Go, Fletcher.Go!

Look at Fletcher riding his bike! We went on an afternoon bike ride around the neighborhood. Fletcher is getting really good and learning to pedal very well. And doesn't he look so old in his helmet? It's hard to tell from the pictures that he is in motion, but he is! He also doesn't look too happy in the pictures, but he's lovin' being a bike rider!

Ed questioned whether Fletcher helmet was buckled: Yes it was! It's the excess hanging down.

"Good Day, Sunshine"

I know had badly we needed the rain, but, boy, were we sick of it! Stuck in the house for the past 2 days. Woke this morning to the sunshine and felt like a new person! Fletcher and I headed to the library to find out how a car's engine works (cylinders, pistons, and a drive shaft) and more about weight, balance, and scales. Thank goodness for the library! My son asks questions I need books to answer (and he's 3!).

After the library we were off to the playground. Fletcher is getting really good at pumping his legs while swinging. We both benefited from 1 1/2 hours in the sunshine and fresh air. Lots of other people had the same idea and Fletcher got to play with other kids, which he has missed doing dearly this past week.

"My kids" will be back Thursday and Fletcher is back to school on Friday. I, for one, am looking forward the resumption of a routine! Pictures from today.

Merry Christmas!

Fletcher woke at 7am and had not forgotten for one moment that it was Christmas morning. He was very excited and woke everyone immediately! When he got downstairs he saw that Santa had come! We had a nice time opening gifts, I made orange sweet rolls and country ham biscuits for breakfast and Mom made chili beans for dinner. We had a very lazy day, laying around, playing with Fletcher, and enjoying the company. Although we enjoyed Christmas, it has taken us a few days to recover from the excitement.

Christmas Eve

We sprinkled reindeer food and put out treats for Santa and Santa Mouse. Fletcher got to open two gifts (new PJ's and a snow globe, both traditions at our house) and had a hard time going to sleep at bedtime!

Grandmaw and Uncle Aaron here!

Yeah! Our family arrived Saturday at noon! Fletcher was so excited and had asked me all morning how much longer it would be before they arrived. And we have enjoyed visiting, making treats, and eating. Fletcher and Grandmaw made cookies and we all made Chex Mix together yesterday. We've watched football and listened to Christmas music, played with toys, and Aaron and Fletcher are working on a "big show".






Yesterday morning (while everyone else were being sleepy heads) Fletcher and I went to Northlake mall. I had promised him a while ago that we could go and see the snowglobes, Santa, and eat pizza in the food court. We did just that plus played in the play area, went to Build-a-Bear, and rode the elevator and escalators (3 times). The mall wasn't too bad until about the time we were ready to go and when we got home, everyone was up.

One Complaint

I'm entitled at least one complaint for the holidays, right? Well, here it is along with a piece of advice: Never order from a company called Young Explorers. I placed the order online on December 7 and still have not received the item! It never shipped until the 13th, and I paid $11.00 in shipping! Their website is no help when it comes to anything other than actually placing an order. I have called customer service 2 times (which they outsource to another company that you have to call at a separate number) and they are most unhelpful. Today they told me that my son's Christmas gift from his Mommy and Daddy could still arrive before Christmas but had no specific tracking info. other than it had shipped. Aaargh!

Update: It arrived at 6:30pm on Friday night, thankfully.

Handsome (and Silly) Boys

The boys looked so handsome this morning in their (unintentionally) matching outfits so I thought I would take some pictures by the Christmas tree before we headed out to school. Here is the result:

Let's Celebrate!

We had a great time celebrating Christmas with the Harrington's on Saturday night. Tonya made some delicious (vegan) food and the kids played and we all enjoyed each other's company.

Yesterday we went to my Aunt Hilda's house for lunch and then the rest of the family came with the sole purpose of showering Fletcher (and Ed and I) with gifts. He was thrilled by tools, trucks, and trains, and got some very nice clothes, too. We are so thankful to have such wonderful family and really enjoyed seeing them all!

