Christmas Firsts

Well, it's been a Christmas season of firsts.  I won the first place overall female in the 1st ever Ugly Sweater Run held in Yreka.

Carter won first place in the mounted division in the Fort Jones' Christmas parade, and the boys took first place in the cuteness award at the holiday dance recital.









It was also the first time ever since Bradley and I have been together that we have just stayed home on Christmas day.  Finally, it's only the first day after Christmas and I have the tree down, all of the presents put away, and almost all of the decor boxed up.

While it was a season of Christmas firsts, it was also the longest time we have ever celebrated.  Starting with the Polar Express the weekend before Thanksgiving meant that our tree would be left to a bare trunk by Christmas Day.  I was a little concerned that the boys would be upset that I hastily removed Christmas from the house, as I often get a little sad when the big day is over, but Carter just replied "No mom, Christmas is over."

It was a Christmas season filled with family activities and I loved every minute of it.  From riding to the North Pole, to watching the gingerbread cowboy ride his pony and exclaim "Merry Christmas", to not being sure what Miles would do on stage, - it was a wonderful season.  Carter even went on his first date.  With his Grandma Nene - to a big-band Christmas concert.  He got all dressed up, wore his grandpa's cowboy hat, and even took out money from his piggy bank to buy some popcorn for Nene.


Since becoming a mom and "doing" Christmas I now realize how much work it all is.  Between planning, shopping, making lists, wrapping, prepping food, organizing costumes, gifting, and making sure that my own classroom Christmas celebrations are in order, it's no wonder that I wanted the tree down today.  Hours and hours and hours of preparation and all over in a few days.  On top of the regular Christmas "stuff", I now had to plan a meal and make sure that is was edible and timed correctly.  Turns out that dinner was a delicious and beautiful.  The table was surrounded by my sister, mom, Bradley, the boys, and my friend Anna.

Around 11pm, when the dishwasher had been emptied for the third time, the counters cleaned for the tenth time, and the stainless steel appliances wiped for the 100th time that day, my wonderful husband took me aside, hugged me and told me what a wonderful job I had done making Christmas so special.  Truthfully, despite all of my hours of labor over the last month, the Christmas Spirit had not quite hit me until that moment.

Miles' first time on the big stage made a HUGE impression on many, including him.  He told me the first night before going to bed, "Mom, I LOVE the stage!.  Boy, can you tell!  While it was a season of Christmas firsts, I certainly feel as blessed as ever.  It was the perfect Isbell Family Christmas, and it won't be the last.

Tis the Season

Between finishing up the most successful SV Turkey Trot in history, and dashing off to get a Christmas tree without snow, it's hard to narrow down the line between the Fall and Winter albums on the iPhoto end.  Whilst getting a Christmas tree falls into the latter, it usually is accompanied by snow.  Interestingly, the trip to the North Pole occurred prior to Thanksgiving and has resulted in our kids feeling that Christmas is a million years away, even though it is actually a much smaller gap between the two holidays than in prior years.  Although I did pack some hot cocoa into our tree hunting supplies, it was not nearly as appreciated as in years past.

While it may still feel like Fall, the temperature is dropping and we've managed to check a few things off of the holiday list.

1.  House is decorated
2. Tree has been "hunted", and trimmed
3. Enjoyed Christmas Vacation
4. Mailed out holiday cards
5.  Written letters to Santa
6.  Taken an excursion to the North Pole aboard the Polar Express
7.  In process of hanging outdoor exterior illumination as I type

The Polar Express was magical, fun, and entertaining.  Unfortunately, the destination consisted of the back of a Pear packing plant and lacked the usual luster accompanied by a traditional North Pole esque setting.  Luckily, Santa's beard was VERY real.  In fact, Santa managed to hit on Nene, not once, but TWICE during our return back to Mt. Hood.  Upon disembarking he even managed to pick her out of the crowd and call out to his "sweetie".  I'd like to say it was her good looks, but I think the red flannel nightgown and Santa hat may have had something to do with it too.

Santa asked the boys what they wanted and Miles asked for Lightning.  However, Carter managed to make us all sniffle when he asked for "his whole family".

This last weekend we met up with our family friends to hunt for a Christmas Tree.  I honestly did not understand why all of the boys insisted on packing Nerf Guns and plastic rifles.  Turns out they took the term "hunting" quite literally.  Well hunt we did.  No snow, but to a new location up Mt. Bolivar.  After a few swigs of hot cocoa, we headed back to a nice family meal.

This evening we continued our holiday indulgences by writing our letters to Santa.  Hopefully if I followed directions carefully, Santa will write both of them back with a postmarked letter.

In other news we are now the proud owners of five chickens.  Long story short, Carter couldn't let his buddy's move stand in the way of saving some chickens.  The good news is that we've already gotten four eggs out of the deal, but the bad news is that one of the chickens has been eating the eggs too.  I questioned this rationale, but Bradley's been studying Chickens for Dummies, quite feverishly.

Looks like it might be roast chicken for Christmas Dinner.  .  .