What do I do?

When I got in my car to leave work today, the car next to me was turned on, lights on, and there was a lady inside leaning against the driver's side window. It didn't seem quite right, but I could tell she was breathing. Perhaps she was taking a nap? My family is certainly one that has no problem sleeping in cars, but it seemed like an odd time and place to be napping. Waiting on someone? That was a possibility, but we were in a staff parking lot that is pretty far from the main campus, so wouldn't she drive closer to pick the person up? Hmmm... I hated to wake her, but I paused, probably because I've seen too many episodes of "What would you do?"

The few times I've seen that show, I was convinced I'd be one who takes action and "does the right thing." On one hand, I'm someone who would gladly help a complete stranger. However, I also have an overly cautious side, one that prevents me from even answering my door to strangers or responding to strange numbers on my phone.

I think I'd participate in a lot more random acts of kindness, but I'm usually dissuaded by the other cautious people in my life. Sometimes that's probably a good thing--like when I wanted to stop on the Interstate to remove something that was causing everyone to swerve. But I still feel bad about not stopping to help when a man lost his entire cart of oranges and was struggling to pick up thousands of them from the roadside (not the Interstate that time). And I still question my response to seeing two young children left in a hot car -- I stayed there, but should I have called the police?

A few months ago, I noticed an ipod that had been dropped next to my car. It obviously belonged to the person parked beside me. It was pouring rain, so I found a plastic bag in my car (packaging from a McDonald's toy), wrapped it up, and put it in a spot the person would see (not the windshield because if it was too obvious, someone might steal it). I don't know who it was, and that's okay. It makes me happy to think about the person finding it.

One time in college, I did get to meet a recipient of a good deed. I found someone's mail outside the post office, so I looked her up in the directory and called her. I don't remember exactly what the mail contained (it was money or something else important), but I still remember exactly where we met for me to hand it over, and the look of excitement and relief on her face. How cool to do that for someone!

How often do we just pass by and not notice, or just not act for whatever reason (time, none of our business, "someone else will do it," etc.)? There are certainly more times that I think about acting, than times I actually do.

So, today, here I was faced with one of these situations. All I could think about was that she had some medical condition that caused her to pass out. I pulled into the parking spot on her driver's side and rolled down my passenger window. I was 1 ft from her and she didn't respond. So I beeped my horn. Still no response. That's when I got out and knocked on her window. She stirred and looked up at me and I mouthed, "Are you okay?" She nodded, got out her cell phone, and put her car in reverse. She was fine, I guess. We both drove away.

So, was she annoyed that I woke her? Embarrassed? Mad that I intruded? I'm not sure. But I was a lot more satisfied knowing I wouldn't hear on the news that some lady had a diabetic attack or stroke and died in a parking lot at USC. I would hope in a similar situation, if something was indeed wrong, someone would do the same for me.

Smart Girl

We've now been home for three days due to snow/ice. Once everything turned to ice on Monday, it was no longer fun to go outside, so I've been inside with the kids for two days straight. USC reopened today, but daycare goes with the local schools, and they are still closed.

I used some time today to work on letters and shapes with Breeley, and boy did she surprise me! I drew basic shapes of square, triangle, circle, and star, and she got those easily. I was shocked when I drew a diamond, rectangle, and oval, and she said their names as I drew them! Oval? That may be normal for a 2 1/2-yr-old, but I was impressed that she said them so easily!

She mastered her basic colors --red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, pink, white, black--long ago, first by pointing to them when we said their names, but now easily saying their names on her own and using them to describe things. I had a great hand-me-down block set that really helped us with this.

An Elmo placemat helped us with numbers. Breeley started out by counting 1, 2, 1, 2, 1, 2... Then we started pointing to numbers on a placemat and somehow the visual was enough for her to realize that there were other numbers too, because immediately (the first night we did it) she added 3 and 4. Now she usually counts 1, 2, 3, 4, 8, 9, 10. She gets 5 about half the time, but has trouble with 6 and 7. She's recently added 11 and has gone as far as 13.