"It's Christmas Time in the City"

Today we headed to uptown Charlotte to go to Discovery Place and to see some Christmas sights of the city. We had a good time playing and exploring at Discovery Place then ate some lunch at Fuel Pizza before heading to Founders Hall to see the Leonard Bearstein Bears, but were a little disappointed to find they were not working today. We saw lots of nice Christmas decorations in town and although it was rainy and cold it felt much more like Christmas than the weather we have had.

Elfamorphosis

Check out our elf-selves that Tonya created for us. Then go to Tonya's blog to see the Harrington elves! So cute!

"The Holiday Spirit"

One of Fletcher's favorite sayings right now is "That sure gets me in the holiday spirit!" That makes me laugh every time! And he sure does have the holiday spirit: singing Christmas songs, helping me bake, decorating, and asking to go for "night time drives" to see Christmas lights.

He talks all the time and surprises us every day with what comes out of his mouth!:
"There's something that interests me!"
"Let's do an experiment."
"I have a genius idea!"
"Want to meet my friend? He's awesome!" (To a boy at the playground, about Cam.)
"Hi, sweet little guy." (In a soft sweet voice to a baby at school.)
"My Daddy is nocturnal."
"Mom, this is delicious!"

Reindeer Food

Today Fletcher and his friends made reindeer food. One of our favorite Christmas traditions is making reindeer food to sprinkle on the lawn on Christmas Eve for Santa's reindeer to eat. We use small glass canning jars and layer oatmeal, sugar, crushed peppermint, and sprinkles (commonly known as the favorites of reindeer) until our jars are full. We print labels and color them and tie them on with ribbon. The labels have this poem:

Sprinkle on your lawn at night
The moon will make it sparkle bright
Santa's reindeer fly and roam
This will guide them to your home!

On Christmas Eve, after leaving treats by the tree for Santa, we go out and sprinkle the reindeer food on the grass! It's all gone in the morning, so we know the reindeer loved it!

Christmas Workshop

Today was a special day at Fletcher's school: the Christmas Workshop. Moms and Dads were invited to come early and hear the children recite a beautiful poem with hand motions (that made this mommy teary-eyed) and sing Jingle Bells together as a group. Then everyone made Christmas cards for the residents of the Pines, a local retirement community. Afterwards we made a Merry Mix with pretzels, M&M's, peppermint, and marshmallows to take home. It was so nice to see Fletcher interacting with his classmates and to spend time together doing holiday stuff!

Santa Train

This afternoon we went to Spenser, NC to the Transportation Museum to ride the Santa Train. Ed and Fletcher went last year and I was excited to get to go with them this year. We enjoyed riding the train, seeing Santa, sitting in an antique fire truck and seeing all the trains. It was a fun and beautiful (and unseasonably warm) day!

Holiday Fun

Boy, we've had a busy week! I guess they will all be that way until Christmas. But it's been a fun week, doing lots of festive holiday stuff. At home we've been making lots of decorations and ornaments for our tree with our friends, Isabelle and Cam. The past 2 days Fletcher and I have also crushed 4 dozen candy canes for holiday cooking and projects, made 2 dozen waffles for freezing, and 2 dozen pumpkin muffins (from Emily's wonderfully delicious recipe), also for freezing. We made what seemed like a million sugarplums (marshmallows dipped in candy and sprinkles) yesterday, too.

Over the week I made 40 Christmas cards (in addition to the 30 I had already made earlier, last month) and finally choose a picture to go inside. While Ed and Fletcher were at a birthday party yesterday morning, I got them all addressed and Ed helped me lick envelops last night so you should all be getting your Christmas cards this week!

And...we were back to Meg-Art on Wednesday afternoon to paint some more pottery for Christmas gifts. Whew! Oh! And I also did all my Christmas shopping (2 stores and online) on Friday morning! Busy week, but fun and festive!

Tis the Season

Today we kicked off the holiday season with one of our favorite traditions: BBQ at the American Legion followed by the Christmas Parade! The food was great! Fletcher enjoyed playing on the playground before the parade. We sat with Tonya and her family again this year and enjoyed each others company. Fletcher's favorite part of the parade was a mini VW bug and conducting the marching band with the baton he brought from home, mine was the dance troops, and Ed's was seeing a friend from college that he had not seen in 15 years or so.