Christmas in May

I’ve given up any semblance to a real time blog and am now just planning to frantically throw together posts from this fiscal year and vow to be better next year.  You may wonder why I bother.  I bother because there are just so many precious (and not so precious) memories floating around in my head and I am desperate to capture them before they fade away.  Each post, no matter how untimely, is like a small victory in what feels like the losing battle of trying to hold on to what I know will not last, this time that the kids are young and still need and want me.  At some point this year, I am thinking early spring, we made the transition from Ryan in the nursery and Kyle and Grant sharing a room, to Ryan and Grant sharing a room and Kyle in a room of his own.  At first, I would still tuck him in and sing his favorite lullaby, Away in the Manager (yes, you read that right, his favorite lullaby for years has been Away in the Manger, not just a Christmas time, all year long).  But as things got hectic, trying to get Ryan to sleep in the big bed, without his binky and the other six million things that go on when the lights are supposed to be out, we just somehow stopped the tuck in/lullaby.  And just like that, he needs me a little less.  So that is why I bother, because at some point, they will not need me at all and I will at least have these thoughts, these memories that I should have cherished more as they happened.  So, I think I left off with Christmas, pics included in this post (there will be a follow up, just not sure when) are of the annual Crown Center Trip, picking out the tree and one of my favorites, Santa coming to preschool reading.  Crown Center went as usual, though had a slightly bumpy start.  Since I live to avoid crowds, we always go early in the month and during the week.  Really wanting to get the jump, I even pulled Kyle out of school 30 minutes early, so we could pick up Grant from preschool at 3, then head straight for Crown Center.  It was all going well until the van wouldn’t start in the driveway of preschool.  We finally got it jumped, but didn’t trust it, so we went home, piled into the CRV and headed that way.  It made us appreciate for sure how much room we have in the van.  It was a fun visit and as you can see, Ryan was thrilled with the choo choo that brought our food at Fritz’s.  There is also a picture of venturing to the Christmas Tree farm.  In the past, we have ventured as far as Lowe’s, but this year, revisited the actual patch to cut down a live tree.  It was nice to enjoy the time outside.  The other two pictures are of one of my favorite Christmas memories.  Santa paid a surprise visit to preschool reading club.  Grant was excited to remind Santa of his request for a stuffed monkey (more on that next post) that he was first to go up.  On his way back, his friend Bren grabbed his hand and asked him to go back up with him.  Our friend and neighbor Ava thought having Grant was a great idea, so she grabbed his hand as well.  Grant was just so sweet about it, wanting to make things easier for his friends who were still a little nervous around the big guy.  Ok, more to follow, hopefully before July.