We haven't worked as much on numbers because she's more interested in letters. She loves puzzles and she has a couple puzzles that involve letter identification. She sings the ABC song through P (she says "Aw-me-na" for LMNO, which is funny because that's what she calls "Barney," which is her favorite show). More importantly, she can identify and name several letters. She's very consistent with A, B, E, F, O, and Z. There's at least 10 others, mostly toward the front of the alphabet, that she's consistent with pointing to when we say them. She also recognizes her name when she sees it, but she still calls herself "Beebee."

We play games, work puzzles, read books, and try to incorporate letters, numbers, colors, and shapes into everyday conversations and to ask her questions, but it's a rare day (like a snow day!) when I consciously "work" with her on these things. However, Breeley's daycare follows a preschool curriculum, so obviously she's learning something and we're very proud of our smart little girl!

Snow Day

It's rare to get snow in South Carolina, and it's almost unheard of to get it twice in a month's time! We were in Virginia for Christmas when the first snow came and went in Columbia (it was in VA too though). We couldn't escape it this time, and we woke up to 3-4 inches this morning with it still falling. I already knew we had a Snow Day today because schools, including daycare and USC, were already closed when I went to bed last night, despite the fact that not one single flake had fallen yet. (That annoys me because twice before daycare has closed prematurely--but not my work--and then nothing became of the weather reports.) 

I am not a fan of snow, but I actually got a little excited when I talked to Brian at 8:00 and he said his work had closed and he was on his way home (slowly and carefully, thank goodness, considering the roads were not cleared and there were 224 reported accidents at that time). I knew I was stocked up on milk, bread, apple juice, Ritz crackers, toilet paper, and diapers, so as long as the power didn't go out, I figured we were good to go! 

I like the look of snow before it gets tracked through and all dirty and piled up on the side of the road.

Real men look at snow while wearing camo p.j.s and drinking from a pink sippy cup.

As soon as Zack went down for a nap, I began the process of bundling up to play in the snow. We don't exactly have snow clothes, but I stole some things from Brian, and Breeley had a few good hand-me-downs from her cousins in VA. We were out for over an hour and the bundling seemed to work! I hate getting cold/wet. 

Breeley enjoyed riding her John Deere in the snow. She didn't ever seem thrilled about the snow, but she didn't seem to hate it either.

I hadn't built a snowman in a VERY long time. Brian told me I'm too much of a perfectionist to build a snowman. (At one point, I actually considered going to get sandpaper to try to smooth it out.) I settled because Breeley got restless before ours even had a head on it, and I figured that would look dumb.

We got a nice layer of ice on top of the snow, and now schools and daycare have already been closed for tomorrow. We may venture back out if Breeley wants to, but we'll definitely enjoy some hot chocolate and find another fun activity for our second Snow Day of 2011.

We're #1!

I haven't been first in anything sports-related since elementary school when I used to kick-butt at Field Day. That's why I was completely shocked and excited to win my office's College Pick 'Em League! That's me (below)--Linebacker's Mommy--and no, I was not the only person in the league! There were 23 and I was able to hang on to the lead for most of the season. Second place was just one point behind me!

Brian, on the other hand, is a little more accustomed to being first in sports. For starters, there's the whole two-time state wrestling champion in high school. More recently, his champion status comes from the less-physical Fantasy Football and NFL Pro Pick 'Em. He won his Fantasy league and is season champ going into the playoffs for Pro Pick 'Em.

Some of you may be unfamiliar with Pick 'Em or Fantasy games. You generally join a league with a group of friends or coworkers. Some people play for a pool of money, but we did not, unfortunately! In Pick 'Em, you have to choose the winner of select college or NFL football games. There can be other factors to make it more challenging, such as in my college league, we had to rate the games 1-10 by our confidence in our picks. Brian has to pick based on a points spread for his NFL league.

In Fantasy, you essentially imitate the NFL by holding a draft and picking players to make up a team of key positions, and then throughout the season you get points based on how your players perform in their real football games. Each week, your "team" goes against someone else in your league. You have to stay on top of injuries, bye weeks, and poor player performances, and you can make trades, pick up free agents, etc.

