Santa Came!

Our fourth Christmas with the children was a blast. They were totally spoiled with tons of presents.

Barbie seemed to be the theme for Anna, with her big gifts being a three story Barbie Dream Townhouse with an elevator (and lots of bells and whistles such as a fireplace that lights up and makes crackling sounds; a doorbell sound; overhead and refrigerator lights that come on; Barbie singing in the shower; a big-screen TV that rises up from behind the fireplace; and, finally, a flushing toilet!) and also a huge remote control Barbie car.

Toy Story and Cars movies were themes that developed for Alexander's gifts. He received Buzz and Woody dolls just like from the movie; and just about all the Cars character cars. He also got a Buzz Falling with Style track, a Hot Wheels track and a remote control Hummer. His big gift was a train track set up, but I'm not sure it is his favorite gift. He loves Buzz.

We opened the presents at a leisurely pace and then had a late waffle breakfast. Then I proceeded to take a three-hour nap. Not sure where that came from, but I needed it.

You'll see in the first photo the children are opening some gifts from pillowcases that matched their sheet sets we'd gotten for their first beds upon their arrival from Russia. Having Santa put gifts in a pillowcase instead of a stocking is a tradition from Michael's family, which originally came from his mom having grown up in England.

I'm glad we didn't have to travel because we were hit with a blizzard that lasted Christmas day and the next. The airport and all interstates in South Dakota were closed, so I feel bad for the folks trying to get in or out of here for the holiday.

I didn't even realize it was technically a blizzard until the next day. It was at first being called a ground blizzard, which I thought was more just strong winds kicking up existing snow that had fallen the previous two days. But at some point it became classified as the real thing. Even though we got our usual 3- to 4-foot high snow drift mound piled up in the usual spot on the little drive leading from our house to the main road, I still call it a minor blizzard. Still doesn't seem like that much new snow actually fell. I'll post snow fun pictures later.

For now, I hope you'll indulge all these Christmas photos.

P.S. You'll see photos of the kids sporting their LSU Tiger outfits on Friday for the big game. You didn't think I've forgotten about that during this holiday craziness, did you?

Christmas Eve

We started out our Christmas Eve day with a trip to the mall to finally visit Santa. Waiting until the very last minute to do this is the way to go. No lines at all.

Then we did a minimal amount of last-minute shopping -- batteries and a couple final gifts and then had a late-ish lunch out.

It was about 3 p.m. before we got home. Then we broke down the bed we'd set up for Dad's visit last week. With so many new toys coming, the kids need all the space back in their play room.

Then by 4 it was off to church for our Christmas Eve service, which started at 5 but which we knew gets way packed early. Then back for a light dinner and opening of the annual Christmas PJs.

We were going to watch a short Christmas show with the kids before bedtime, but we pretty much smoked ourselves out of the entire bottom two floors (when we tried to start a fire ... city folks thinking we can make it out in the country, I guess). Every window and door had to be opened. And it's probably somewhere in the single digits outside. It was actually very bad.

Instead, Michael read the Christmas story from the Bible and, of course, The Night Before Christmas, too. The children left cookies and milk for Santa and a bunch of carrots for his reindeer and then went to bed.

Michael got the kids back out of bed shortly after to show them the Norad Web site that was tracking Santa and his reindeer across the world. What a totally adorable little site. It actually shows Santa and his reindeer flying across the sky right in front of Big Ben in London and other landmarks throughout the world. It also features news-like reports about Santa's location.

Upon seeing this, Alexander declared it was time to get back to bed so Santa would be sure to stop at our house. Check out the video.

Singing

Went beautifully tonight. Totally packed Cathedral. I was glad my Dad got to be there. He and Michael arrived an hour early and got seats very close to the front so they could see me.

They said the kids behaved perfectly. Of course, Michael did take a variety of activities for them such as playing You Tube videos in silent mode on his phone; coloring; books; etc..

Michael, being the good former Catholic, practically forbid Dad from taking photos inside the Cathedral (or talking in his loud Dickey voice!). So here are some photos of us in the "Green Room" after the performance.

You Know You Live In South Dakota When ...

Your neighbor comes over to talk privately with the husband of the house to warn him that if we hear a gunshot sound it might be him shooting a mountain lion wandering between our houses!

So Dad and I have excitedly been on the lookout for a big cat since this afternoon. Dad thought he and Shreve heard one crunching in the snow behind our house when Shreve went out to potty tonight. I'm guessing it was a deer.

