each week in December. All the floats are lit up with Christmas lights as are all the characters. I think it's been going on for around 15 years. It really doesn't change much year to year, but it's still a fun tradition for us.

Tonight was the night we decided to go. I think the temp was around 26 degrees - with a windchill of like 19 degrees or something like that. It was cold, but it could have been colder. We had the kids bundled up - Maddie came down and announced she had pants, pajama bottoms, two pair of socks, long sleeve shirt and sweatshirt, plus the snow pants, winter jacket, gloves, boots and hat she was going to wear. I was going to grab a blanket for them to sit on but completely forgot.

We left at 4:55pm for a 6:30 parade. We got to the corner where it starts at about 6:10. People were already lining up, but there was still plenty of spots for us up front. This is a first for us, actually. We normally arrive about five minutes before it starts and end up prodding our kids up to the front while we stand a few feet in the back watching them mostly and missing the parade.

While we were standing in line at Caribou my dad had the fantastic idea of getting their car seats for them to sit on the curb so their tushies didn't freeze off. It worked fantastic and Jake was thrilled when he realized they also had cup holders for the hot chocolate!

And honestly, it wasn't that bad in terms of the cold. I mean - it was cold, but as my dad and I discussed, once you got over the initial shock, it really wasn't terrible. By the end Maddie swore she had frostbite on her toes but they are all still there and of good color. The only downside was that I think we were all definitely ready to have it be finished when we saw Santa's float start moving...then stop. Completely. For almost five minutes it was stopped about a half-block from us. Finally a police officer walked over and came back about a minute later saying someone had proposed on t.v. in front of the float and they were going to be moving shortly. For all our sakes, I hope the girl said yes.

Mike's rival

Tonight we got to go see Harry Connick, Jr. in concert at the Orpheum.

[Moment of silence.]

Background: I am a gigantic fan of Harry's. Huge. My best friend, Melissa if perhaps the truly great fan between us, but she lives in Albuquerque and couldn't go to this one. Mike is actually signed up to receive emails from his fan club or whatever announces his concerts just to make sure he doesn't miss his responsibility of getting us tickets whenever there's a concert.

So, a month or so ago when Tracy arrived at the gym and announced that she'd just read in the paper that Harry was coming for a Christmas concert I wasted no time in getting home and interrupting Mike's work-day to tell him this. He hadn't gotten the email. Then I logged into my email and found that Melissa had sent me an early-bird buying opportunity. That Friday Mike got us tickets and I had a whole month of waiting.

Now, Mike thinks that if Harry Connick were to show up at our door and declare his undying love for me that I would absolutely walk out and run off with him. That's so crazy. I mean, really....

...now if Harry were to sing his undying love for me....welllll..........

Anyway, it doesn't matter. He married a Victoria's Secret model years ago (to which Mike replied, "Really? Wow...good job, him. I mean....I'm sure she's smart too....")

The concert was awesome. Started a little slow, but they got their groove and it was just an honestly good time and two-hours of smiling. He's actually very funny in concert and one of the more enjoyable parts, for me, in his humor is that he's SO sarcastic. This may have drawn Melissa and I to him in the early years. He's not above making fun of his audience and there was some crazy lady obsessed with him in the balcony that provided some chuckles for us all.

And balcony people are crazy....oh wait, I've always sat there. Actually, Mike really raised the bar this year. We were a whole balcony section lower. I kid you not when I say that I have been within three to five rows from the top of the Orpheum for every concert. This year we were close enough to actually see facial expressions. I may have had a few choice words (to Mike only) about the six-year-olds that were in the front row. Seriously??? Should be outlawed. You should at least be able to spell the performer's name before getting a front row spot.

But it all came to a close WAY too early. Then we headed to Kincaid's for some appetizers and drinks (hadn't really eaten since 1pm this afternoon....). As we were getting ready to leave the waiter said, "You guys look really nice...did you go somewhere special?" So, I mentioned that we had just seen Harry Connick, Jr. To which the waiter looked at me and smiled and said, "Oh yeah? Was he funny?"

I just looked at him and explained, "He's. A. Musician." And the waiter was all taken aback and of course! He recognized who I was talking about...he'd been thinking of someone else. Mike just looked at the waiter and said, "Well, he was funny too."

The waiter will probably be the guy in the front row at the next concert.

I just hope to be in the next balcony section closer next time with the ultimate goal being the front row before Harry retires. That's right, Mike. Start saving.