Last night we went to E’s birthday party at the Mt. Scott Community Center, downstairs in the Roller Rink. This is the best place in Portland for little kid birthday parties, especially in the evening. After a romp with the indoor play park toys, then pizza dinner and cake, there is roller skating. You never have to share the space with another party and there is even a sound system to play your own music.

I knew that Sammy would be excited to use his new roller blades from Santa, and he was. He had them all packed up in a nanosecond. He was fully confident and loving them once he got rolling.

Simon absolutely hated the skates. He basically put them on, stood up, fell down, and took them off. Unless the activity involves instant satisfaction he is not interested. Learning curves? Forgetaboutit.

Tess loved roller skating more than anyone else at the whole party. I wasn’t planning on putting skates on her at all (what idiot puts roller skates on their 20 month old?), but once she saw her brothers, she insisted. Once we got the smallest size possible tied tight, she screamed with delight the whole rest of the time. She wouldn’t hold my hand, she had to do it all by herself. Of course she kept falling down, but it only made her laugh. She could actually propel herself forward. She could actually dance to the music. In the end Dave had to remove them with force while she cried and grabbed at them in vain. She was the last one skating.

I need to play catch up with the details of our home; do a little blog purge. With the kids perpetually whining, and my sister heckling me, we’ve barely been able to answer the phone (kidding, kidding). No School + Christmas = Filthy House (not kidding). I know that I am dehydrated because my lips are permanently chapped and when I drink an entire bottle of smart water, I don’t even have to pee.  So quickly, now, while Simon and Tess play with Star Wars characters on a knocked over chair behind me, I’ll spill you some beans.

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On Christmas day I cried because I was so happy and content. I kid you not. I just felt so peaceful and lucky with my family all cozy. Dave was rolling his eyes at how sappy I was. All three kids love the wooden unit blocks we got them, which was their big gift. Simon got his punching bag and has been attacking it happily. Sammy didn’t get a Playstation 2, but he did get the Lego Star Wars 2 video game to play on the computer, and I gave him free reign on the computer for one week (instead of his usual one hour a week allotment). Tess simply adores her baby dolls. Emily cracked up for about 3 days after she opened the pregnancy test we stuck in her stocking. Dave is wearing new socks and underpants. I have fallen in love with my new photo printer. In the evening we had a lovely dinner here with friends.

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Our project frenzy has finally ended. I made the kids each a cape for their personal dress up pleasure and the kids really love them. Sammy sewed penguin stuffed animals for Simon and Neighbor, which turned out huge and awesome. It was his first time sewing from a pattern, so there was quite a bit of confusion and misunderstanding during the process, but on the evening when they finally came together it was like magic. Dave took two wooden cradles apart, sanded them down, and refinished them for Tess’ baby dolls. It feels good to prop up the old legs in the evening without feeling guilty for not making progress on something.

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Dave and I had a date weekend in December. Emily watched all three kids while we took off and stayed at the Kennedy School for two nights. I am embarrassed to say that it was our first overnight alone together since Sammy was born 7 years ago. We loved it. We saw 3 movies, did our Christmas Shopping, slept until 11am in the morning, ate slowly at restaurants, and in the end I missed my kids and it was great to see them again.

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We do miss our dog. She left a hole behind in our family. Dave still walks close to the bed at night when he gets up so he doesn’t step on her, and I still swivel my head to look at the front door when I pull in the driveway to see her face waiting for me. I cried when I washed the windows, knowing that her little drippy nose prints would never mess them up again. I feel like I am erasing little pieces of her every time I clean.

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My sister has been here for about a month and tomorrow she leaves for her home. My chest feels heavy with sadness to see her packing up. I cannot make her stay but I do not want her to leave. I want to curl up in her dancing arms like Baby Tess. I want to talk about cookbooks until I am so tired I can’t form a proper sentence.  I want to drive around Portland trying to use up the Chinook Book Coupons that expire in 3 days. I want to laugh so hard I suck my tears up into my nose. I want to hold on and never let her go.

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Actually, I can’t call my little girl Baby Tess anymore. She says “no baby. Tess.” She has gone through some transformation this month and come out the other side as a toddler. She has grown more independent, aware of another level of complexity in life. She has definite opinions and a blooming sense of humor. Plus, she’s been hamming it up for her audience in a way that is completely over the top and hysterical.  I am so delighted in her new stage that I am barely sad to see the babyness melting away.

