It Snowed!

Merry Christmas (Eve)

In Slovakia, today is Christmas, and not just because of the time zones.  December 24th is Christmas in some parts of the world, so Jammy and Macho are making merry.

This morning they opened some presents from their Nagymama and Wapapa. One of the gifts was a model dinosaur which had to be assembled immediately.

Then Jammy drank Coke out of a glass bottle and polished silver, while Macho played with an egg, and Mom put together a Chocolate Raspberry Torte.

The torte is baking now, but Mom didn't line the springform pan properly, so torte batter is leaking all over the inside of the oven. She's just going to let it bake and see what happens.  For sure she'll need to clean the oven before she puts a roast in the oven tomorrow (on the real Christmas.)

Ho-Ho-Ho!

Jammy and Macho went to see Santa today at Triangle Town Center.  Mom went online and got a FastPass, so they got to go in the express lane, which was DEFINITELY worth the trouble. Jammy wanted to wear a hat because he wore one in the Santa picture last year. 
When Mom saw the first picture they took, she thought it was kind of crazy.  She asked for one more take, and the second picture was less crazy, but also much less natural.  It's kind of like in the Winnie-the-Pooh story when Tigger lost his bounce.  The other animals thought that was what they wanted, but when Tigger was just like everybody else they missed the old bouncy Tigger.  Well, that's how Mom felt when she saw the second picture, so she chose the first one.

Zip-Lines!

Evaneni invited Jammy and Macho to come and zip through the forest at Richland Creek Zipline in Asheboro, NC.
They had a great day with their friends and family.

Jammy did every zip-line on his own, and even Macho did most of them himself (although someone rode with him a few times.) Each time that Macho got to go first, he would yell, "I WON! I WON!"

Mom didn't take many pictures because she was busy hanging on for dear life, but fortunately Evaneni and Tamasbacsi made a movie! (click here to watch)

Macho's Christmas Program

Earlier this week, Mom made an executive decision to withdraw Macho from his Christmas pageant at church.  It was a tough call because he looked SO cute in his sheep costume, but during the dress rehearsal, he wouldn't sing the songs, wouldn't stand on the risers, jumped up and down from one riser to another, pushed other 3 year olds, and was a general nuisance. 

pApa lamented, "Are you sure you want to take him out of the show? You spent so much time on his costume." To which Mom replied, "It's not going to make me feel better about the costume if he wears it in the play and is a complete disaster." Instead, on Wednesday night, Macho sat with Mom and watched Jammy perform in the play, and Mom had no regrets about her decision.

Today was the day of Macho's Christmas program at preschool.  Mom had a sense of what was to come. On the days that the class had rehearsed their program, Macho had come home without a sticker (because he got in trouble too many times). Mom had no indication that Macho knew any of the songs on the practice sheet, and the dress rehearsal from the church program was fresh in her mind.  Mom told Mrs. C that it would be perfectly okay if Macho didn't participate.  Mrs. C said that she thought it would be okay.  Yes, Macho had been crazy at rehearsals, but usually on show days kids do alright.  

So, Macho was in the preschool Christmas program, and here is the video of the first song.  

When all of the other kids would sing "Good News!" Macho thought they were saying "Scooby-Doo!" It was an honest mistake.

All I Want for Chrithmath ith . . .

Jammy twisted that dangly tooth around and around, until it FINALLY came out!

So Mom played this song for him, but that is not really all he wants.

Soccer Medal Ceremony

At the end of each session of soccer lessons, there is a medal ceremony. (video) Now THIS is something Macho will stand for (as opposed to Christmas pageants).  His preschool teacher, Mrs. C, would probably have to see it to believe it.

"Sick" Day

Kids are supposed to stay out of school for 24 hours after they have a fever, so Jammy stayed home from school for the 2nd day this week, even though he was feeling pretty good.

Jammy and Macho had a cozy morning, hanging out in their pajamas and reading books.

Not so Sneaky Chef

Jammy was excited to help Mom make some meatballs for dinner, until she added Green Puree from the Sneaky Chef cookbook.

"This doesn't look like meatballs. I don't think I'll be eating any of this."

(He did eat it, though, and it wasn't bad at all.)

Macho says . . .

"Mom, I need you to wipe myself off, 'cause I'm full of eggnog on me."

Macho Says . . .

"Close your eyes, Mom. No pinking! Keep them shut, and don't PINK!!!"

Exploring Chattanooga: Lookout Mountain Incline Railway

When they went to Chattanooga, Tennessee, Jammy and Macho spent a day at Lookout Mountain.

Jammy loves trains, so they decided to take the Incline Railway, which is "the steepest passenger railway in the world." As it turns out, it's not very train-like, but it was interesting and the view was incredible!

Waiting at the station at the bottom of the hill.

Round-trip ticket in hand.  Remember it is round-trip! Don't lose after going one-way!

The incline gets steep enough to need the windows in the ceiling!

Jammy wasn't really scared; he was only pretending.

Macho had some help from Uncle D

They could see for miles. It's no wonder that there were battles for control of this mountain during the Civil War.

This is what pulls the railway car up the hill.