Whoever came up with these games definitely changed the world of sports -- the main benefit is that it creates interest in games you'd normally not care about. Why else would I possibly care about a game between Illinois and Northwestern?! But there I was, watching the game and cheering for Northwestern. (They lost.)

I hope our children follow in their father's footsteps and excel in actual sports, but at least if they ever win a no-athletic-ability-required sports contest, we can say they got it from both of us!

Christmas in VA

We arrived at Brian's parents' in Virginia in time for a delicious Christmas dinner. Doug had been so sick over Thanksgiving that he requested a traditional Thanksgiving meal that he could enjoy now that he's feeling better (thank goodness!). Brian's grandparents and aunt and uncle, Jan and John, joined us, so we had a full house of family on Christmas Day.

We made the kids pose for a picture before opening presents thinking we'd get a better one that way. This is the best one I got, so I can't imagine what it would have been after the present extraveganza! 

Zack was just as fascinated by their tree as he was with ours.

It wouldn't have been Christmas 2010 without getting a Pillow Pet. They won my award this year for "Most Over-Marketed Item." At least Breeley can be one of the cool kids since she got one too!

One of Breeley's favorite gifts was a "camwa" from Ma and Pappy. I laughed when I looked at the 200 pictures she took on the first night -- almost all of them were of laps! I think she needs to work on not cutting people's heads off!

Breeley loves her cousin Lance ("Lee"), even if she had no clue what he was doing on his Nintendo DS. Lindsay's kids have made the transition to high-tech gifts that their aunt doesn't know how to use.

The next day, December 26, we headed to Granny and Papa's house for Christmas Celebration #3. Zack found just as much to get into at their house as he does everywhere else!

Breeley was diligent in her job of handing out presents, and it's neat that Emma can read the names to her.

I'm super excited about Breeley's gift from Granny and Papa. They gave her the popular "Elf on a Shelf" for us to use next Christmas season. Several of my friends have an elf and I'm already thinking of mischief our little elf is going to cause next year.

Next we headed to Granny Jen's for Christmas Celebration #4. This was a mini celebration since we had missed her big family gathering the week before. By now, Zack had figured out that Breeley liked his gifts as much as her own, and thankfully he's happy to share for now. I love seeing them play together.

Breeley sharing some hugs with Granny Jen.

Back at Brian's parents', I insisted we get a family picture in front of the Christmas tree. (Apparently this made Brian extra excited and he gave the biggest grin I've ever seen from him.)

I also wanted a picture of the kids since this was Zack's First Christmas afterall. This is the best one I could get from two tired kids.

Another favorite gift was a tent and tunnel from Lindsay. Both kids love the tunnel!

Monday morning we went to my parents' for Christmas Celebration #5. After a yummy breakfast casserole, Breeley perfected her role of "present hander-outer" with DJ helping read the names.

Papa tried the teach Breeley to "pick a hand," but she is so into imitating right now that all she wanted to do was copy him.

Opening a Memory game from Grammy and Papa. Breeley has a great memory--she reminds me of things sometimes--so I think she'll like this game.

I always give my mom printed pictures to add to her albums, but the real reason I included the picture below is to show Zack climbing on the presents. He only started crawling on hands-and-knees fewer than two weeks earlier, so it was crazy that by Christmas he was already climbing and pulling up. (I had a better picture of him, but Mom was holding the pictures weird and displaying an inappropriate finger at the camera--totally on accident of course!)

Thanks to technology, Brian and Tina could join us from Idaho! Of course, I think Andrew had to reconnect with them about 50 times, so he might not have been so enthusiastic, but I was especially happy to see them open their gifts since I'd had both their names. (All the siblings and spouses draw names and only buy for one person each, plus Mom and Dad.)

Breeley suckered Papa into watching Toy Story 3 with her. Breeley has never shown much interest in movies, but she loves this one! Brian isn't really a movie guy and ALWAYS falls asleep during movies, but after watching the first 15 minutes with Breeley, he actually said he was "getting into it" and ended up watching the whole thing! Obviously he just needed to start watching Disney movies!

