So It Begins

Needing something to do today to get out of the house, Mitchell, Jack, and I headed off to the craft store.  I can always use something from there and we needed an excuse to get out.  Mitchell LOVES the craft store, mainly because there is always some holiday close enough for this type of store to just go nuts over it.  For the last couple months, it has been all the Halloween decorations that have enthralled him - spooky costumes, skeletons, costume "weapons" and anything "haunted" (which to him, just means scary) were his favorite points of interest.  But I am finding out that was nothing compared to what is coming.

When we walked through the doors, Mitchell's eyes got as wide as can be and he just stared.  He literally stopped moving and just stared.  I feel like we were just there a couple days ago, but since then, the place has completely transformed into Christmas land!  He was too young last year, and we were busy with a new baby and just didn't get out as much during this season, so I think this really hit him as something never seen before.  Once his thoughts caught up to his initial physical reaction, he exclaimed, "Mom!  It's already Christmas in here!  Let's stay here all day!"

Oh Mitchell, you have made my day.  Yes, it is a bit early to be so excited about Christmas, but you have captured for me what Christmas can mean to a child.  He was so enchanted by every last thing on the shelves.  Each one was magical and worthy of complete inspection and discussion.  He was trying reindeer antlers on Jack, putting on Santa hats, ringing loud bells, rubbing sparkles off ornaments and onto his face, literally skipping up and down isles, shaking snow globes, asking questions, looking for Baby Jesus, and keeping Jack and me quite entertained.  

His top picks (for me to buy for him for making our house look just like this store) were:

reindeer antlers for baby Jack

a GIANT tree

loud jingle bells for the door

a cheesy snowman/penguin candle

a giant ornament covered in loose sparkles that were falling off everywhere

cookie decorating kit

Santa costume 

a dog elf costume (I don't think he  knows what an elf is or that it was for a dog)

No, I did not actually buy any of this stuff.  He actually wasn't upset by that at all.  He was just having way too much fun "shopping for cool stuff" as he put it, and didn't seem to have any expectation of actually buying it.  

I remember when Christmas was so enchanting for me and I can't remember when it lost that magic exactly.  Since then though, this is what I have been waiting for: to see my kids' faces light up over the things that have lost their luster for me and do my best to establish traditions (some borrowed from my childhood, some new) for them that will only  make this season even more special and meaningful for them.  Thank you for brightening my day with your enthusiasm and childlike wonder, Mitchell!  We will definitely be back soon!

Our Shadow

The boys were feeling well enough today that I decided to finally get something done and run some errands with them.  One place we went was the craft store.  I needed some things and the boys love it there!  There are aisles and aisles of treasure to be gotten into!  They love just about every aisle - soft things to feel, treasure boxes to fill, strange hooks and large needles to sword fight with, beads to scatter... And at the end, a whole shelf full of candy to beg for!

I have taken them with me before, so I knew what to expect, but I had a little "talk" with them before we went in this time, promising they could pick one kind of candy to share if they followed the rules I gave them.  Well, asking a little boy to behave and not make a mess in an environment like that might not be cruel, but it is, at least, rediculous.  After about 10 minutes there, I started to notice our "shadow" following discreetly behind us.  This poor store employee followed us to every place we went, replacing feather boas, re-sorting colorful beads, re-shelving wooden treasure boxes (after emptying the "treasures" out of them), re-wrapping yarn, and hanging things back up properly (after my attempts to clean up after ourselves.)   Needless to say, they did not receive their candy, but we did enjoy exploring the store.  Sorry, Mr. Shadow for the extra work today!  

Am I the Only One Who Needs a Nap?

 

You would think after all the running around this morning, we would all settle nicely into a nap.  Come on, they are still recovering - they should still be tired, right?  Well, getting a second to myself was more difficult than keeping the craft store tidy today.  Jack would not stay asleep for more than half an hour and the big boys?  Forget about it...No more sleepy, sick boys for me!  There was so much commotion going on in there room, it sounded like a birthday party in there!  I finally heard Ben yell, "Mitchell, put your clothes back on and stop wiping your bum on me!" and decided it was time to give up on 

the whole nap idea.  I snuck upstairs with my camera to catch them in some sort of mischief (or covered in poop) and found them out of their room.  Ben had the decency to look guilty, but Mitchell immediately launched into a full description of everything he was and had been doing, as if that was what he was supposed to be doing and I should want to hear it all!  I snapped a few pics of them anyways.  Cute even when naughty!