Macho liked the old-fashioned marbles in the gift shop, . . . 

. . . but every little boy in the gift shop ended up by the guns.

Check out more travel photo blogs at Delicious Baby's Photo Friday.

Old Father Time

Jammy got to be Old Father Time in his school Christmas play. (video)

Mom and pApa knew that it was something that he would like to do, so they encouraged him to read for the part.  Mom had second thoughts after Jammy got the part and she saw all of the lines he would need to learn and the costume that she would need to provide.

Jammy was a pro, though.  By the time Mom had gone through his lines with him 4-5 times, he had completely memorized them.  The costume was a little more trouble, but it was harder for Mom to figure out what to do than it was to actually do it.

This morning Jammy woke up and said, "Today is my play!"

He LOVED it! He didn't seem nervous at all. Jammy's Hungarian (honorary) aunts and uncle came to cheer him on, which made him feel great! Afterwards, other people came and told Jammy that he did a good job, and he loved that, too.  In the car on the way home he told Mom, "I didn't do anything special; I was just talking and singing." (and fishing for compliments)

Mom made sure that he knew that she thought he deserved all of those compliments and that he did an amazing job, and not just because she's completely biased!

Click here to see how Jammy started the night off.

Gift Ideas

Jammy would like a grail for Christmas.  It doesn't have to be a holy one, though that would be nice. It could be just a regular grail painted gold.

Mom and the Boys

Mom loves the pictures that she picked up (the ones Macho was listening to) yesterday from One Studios.  Thanks, guys!

Toy Story 3 - On Ice

Tonight Jammy took Mom to see Disney On Ice: Toy Story 3 at the RBC Center. It is cold in the RBC Center, and Jammy didn't bother to take his coat off when he sat down.  After about thirty minutes of the show had passed, Mom noticed that Jammy's hood was still on, and pulled it off for him. He thanked her, "I can hear better now!"

There is a huge range of prices for tickets, but because Mom has AAA and it was a weeknight and they sat on the club level, their tickets were just $16 each! Jammy and Mom had a nice, clear view, but Jammy did notice that some people were sitting closer to the action.

When Barbie made her debut and led a whole collection of Barbies through their first song, Jammy said, "I hope there's no girls in the front row!"

Why?

"They might ruin the whole show by asking those Barbies questions."

Mom's favorite part was when the army guys made their entrance.  Jammy got all sentimental a few times, but his favorite thing about the night was his souvenir Buzz Lightyear gauntlet.

What's That Sound?

Mom and Macho picked up a dvd of family pictures she had ordered from Pete Kovacs of One Studios today.

Macho wanted to open the envelope.

"Is this for me?"

Yep.

"Wait, I can hear something in there!"

What does it sound like?

"Pictures!"

Starbucks for Kids

Starbucks has a kids' menu, with hot chocolate (among other things) sized and priced for little kids.

A short (8oz) hot chocolate with "kween," as Macho calls whipped cream, costs about $1.

The problem is that it takes Macho about 10 seconds to drink a short hot chocolate, so Mom thought maybe he was ready to move up to a tall (12oz) hot chocolate.

Without checking the price on the menu, she placed her order, but was surprised by how much more it was. The tall drink is $2.45! 150% more money for 50% more hot chocolate, and it only took Macho 15 seconds to drink it.

Next time, Mom's going to get him 2 of the short, kid-sized, $1 hot chocolates.  That will be $2 for 16oz (a grande amount) of hot chocolate, and it will slow him down when he has to switch cups.

For Uncle Naters

When Jammy heard that Uncle Naters liked his "Little Teapot" video, he quickly recorded a couple more.

This is "My Computer" and this is "Love Somebody."

Uncle Naters, enjoy!

Logging Truck

Macho carried away all Mom's wrapping paper and loaded it onto his "logging truck."

Little Teapot

Click here to see the video of Jammy playing and singing "I'm a Little Teapot."

On Dasher, On Dancer . . .

. . . "on Axel and Dixon!" calls Santa Jammy to his flying reindeer.

Mikulás

Jammy ran outside this morning as soon as he was dressed to see if Mikulás left anything in his shoe.  He was happy to find a chocolate Santa, but there was a suspicious bar code on the bottom of the wrapper.

"Someone bought this at the store."
     "Who do you think bought it at the store?"
"You!"
     "You don't think maybe Mikulás bought it at the store?"
"I don't know if he goes to the store [long pause]. . . though I've seen him at the mall."

A Christmas Carol

A few days ago Jammy and Macho picked out a new Christmas dvd at Target called Bah-HumDuck!  They haven't watched it yet, but it has inspired endless questions from Jammy.


"What is a HumDuck?" It is a play on words that came from a story called A Christmas Carol.  There's a grumpy old man named Scrooge who says "Bah Humbug!"
"There are ghosts in this picture [on the dvd box]." Yes, the ghosts come because Scrooge doesn't believe in Christmas.
"Why do ghosts come when you say, 'Bah Humbug?'" Ghosts don't come because he says, "Bah Humbug.'"
"But he says, 'Bah Humbug,' and the ghosts come." He says, "Bah Humbug," because he doesn't have Christmas spirit, and the ghosts come because he doesn't have Christmas spirit. But, the ghosts don't come because he says, "Bah Humbug."

