Christmas - The Aftermath

Well, Christmas is done and over. And after having taken this whole week off of work, I have to admit I'm just a little bit bored. I've read all my library books, plus Joe's Christmas books. We've watched tons of movies (mostly Xander's) and I've consistently eaten myself into a coma. Good times!

Today I snuck away to the library so I could update the blog and let my fans (ha ha) know how Christmas worked out for us. In a word: great! Everyone got what they wanted, and then some. Xander had a great time, naturally, and knew with all certainty that he'd be getting his Bat Cave from Santa. No surprise there. For me, I walked away with a snazzy new cell phone and the cutest little MP3 player ever!

My biggest holiday achievement? I actually managed to have the Feast of the Seven Fishes this year. Woo! Let me tell you, that's a lot of fish. Not to mention the roaster chicken we made when my in-laws came up, and the 5lb roast beef I made on Sunday. There's literally no room in my fridge.

Now we're just marking time until next week, when school starts back up and I drag myself back to work. Before that happens, we have a dinner date at Skinny Grandma's (aka Trudi's) on New Year's Day. More food! No!!!

I hope everyone had a really awesome holiday!!

Merry Christmas, One and All!

Hoping you and your family has a very Merry Christmas!! Or other seasonal December holiday!

Bring it On, Mother Nature!!

No worries about not having a white Christmas this year! Friday we got hit with a snowstorm - an inch an hour, until we had about six inches. Xander was right out in the middle of it, naturally, and I joined him. It was cold, but we had fun rolling around. After it all stopped, Joe went out to shovel a path to the car.

Sunday morning I woke up to another snowstorm. This one blew around most of the day, dumped another six inches on us. Okay, enough snow now please! Today we've got frigid temps, and the wind is wicked, blowing snow across the road until you can't see a thing.

And of course another storm is expected on Christmas Eve. Figures. The one year I don't try to get a sled for Xander is the one year we actually have snow. So unfair!

Trimming Our Tree

First, let me just say that I'm glad we decorated the tree on Tuesday. If we'd waited a day longer, it just wouldn't have gotten done. Xander was diagnosed with strep throat on Monday, Joe and I on Wednesday. Xander was already back to school by then, which is good because I was completely useless on Wednesday. It's been a long time since I was so sick!!

Anyhoo, Joe and Xander put the lights and garland on the tree while I was at work on Tuesday. It was really sweet of them, but I had to replace the garland (they used the wrong ones) and fix the lights a bit. Yes, I'm extremely anal about my tree!


Xander had a great time hanging ornaments, concentrating his efforts to the back corner near the floor. It's a cute little tree, except for the odd branches that stick out farther than the rest. I'm trying not to let it bug me, LOL!

It didn't take long to decorate, and it looks very pretty all lit up. I wish we could put some presents underneath, but I think that Stuart would chew all the paper off (darn cat!). Last night Xander wanted to sleep underneath it to watch the lights. Now we just need to finish the Christmas shopping and we'll be good to go!

Ice Storm Concluded

Well, power is back up around the area and, more importantly, at my own home! Here's how it played out:

Saturday morning we woke up at Cathy's house to find that her power had gone out. Bummer! We hung out for a little while, made a run to Stewart's, and enjoyed the fireplace. Then we went home to get a change of clothes and see if we had any fish left alive. Surprisingly, the two ciclids and the convict were still kicking, so Joe dumped them in a juice bottle and we took them with us to our next destination: my inlaws!

We spent the night on Saturday, watching movies and hanging out. On Sunday morning around 11am I tried my phone and...the answering machine picked up! Hurray!! So we zoomed back home. Joe cleaned out the fish tank and put our survivors back in there. We straightened up the house, then went to Oneonta for groceries and to finally get our Christmas tree. And boy, it was great to be back home in my own bed!!

And to top things off, I took Xander to the doctor yesterday and he's got strep throat. No school for him today! Hopefully he and Joe will have the lights and garland on the tree when I get home, so we can get right to the ornaments. And please send good thoughts our way that our power won't go out again!!

Ice Storm

Well, here we are with another ice storm. Woke up this morning with no power, work was closed, and school was closed. So the Bruno's hung out - we played Yahtzee, cuddled up on the couch to keep warm, and tried to decide what to do next.

Since we couldn't reach Eli on the phone, we went to our back up - my friend Cathy (who puts up with me on scrapbook crop weekends). And here we sit, waiting for our power to come back on. Xander is in Cathy's room watching Scooby Doo, Joe and I are in the living room watching Kitchen Nightmare, and Cathy is setting up her Christmas tree.

Meanwhile, our fish are probably dead and I feel like we're eating all of Cathy's food. Sigh. I hope our power comes back on soon. Cathy's friend heard that some people aren't expected to have their electric back for a week. Please, oh please, don't let that be us!!