A couple years ago I got obsessed with the idea of a mountain lion hiding up in the trees around our house to the point that I did a fair amount of research and sniffing around for claw marks on all the trees. This was after our other neighbor told me that one night she was driving home and a mountain lion sauntered across the road right in front of her car, just a few houses down from us. She said he crouched down in that sort of pounce-mode stance, looked at her and then moved on.

Reindeer Sighting

Dad's up here visiting, and last night we took him to Storybook Island to see live reindeer at the park's annual Christmastime light-up event thingy.

Despite snow you see on the ground, it's actually kind of mild for this time of year.

Tonight, I sing. I'm pretty sure I'm going to cry at the end like I did at rehearsal Friday night. We're in the big Cathedral, with all its marble and you-can-hear-a-pin-drop acoustics, singing Silent Night a capella style as we softly walk out down the aisle.

A very solemn ending.

Tis The Season

Yesterday, Anna's school put on its little Christmas show. Here's video of Anna performing the "Russian Dance."

Tonight, our church put on its little Christmas pageant. Alexander and the preschoolers were cutie pie angels. He's the sweet-looking one who keeps losing his halo. Anna and the kindergarteners were some sort of a sound effect crew, whose roles seemed a bit of a stretch.

Meanwhile, I'm under it up here. No time to think about much of anything except systematically finishing up with my final exams and/or projects.

Dad is coming up in less than 24 hours, and the house is a wreck! And I hate that I'll be distracted with my school work while he's here. I also have a Christmas performance on Sunday night (and two night practices while Dad's here). Despite the flurry of seasonal activities, I've always gone out of my way to sing at Christmas time. Otherwise it's just not the holidays. It's very fulfilling.

I'll be glad for mid next week. Get cozy by the fire and watch "It's a Wonderful Life." Probably cry. But that's OK.

Farewell, Hector

Hector, with Alexander and Anna, in February 2008 when President Clinton was in Lake Charles campaigning for Hillary.



Maybe you've wondered why no posts in two weeks.

My very good friend Hector died last Tuesday. He was a 51-year-old father of four, a husband and a former colleague of mine. I'd known him since 1987 when I got my first reporting job. He was someone to turn to for advice on stories big and small. He loved his so-called work so much that just a month ago he filed several stories and several editorials in one day from his hospital bed.

He died of complications from leukemia, only 6 months after it became active. I last saw him in late April/early May when I went down to Lake Charles to visit family, apparently just before he knew the disease was no longer dormant. I think I talked with him on the phone once since. We didn't talk every day or every week or even every month. But I always knew we could.

Hector was full of energy and truly was someone you could count on for advice, moral support, help in any way. In fact, there were many times I told my mom, who is now my only family member living in Lake Charles: "Mom, if you ever need anything — if your car breaks down or something, call Hector. You know he will come to help." (Obviously, mom knew him, too.)

Hector flew up to Chicago when I got married just four months after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. It was a time when people were still jumpy about flying, but I remember he called to say "Hey Fran, I just want you to know I'm still coming up for your wedding." Oh, and he was the funnest dance partner ever. Big twirls, dips and all. I remember we danced at my wedding reception and I was worried I'd trip on my big dress in my high heels and make a fool out of myself. Thankfully, he didn't let that happen.

Now that I'm home from the funeral, I can feel reality's sad grip.

Anyway, here's to you, Hector.

Anna's Thanks

Before they were let out for the Thanksgiving holiday last week, Anna's school hosted a "special person's" day.

I think originally it was intended to be for grandparents to come and visit, but with families so scattered these days it's opened up to whomever is a "special person" in the child's life.

With no family here and Michael working I went as Anna's special person. (And dragged Alexander along with me, as he didn't go to school that day.)

Indeed, there were mostly grandparent types there, but I did see a few parents and/or reps from a younger generation.

Each classroom did their own thing, apparently.



In Anna's class they sang a few songs and each child drew a pictures of what they were thankful for. Their drawing was projected onto the wall and the child got to say in a microphone what they were thankful for.

The grandparents/parents also worked with the child at their desk making a crafty little scarecrow.

Speaking of her school. She came home today with their school's December newsletter. I was reading and came across a little surprise...Anna was named the "Student of Character" for her class during the month of November. I had no idea. And apparently neither did Anna!

What a nice honor to receive! Don't know at all what the criteria was to be chosen, but Michael and I made a really big deal out of it with her and told her we'd have a celebration.