This weekend the boys had the chance to watch All Dogs Christmas Carol, which Mom thought would answer some of Jammy's questions about the classic story.


But, there were more.

"How many ghosts are there?" Didn't you watch the movie?
"So, is a Christmas carol really a ghost?" No, it's a Christmas song.
"Why is it called A Christmas Carol?" Because that is the name of the book.
"Why is the book called A Christmas Carol?" Because . . . um . . . because it is about spreading Christmas spirit (?)
"So is a Christmas carol like a ghost?" No.
"Are the ghosts real?" Ghosts aren't real.
"I mean in the movie, are the ghosts real?" Didn't you watch the movie?
"Well, in the movie, the dogs were just pretending to be ghosts." Oh . . . well in the original story, the ghosts were not dogs pretending to be ghosts.
"Were they real ghosts?" It's hard to say for sure if they were real.
"How many ghosts were there?" (sigh)

And so on.

Tonight, Jammy had his heart set on watching the "real" movie, the one with real people and real ghosts.  Mom thought it might be a little scary, but it is a classic Christmas story after all, so why not.  Jammy quietly watched the whole movie, but Macho fell asleep after Marley's ghost came to warn Scrooge (which Macho watched through the fingers of both of his hands over his eyes).

This is the version that the boys watched, and it is very good.

After it was over, Jammy still had questions. Mom could see that he was looking for more details, so she got out the book, but she didn't know if he would really be able to follow along.

She shouldn't have worried.  She read him the original "complete and unexpurgated" Stave One of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol.  She stopped a couple of times to ask him if he wanted to keep reading and answered a few more questions until he was satisfied: "Why was Marley's ghost wearing chains? Why was he getting so angry?" etc.

This is the book that Mom is reading to Jammy.  It is an excellent version to read with a child, because it is beautifully (and thoroughly) illustrated. Of 158 pages, there is only a handful of instances where 2 pages in a row are without illustration.

Jammy is looking forward to reading the "Stave" 2-5 over the next couple of days.  He loves ghost stories. Mom is excited that Jammy is enjoying 150 year old British literature.  After Christmas she's going to break out Oliver Twist!

Christmas cookies

Jammy and Macho got some dee-lish Christmas cookies from their friend Tuck.

Macho insists that purple one at the top is a seahorse.

Macho Says . . .

 . . . when he walked outside to see the first snow of the season, "Mom, do you like to pick up snow? Boys like to pick up snow! This boy likes to pick up snow!"

Jammy Says . . .

. . . as he is laying in his bed waiting to fall asleep, "Mom, I call this day a 'winter snow-stice' because it was the least amount of not-snowy day, and the most amount of snowy day."

Macho drifting off . . . or not

Mom thought for sure that she was going to film Macho falling asleep to this concerto by Derek Arnold (who is teaching Jammy how to play the piano).

Snaggle Tooth

Jammy's two front teeth have been wiggly for quite awhile now.  A couple of weeks ago, Mom took a "before" picture in anticipation of the loss.  Today, it finally happened!  Jammy pulled his own tooth out, at school, during math class.  When he told Mrs. S that he had pulled his tooth out, she said, "Well, of course you did!"

The other front tooth is practically falling out without its neighbor for support, but Jammy is afraid to pull it out before the school Christmas play next week.  He has quite a few lines in his role as Father Time, and he's afraid he won't be able to talk properly!

Good luck keeping that tooth in there, Jammy!

Before

After

It begins . . .

December is a very special month for the family of Jammy and Macho.  Not only is it the month when they celebrate the birth of Jesus, but it is also the month when they celebrate the birth of pApa, the Conman, and Macho.  Plus, there are parties, and dinners, and decorations, and Santa, and presents, and all of that.  Mom is determined to infuse each day with the spirit of the holidays and the true meaning of Christmas.

Today, the boys:

1. got a little Christmas tree (which may or may not bear fruit)
2. had to leave parkour class early because Jammy was being melodramatic and Macho wouldn't listen to the teacher 
3. cried all the way home when Mom said that she might not take them parkour class anymore
4. set up an advent calendar house (yes, just one, that they will share)
5. brought down Christmas picture books from the attic
6. read Jammy's "favorite" book The Legend of the Candy Cane
7. ate dinner
8. got the nativity scene down from the attic
9. fought over who would unwrap which piece of the nativity 
10. fought over where the pieces of the nativity would go while Mom read them carefully selected Bible verses
11. fought about whether the donkey or Baby Jesus deserved center stage in the stable
12. had a Skype call from Slovakia
13. watched a little bit of the Berenstain Bears Christmas Tree
14. Jammy opened a door on the advent house, Macho pouted, even when he got 1/2 of the chocolate that was inside
15. got in bed to read some Hungarian Christmas poems, and a book about the 12 Days of Christmas 
16. are sleeping

Mom doesn't know if all of the fighting and drama is excitement over Christmas, or is it normally like this and she only notices today because she's trying to be festive?  Her Christmas spirit is waning, and it is only Day 1.