The Streetpoet

Christmas Eve

Ian is teething, and crawling so the best we got was with a stick in his mouth…

Until Daddy got home and made him smile!

What a joy you are to all of us, Ian Daniel! Merry First Christmas to you, son!

Last Sunday Peter took me out to the Nutcracker at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza. I knew he wasn’t so interested in seeing it himself as he was in taking me, so I was even more thrilled to go with my man!

I had seen it once before when I was small. My Memama took us in our little velvet dresses to the Fox theater in Atlanta. What a dazzling experience for a small girl! And Sunday I saw twins in little red velvet dresses…

My father-in-law’s brother-in-law’s mother left behind a beautiful wardrobe of antique and handmade clothing that we were allowed to select some articles from and one of the pieces given to me was a hand sewn black velvet gown. I had so much fun wearing it that evening! We call her Honey, and I thought of her all evening and wondered what she wore it to and wished the gown could tell me.

It was a beautiful evening, Peter, thank you for taking me!

While Peter and I were out to the Nutcracker, Mom stayed with our boys and made the dough for a gingerbread house and gingerbread men. On Wednesday she rolled, cut, and baked the dough with them, and on Thursday she had them over to decorate their house and men. Last night they put the finishing touches on with Daddy’s help and they’ve been playing with it and admiring it all day. A BIG thank you to Mom for all your hard work!

“Parenthood is partnership with God. You are not molding iron nor chiseling marble; you are working with the Creator of the universe in shaping human character and determining destiny.” ~Ruth Vaughn

“The people who influence us most are not those who buttonhole us and talk to us, but those who live their lives like the stars in heaven and the lilies in the field, perfectly simply, and unaffectedly. Those are the lives that mold us.” ~Oswald Chambers

“The home should be a self-contained shelter of security; a kind of school where life’s basic lessons are taught; and a kind of church where God is honored; a place where wholesome recreation and simple pleasures are enjoyed.” ~Billy Graham

VRC had their office party at Duke’s of Malibu. The boys enjoyed looking at the ocean (to which there was no access) and the food was awesome! 🙂

It was a glaringly bright room right there on the water…and this table cloth made a great backdrop!

But this was the best we could get of the boys as it was getting on towards nap time.

On the drive home Peter stopped the car on a turnout and got out with Jerome and Seth. It was a gorgeous day and a beautiful spot in the Malibu canyon.

For the past few years since we’ve lived in this house we have been able to get a Christmas tree! (Instead of making one for the table.) And we’ve had a tradition of asking Peter’s cousin’s along and getting pizza. In the past we have gone out after dark to a farm with hot chocolate, lights, hay bales and mud puddles….and always after Peter’s finals. This year Darrell and Eric piled in the car with us and we went out to a pizza lunch and then drove around town looking at Christmas tree stands. The ambiance was definitely lacking, but we sure had a fun time! We ended up at Target where all the trees were stacked and leaning in a miniature forest with puddles on the floor. The guys found us a perfect tree while Seth had fun climbing through all the Christmas trees…and stomping in the puddles!

Jerome helping on the hunt…he actually lifted that thing out!

Yay!

Then Gigi met us at home to help decorate, but she ended up taking a picture of me and I didn’t get any of her! So sorry Gigi! You can see Jerome’s drawing here that he taped up himself:

Last year my mother sent me a lot of Christmas ornaments from our childhood and ones that had been given to her and Daddy. It was so fun seeing them again and reminiscing with Regina.

Thanks for making our day special everybody! It’s so nice to have family to share in making memories with us!  I’ll put up a picture of our tree all decorated soon, we had to dash out to have dinner at Papa’s house with Mom’s brother Harold and his lovely wife Peggy who were visiting from Utah!