cookies and holiday cheers!!!!

Of course this time of year is special.  Magical too.  Max seems to love the idea of Santa, but is more impressed with the ideas of toys.  I can't get a box inside the door with out him thinking it is for him and that it contains TOYS. Well cars to be more precise.  And of course I don't want this holiday to be all about receiving.  A hard task indeed when everything seems to revolves around buying toys, receiving toys and enjoying new toys.

My favorite Christmas memory is of my father.  We opened our presents on Christmas Eve in our house, which was odd to me, but hey I got to open my gifts before my other friends.  My parents would put me to sleep and then come wake me a few hours later.  ( Do you know how hard it is to fall asleep like that, the pressure)  One Christmas Eve my Father yelled, "Hurry come quick Santa is leaving, look out the window, you might catch a glimpse".  And I had my nose pressed so hard against the window hoping to sneak a peek.   Maybe next year I thought.

 That for me was awesome, and magical.  

I hope to see that same sparkle in Max's eyes one day.

Watching Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer

Yum, coooookkkkkiiiiessss

not to shabby

lights

Our first ornament. 

zoolights

This was our first year enjoying the Zoolights.  For those who aren't in the know....it's where the Zoo transforms into a magical lighted wonderland.  Max loved it and I loved watching him.  He did wonder where all the animals were.  Sadly they were all sleeping, apparently their day job is very demanding, :)

We walked around with the family, ooooing and awwwwing.

It was a good time.

good ol' Seattle

The last week it has been cold, cold, cold.  But with all this cold, the sun has been especially gracious with her generosity.  How can you not take advantage of these days. We bundle up and we brave the elements.  The views did not disappoint.  

The is park is one of my favorites.  

The view is stunning, don'tcha think?

my drama queen

fishes...

It's cool when you see your kids, "get it".  I started taking Max to the aquarium when he turned one.  He seemed interested, but he didn't really get it. Even as the months went on, he didn't really seem to care.  Mostly he just enjoyed running around the aquarium and if a fish caught his eye, cool, but otherwise he was too busy racing down the ramps to be bothered by sea life.

But recently I asked him if he wanted to go see the fishes and he said YES. I was surprised and thought maybe he heard me say fire truck or something.  But no, he actually wanted to see the fishes.  I was so thrilled.  When we got there, he was all about it.  And ever since then he has started asking to go see the fishes.  He points out the octopus, jelly fish and otters.  I simply love it!  I can't wait to see what he gets next!

ohhhhhh

look ma'

We even got an octopus sticker!

otters eating lunch!

Here comes Santa Claus....

I just can not get over the expressions on his face.  Can he be anymore scared or irritated by Santa?  Except for the one where he is six months old and has no clue where he is or who this strange man is. 

I even prepped him for the big meeting.  We had been talking all about him.  How he has a sleigh that flies, and he brings toys to children.  I even asked him what he wanted from Santa, and he said CARS.  Which then led to fire trucks, choppers, trains, boats, planes.....and then I lost count.  So I figured he got it.  We walked up to Santa's village and once Max made eye contact with the strange old man, he was having none of it.  I think it scared him that Santa was a real dude.  I think he thought he was a cartoon or something.  Oh well.  maybe next year!

Oh the love of these holiday pictures.  I will never grow tired of them! 

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he's all boy....

I wonder sometimes how many mothers have had their nose broken by their over zealous boys. Max is so wild, he is all boy.  He loves to jump off things, crash into things, and tackle his mother.  It is so interesting that phrase, "boys will be boys".  I always thought this more of a societal expectation rather than instinctual.  I mean, I didn't raise Max to be a fun loving beast, did I?  Or did I.  Either way, he has found his mojo, and he doesn't seem to be slowing down.

truth...

“Isn't it funny how day by day nothing changes, but when you look back, everything is different...
C.S Lewis


Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving.  Ours was equally as great.  Family was in town which is always nice, and I am reminded how lucky I am to have so much family, blood or otherwise. 

We made our traditional turkey that came out okay.  I feel in years past it has been better, but it went down just the same.  I did try and spice it up with some thing different. I wanted to add to our menu.  I made cauliflower Au Gratin.  I have realized now that I need to work on this recipe a little more, and maybe trying something new isn't always smart to do "the day of".  It just wasn't very ooey and gooey, and that is what I was going for. Oh well, next year.   My sister made home made organic stuffing that turned out delish.  It was a nice substitution to our regular stove top.  I'd like to get to a point where all our Thanksgiving fixin's are from scratch and not a box.  Bid dreams eh?

Ozzie, the Puggle got his traditional plate of food and laid comatose for about 2 hours afterwards.  My monster, he ate only bread and cranberry sauce.  Silly boy.

We finished our evening off with pie, wine and Korean soap operas.  For those who don't know, yes these exist and they are addicting.  They are just as cheesy as our American soaps, with the same bad acting and over exaggerated facial expressions.

It was a good day.  I felt thankful to have been surrounded by those I love.  And I am excited for the holiday season to begin!!!!!

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