We came home with a van load of gifts thanks to our generous families, but more importantly, we all loved spending time with family in Virginia. We had a full schedule and lots of family gatherings, but it never felt rushed or busy. We had great meals and fun times. I love Christmas! We are so thankful for all our blessings and for the love and peace of the wonderful holiday season.

Christmas in SC

We got the kids to bed without any trouble on Christmas Eve. Breeley didn't understand enough to be overly excited, but she helped with the cookies and milk for Santa, which were actually a bit of a concern when you have a little dog that likes to help herself. They had to be quickly moved when Breeley was out-of-sight. We will need to rethink that part for next year.

Brian had assembled most of the tractor at naptime, so we just had some finishing touches and our Santa duties were complete.

We're lucky for now and the kids slept to the normal time on Christmas morning. I remember the rule for my brother and sister (we were teenagers when they were in their prime Santa excitement phase) was that they could wake everyone up "when the little hand [was] on the 7." Breeley let us sleep until after 7:00; Zack doesn't care about sleep or where the little hand is on the clock, so he had me up three times throughout the night. I'll be glad when that phase is over!

When Breeley saw the "lawn mower like Kade's," she grinned and did a little dance, then had to ride it through the living room immediately.

Zack liked being pushed on his dump truck until Breeley took a turn too fast and he got dumped off.

Besides her tractor from Santa, Breeley got mostly puzzles and educational toys I picked up at Tot Trade. She was much more interested in Zack's cars, dump trucks, and other "boy" toys!

After opening presents, we got in the van around noon and headed to Virginia. At one point, we stopped for a bathroom break and the gas station was selling a variety of sturdy wooden baskets. I'd been looking for a basket to put in our foyer for shoes, and this seemed perfect. They were a bit pricey, but Brian jumped on board immediately because he knows me so well and he knew that if we didn't get it, for weeks/months afterward I'd be saying, "I should have gotten that basket in NC." So, I got a spontaneous Christmas gift off a random exit in NC!

Our only other stop was another potty break off another random exit, but this time in SC and it didn't involve a gas station. Breeley had her first roadside potty experience (on her little potty) and it was a stinky success! She took it all in stride--pointing out rocks and grass between grunts--like it was just another day on the potty!

We ran into snow above Charlotte. The roads were slushy and not scraped for most of the drive, but we got to VA without incident. It was actually kind of pretty and we got to enjoy fresh-falling snow and a White Christmas.

Christmas Traditions

This year was the first year we ever spent Christmas morning at our own house. We moved as soon as we got married, but we've always traveled back to Virginia to spend Christmas with our families. Since Breeley is getting older, we want Santa to visit our house and to start our own family traditions.

Right now, we're still reflecting and enjoying traditions from our childhood, and incorporating and developing our own.

A few years ago, Brian's parents started serving a seafood meal on Christmas Eve. By then, they had two adult children and spouses, so this was a neat tradition once the childhood allure of Christmas was over. We looked forward to it every year, so we decided to continue it on our own. Brian was obviously excited about it since he sent me this menu 3 weeks in advance:

2 whole lobsters

Shrimp alfredo w/ angel hair pasta

Shrimp scampi

Seared scallops w/ butter

Twice-baked potatoes

It was all delicious! Breeley loves seafood too, although I laugh because she has no idea this is a special meal and would probably be just as happy with chicken nuggets!

After our meal, we let the kids each open one present, which we used to do when I was a kid. They really hadn't messed with the presents too much before this, but they eagerly tore in when we gave the okay!

I love hearing/reading about other people's Christmas traditions, and I didn't realize how many my family had until we were explaining them to my new brother-in-law. Here are some I can think of:

--I take my dad a can of cashews on Christmas morning. (I'm not sure if my dad has recognized this pattern/tradition, but I've done it every year for at least 5 years.) My husband always eats half the can while we are there. 

--I don't wear "Christmas sweaters," but I pretty much wear red or green to every Christmas celebration I go to. I never thought much about it until this year, when I realized most people just wear normal clothes and colors. I also realized my kids are some of the only ones wearing Christmas clothes, so I guess I'm double dorky.  