Decorating the House

As soon as I got home last night, Xander insisted we do more decorating. He had his Santa hat on and was ready to go! So I dragged more boxes up from our downstairs storage, and Xander put around some garland and ceramic decorations. We hung the mistletoe (he needed it over his bedroom door this year) and filled the bathroom hanging basket with silk poinsettias. Stuart even got in on the act, dragging away my garland every time I turned around. When we get our tree tonight, it really will be looking a lot like Christmas at the Big Blue Barn!

Weekend Fun!

It was a busy weekend for the Brunos! Friday was the Hospice party, just a small dinner with the core group of people that Joe works with on a weekly basis. We had an excellent ham dinner, and Xander had fun running around with the only other kid that was there (a nine year old girl).

Saturday was for house cleaning and decorating, followed by dinner at the Hyatt's. We had roast chicken and Xander even ate some veggies! (Donna always was the only one he'd do that for!) Afterwards, Xander got to open his first Christmas present - a Cars art set. He was very excited!

Yesterday was annual Cookie Day. My friend Amy came over and we spent the whole day baking Christmas cookies. We did three different kinds each, and shared what we made. Xander was right in the thick of things, mixing and measuring and eating lots of dough.

We're starting the holiday season off with a bang!

Xander - Art Prodigy!

Okay, so maybe he's not a prodigy. But check out this picture he brought home from school today! Didn't he do a great job drawing Santa and Rudolph? I was so amazed, I had to scrap it last night.

Also, yesterday was Decade Day at school for Spirit Week. Xander was a greaser, and this was his fierce do-you-want-to-rumble pose. Awesome! You can't see it, but he had a pack of gum rolled up in his sleeve. The plastic chain was his idea. What a kid!

Xander - School Boy Genius!

Okay, so I'm probably pretty biased about my son's intelligence. But I tell you, he continues to amaze me! Only three months into Kindergarten, and he's already reading a little, sounding out words, and writing sentences. Check out this scrapbook layout I did to commemorate Xander's first sentence written at home. He wrote that on his own, completely unprompted, and with zero help from me. Wow!

In other school news, it's Spirit Week at Xander's school this week. Monday he got to wear his pajamas, and yesterday was Dress Like A Teacher day. The bow tie is Joe's and I think it totally makes the whole look! At Xander's request we also gelled his hair. Very spiffy.

And then the following conversation took place:

Mommy - If you were a teacher, what would you teach?

Xander - I would teach people to be kind to other people.

Geez. Did your heart just melt? Mine sure did! That boy, you just never know what he's going to say next!

It's A Bruno Thanksgiving!

Well, I'm finally starting to recover from Thanksgiving and Black Friday! I literally shopped till I dropped, both Friday and Sunday. Lots of money spent, but my Christmas shopping is almost done. Woo hoo! I shopped a bit with Krissy on Black Friday, and Amy and I made our yearly pilgrimage to Albany. It was fun, but exhausting.

Thanksgiving Day we spent with my in-laws. Jean cooked up a turkey, stuffing, corn, and mashed potatoes. I brought over green bean casserole and sweet potatoes with marshmallows. Yum! As usual, I ate myself into a stupor. :) After that was the ceremonial watching of March of the Wooden Soldiers, a family tradition since my mom was a kid.

Xander mostly enjoyed the day, though he barely ate anything. The only touchy moment came when he realized that Aunt Tanya wasn't going to be stopping by. There was pouting, crying and general unhappiness. Luckily, he did get to see her on Sunday. Thank goodness!!

I know it's late, but I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!!

Yankee Candle Factory

Joe, Xander and I made the trek to the Yankee Candle Factory in Deerfield, Mass. this weekend. It was a three hour trip, but the weather was clear (frigid, but clear) and the trip was easy.

The first good thing about this trip was meeting up with fellow Cherry (ACOT member) Renee. It was my first time meeting someone from the boards and she was so nice! She could only hang out for an hour, most of which time was spent on line waiting so our kids could see Santa. And he was an awesome Santa! Don't expect to see any pictures, though...I'm saving them for the Christmas card this year! Anyway, shout-out to Renee for meeting me! You're awesome!

After Xander had sat with Santa and fondled all of the toys in the toy department, we wandered out to the rest of the Yankee Candle experience. If you've never been there, I have to recommend it! There's a Bavarian Village with cute store fronts, a band of backwoods robot singers, and scores of those little Christmas collectible villages all set up with lights and everything.

Xander and Joe made wax molds of their hands, and they each got new ornaments for the Christmas tree (Joe got a guitar, Xander a set of drums). We had lunch at the Candlewick Cafe, and Xander made me sniff just about every candle scent in the place. Whew! I spent an insane amount of money on votives. But a good time was had by all!

Mostly, I just enjoyed spending the day with my family doing something new and fun. And there's a very high chance we'll be back again next year!