Oooh la la. Today I finish my Christmas shopping and my Christmas crafting. I’m sitting here, a wee bit worn out from the last stab at the holiday crunch, woozy from the list re-checking. There is an extra large cup of steamy tea in a holiday mug at my elbow and behind me are three packages wrapped in green paper tied with polka dot ribbon, a gift for each of my kids that I made with my own two hands.

I am amped to see the gifts I have for my loved ones unwrapped. I just love giving gifts. It makes me wicked freakin’ giddy. Christmas is one of my favorite times of the year.

I worry a little about the growing anticipation in my children. As each day passes, the gleam in their eyes shines ever brighter. At bedtime tonight the boys were overtired, full of Christmas processing and sleepy dreams. I know they envision the entire Toys ‘R’ Us store underneath the Christmas tree. The bubble of Christmas glee grows and grows. I can tell you now that the bubble will pop sometime on Christmas day, most likely in the evening around bath time when they feel the emptiness that the mounting Christmas anticipation has left behind.

Right at this moment, for me, I am just at peace in the eye of the storm.

Christmas madness has fallen upon us. We are full speed ahead with craftiness. Bedtimes be damned, these elves have work to do.  Cookie festivities have taken over the kitchen. The sewing area is properly flocked in bits of thread. Glue is drying on the island. Freshly created ornaments are dripping glitter onto the branches below. Christmas carols are blaring.

Oh no, I can tell what you are thinking. Let me reassure you I mean it all in a fun way, not in like a Christmas torture way.



This year the kids are very into the cookie making (not to mention the minute by minute cookie eating requests). Simon made peanut butter cookie balls with a chocolate kiss squished into the center. He decorated star shaped cards and we delivered them to four of his friends. Simon was completely adorable in his santa hat ringing doorbells, so excited to hand over his gift that he was bobbing and weaving and clutching his underpants. But when his friends answered the door he’d become so overcome with glee that he would just shove the cookies at them and run back for the safety of the car, yelling “Merry Christmas” at the top of his lungs.

Sammy’s cookies started with a story he wrote about a Gingerbread Fox. He wrote the story and drew the pictures. Then we color copied them and he made about 10 little books. The problem then was that we couldn’t find a ‘fox’ cookie cutter. But when we went to Sur La Table, I just held up a collie dog cookie cutter and said “Look! This looks just like a fox.” Cautious Sammy had to search through all the animals until he agreed that the collie looked just like a fox. That night he stayed up late, decorating plates. The next day we cut the fox cookies and delivered to his friends.



I like this tradition of cookie making and delivering but when I mopped the kitchen today and the bits of dried up gingerbread rehydrated and smeared all over the floor… At least Tess was there to push bubbles around the kitchen floor with me.

We went to our favorite U-cut Christmas Tree farm today. The plan was to meet and caravan at 10am but our family was excessively cranky and utterly unmotivated and also Dave said he felt nauseous. But we did finally rally the troops and got on the road at 11am.

We love the McA family and we don't get to see them nearly enough now that we are families. Back in the day, when the world was our oyster, we spent a lot more time together having adventures by land or air or sunken canoe.  Now at least we can count on our annual tree hunt to keep the cameras snapping.

Today we noticed our very parallel group dynamic. 4 boys, 4 girls, 2 dogs (1 girl and 1 boy), 2 sets of parents, 2 families...

At home we spent the rest of our day decorating the tree, hanging the lights outside, blasting The Beach Boys Christmas Album, doing laundry, eating turkey rice soup the neighbors made us.

The tree decorating is always fun. The kids are old enough to remember the ornaments now and we all have to coo over each one (this takes awhile and it can be hard to keep heavy sarcasm from infiltrating).

I remember my ornaments from my childhood. Whatever happened to that heart wrenching china angel for the top of the tree? Is Betty Boop surviving Christmas in some dark box this year? We are glad to have some of the treasured clothespin people that Dave made when he was a kid with his brothers and sisters.

Yesterday we made some ornaments and Simon broke his today which totally sucked. We all loved that clear bulb he had carefully decorated with stars and filled with glitter. We'll have to make some more ornaments soon.

There is a brand new four year old in town.



Happy Birthday, Simon.

We had a great day. Our family tradition is to have donuts for breakfast and find birthday gifts hidden around the house. On your birthday, you decorate your own cake. Simon squeezed the last of the chocolate syrup over his cheesecake, sprinkled rainbow sprinkles, then topped it all with two chocolate donuts, and finally stuck in his candles.

For his party, his friends came over and decorated their own mugs, then knocked the guts (chocolate coins and candy canes) out of a pink unicorn pinata. We had cake and opened gifts. Then Simon had a complete meltdown and the guests left and everyone collapsed on the couch to watch Madagascar.