--My mom always asks for white socks for Christmas. (Hers always have holes in them!) Other than that, she usually only asks for pictures and for us to write stories for our family history. Despite her minimal requests, she always acts surprised at all the stuff she gets for Christmas, as if we aren't gonna get anything for our mother!

 --At my parents', we open gifts one at a time, youngest to oldest. If your stack has more, you might open two at once on a few rounds. We tend to tell stories about every present (how we found it, how we chose it, how we wrapped it, etc.), so, with 12 people, present-opening takes about 3 hours!

--My mom and brothers often come up with some interesting present disguises. Not only is the packaging unusual (e.g. food boxes, shoes, grocery bags), it's not uncommon to unwrap ramon noodles or a box of mac-and-cheese with the actual present. You get to keep any part of the disguise! Also, my brother Brian uses duct tape instead of clear tape to wrap the gift, and in lieu of a gift tag, he puts the recipient's first initial in duct tape. He doesn't have to put who it's from because we always know!  

--My mom always opens "the tube" last. "The tube" is what my dad uses to wrap my mom's present (or part of it). It is essentially a gift wrap roll and he adds new wrapping paper to the ends every year (see picture below). We aren't sure when it started, but they claim it moved with us from WV in 1987. Since we're all grown up now and have grown-up (aka fatter) arms, the responsibility of reaching into the tube has been passed to the grandchildren.

--Stockings come last (after "the tube") and we open them all at once. Our stockings always contained money from my grandparents, and my parents continued this even after my grandparents were gone. The stockings also always have hand warmers and a fudge round, which most of us eat right away because we are starving by then!

--Some years, my mom gave us each an ornament that symbolized some aspect of our personality or big milestone of the year. I took all of mine when I moved out, so they were my first ornaments. I'm doing the same thing for our kids. I also try to do one picture ornament each year that has a family picture and the year.

I love reading about other family traditions--Christmas or otherwise--and I'm excited about having our own with our kids.

Walmart Santa

We weren't sure if we'd have another opportunity to visit Santa's lap, so we took advantage of the free 5x7 picture with Santa at our local Walmart. Despite my growing dislike for Walmart, there we were with all the other cheap people waiting in line to get our free picture. However, one major difference between our picture and most of theirs is that we didn't get the standard child-crying picture, and luckily neither of us had to jump in the photo at the last minute. Both our children smiled, but the Walmart Santa could not have looked less thrilled.

Funny story: While waiting in line, Breeley needed to use the bathroom (she seems to love to go in public). A nice lady in the bathroom made a big deal to tell us that Santa Claus was in the store. When I said we knew and were waiting to see him, she immediately informed me that there was a "muuuuuch better Santa at the flea market, with a real beard and real fireplace, and his suit was muuuuch better." Apparently the good parents take their kids to see the Flea Market Santa, not the Walmart Santa.

Turns out we did not have another chance for a picture on Santa's lap, so I'm glad we did it since it was Zack's first Christmas and the first time where Breeley semi understands the Santa Claus concept. Lately, she's been very interested in knowing where people are and where people live, so here was our conversation in the car sometime before Christmas:

B - Go see Daniel?

Me - No, his house is in Virginia.

B - Where Grammy and Papa house?

Me - They live in Virginia too.

B - Where Santa Claus house?

Me - He lives in the North Pole.  

It was the first time I'd ever told someone that and expected and wanted her to believe me. I don't remember believing in Santa--I remember when I was told, by an adult family friend, that Santa wasn't real, but I don't remember before that--so it was kinda neat to talk about him like a real person. Brian's parents tell stories about "spotting elves," and about Brian and his sister going from one side of the car to the other trying to catch a glimpse of Santa's sleigh. I'm looking forward to sharing that magic with our kids too.

They're still a little young for all of that, but it was fun hearing Breeley's random references to Santa Claus, and to hear her respond when we asked what she wanted for Christmas. She was a good girl this year and Santa granted her request. The other day she said, "Beebee got lawnmower like Kade's from Santa Claus. Zack got a dump truck." Then she paused and thought for a second and said, "Mama, what'd YOU get?"

Along with a rice cooker, I got to enjoy a wonderful Christmas season with my little family!