Morning Sunshine

It was a bright and shiny morning this morning, perfect for taking some pictures while Xander and I walked up the driveway to wait for the bus. Early morning sun and late afternoon sun are my favorites for taking pictures, because the lighting is so warm. Here are the pictures I took this morning:

Internet Friends

I would like to give a shout-out to the community at A Cherry On Top, where all my scrapbooking girlfriends live. Say what you will about online friends, but sometimes they're the only ones there for me.

Today, for example, I was feeling pretty low. All I had to do was let the girls at ACOT know how I was feeling to suddenly get a boost of good feelings! They understood how I was feeling, they said all the right things, and reminded me that even though you may not have met a person in the flesh doesn't stop them from being a true friend in every other sense.

So thanks, girls, for picking me up and dusting me off! I really needed it!

Parent-Teacher Conference Day

Today was Parent-Teacher Conferences at Xander's school. I was prepared for the worst, after the following conversation:

Me: "Xander, what do you think your teacher will tell me when I meet with her?"

Xander: "Probably that I put soap in Jacob's hair."

Not very confidence-inspiring, to be sure! But it went great. Xander's teacher says that he's doing great academically. He's really nailing the english language arts, and doing pretty good in math too. I got to see the first sentence he wrote: I like Mom. Awww!

The behavioral issues are minimal - the usual not sitting still, wanting to do his own thing at times. Xander's teacher thinks he's a great kid. (I agree!)

******

As an added bonus - cause I'm feeling generous! - here is a picture of Xander from yesterday. He woke up complaining and crying that the sun was hurting his eyes, so I gave him a pair of Joe's sunglasses. Well, he instantly became Scott Summers aka Cyclops from the X-Men. Even picked out his clothes to match colors. This is his Scott Summers pose.

Mr. Pouty Pants

Lest you think that Life With Xander is all laughs and silliness, I took these pics last night to show the other side. Mr. Drama King.

So, Xander got ten tons of candy on Halloween. He's been eating a little of it. Joe and I have had some too. Last night Joe made the mistake of pawing through the candy dish in front of Xander, who promptly went on the defensive. "You can't eat my candy!!" Of course, he's been steadily eating Daddy's fudge round cookies, but let's not go there.

When Xander's accusations didn't change the fact that Joe was eating the candy, we got this:

And of course I felt the need to take some pictures. That's when we got this:

Luckily, Xander's blow-ups only last a few minutes. Afterwards he was fine, and joking around with everyone again. These are the days of our lives!

Happy Birthday, Mom!

Happy Birthday to my mom, who turns 56 today! (pay no attention to the dorky haircut)

And Happy Veteran's Day to our servicemen everywhere!!

Xander's First Assembly

Xander had a Veteran's Day assembly at school today. Eli was kind enough to pick me up and take me, since Joe was working and had the car. I didn't want to miss Xander's first assembly, since he would be singing.

It was long, but I cried through almost the whole thing. (I swear I have early-onset menopause!) There was a speaker who had served in the Vietnam War, the story behind the playing of Taps, and an explanation of what each fold of the flag means when it gets folded into a triangle. The elementary classes sang two patriotic songs accompanied by the high school band. It was really, really nice.

Let's Catch Up!

Okay, this is going to be a long post! I was out of work for several days - my mom came to visit, and before that we had a huge snow storm and our first snow day of the year. In fact, we lost power at our house for two days and were camping out at Eli and Krissy's (thanks, guys, for putting us up...and putting up with us!). This put a severe crimp in my house cleaning plans. And sadly we lost two of our fish.

By the time Mom came in on Thursday, our power was back on and the apartment was mostly clean. I did go to work for a little while on Friday, because there was a Halloween breakfast and mom got a chance to visit with some of her old work friends. Then she went with Eli to watch his kids march in the Jefferson parade while Joe and I went to Xander's school to see his first parade. Too cute! We regrouped at Eli's house to see the kids in their costumes before taking mom back and going trick or treating. (Xander got enough candy to fill 2 bowls! Crazy!)

On Saturday we had an early birthday party for Mom at Eli's house. There were presents, Mickey Mouse ears, and the Pioneer Woman's apple dumplings - yum! Mom stayed overnight there, and I picked her up on Sunday for some shopping and lunch out with Xander and I. Saturday night was back to Eli's for BBQ.

Monday was a low-key day. I went in to work for a couple of hours to take care of some things that just couldn't wait, then we watched movies at home. Mom and I fell asleep on the couch in the middle of Ghostbusters. Pretty sad. Yesterday Krissy, Mom, Aislin and I went out for lunch, and then we took Mom to the airport. She got back to Florida at 10pm.

It was a great visit and I miss her already! Hopefully next year we'll be able to go to Florida to visit her for a change. Fingers crossed!