On the bright side...

Never before have I been so enthralled in a primary election and never before have I felt so much pressure to make my vote count.  How many times have I heard "since 1980 South Carolina has picked the nominee".  But then, isn't that really just coincidence?  Are we better informed than the rest of the US and better able to pick a President?  I think not.

The truth is, as disappointing as it is to me that Romney lost tonight, I really think it's a good thing.  I think it's good that more voters in more states will feel the pressure to get informed, to know the issues and to make the right choice.  As I told my Mom today, I think it's good that the candidates will have more time to address issues (and I mean real issues, not ridiculous accusations) and get their message out.  I think a drawn out primary election just means the system is working.  I don't want a nominee who was effectively chosen by a handful of states.

The most dissapointing thing to me however, were the number of people who responded in the exit polls that they voted for Gingrich because of his debate performance.  He is a good debator, an entertaining debator, no doubt.  An Obama-Gingrich debate would be good TV.  I knew of several people who voted for the current President because of his speeches.  But, it's frustrating to me that people value that sooo much.  It's not just about saying what people want to hear, or being able to "fight" your opponent.  Being the President is about being a true leader, about getting results and making meaningful change.  It doesn't matter what you say on the campaign trail if you can't make it happen once elected.

I'm passing the torch, choose wisely ya'll :)

Traditions

Over the past couple of years we have been trying to solidify our family's holiday traditions. 

Last year I saw a cute idea to wrap up a book each night and read it by the tree.  I liked that idea but this year tweaked it a bit and used this idea to help us remember the true meaning of Christmas a little more. 

Along with keeping the true meaning of Christmas, the Little Mister and I set out to do some random acts of kindness.  One day while running errands, I had him hand out candy canes to everyone who helped us...the grocery store checker, the guy who carried out our groceries, the postman, etc. etc.  It was fun but he was a little shy.  We also picked out an angel tree gift for a little boy his age.  He helped me pick out the gift and then take it to be dropped off.  I hope next year to be able to add some more ideas like this.

Also last year we decided to part with my family's tradition of doing a Christmas Eve party with appetizers and desserts and go ethnic for Christmas Eve.  This year we got fancy and went downtown for Indian food.  The kids were big fans of their mango lassis and rice and I think they even liked the naan.  Baby Sister got her first taste of chicken tikka masala and she loved it!  After dinner we walked around downtown to see the lights and the Festival of Trees in one of the nearby hotels.  Too bad there weren't any ice skaters to watch when we were there :(  

After our downtown excursion we loaded up in the car to look at more Christmas lights.  We weren't very successful this time around but saw a few close to home.  Then we headed back for everyone's favorite tradition of opening new jammies on Christmas Eve.

On Christmas night, the Little Mister and I had a slumber party by the tree.  I just love the glow of the Christmas lights and thought it would be fun to look at the lights and read stories and talk until we fell asleep.  Well, after a full (and I mean FULL) day of excitement, he decided right away it was time for lights out and to go to sleep.  I still think it was a fun idea and plan to continue it in the future.

My very favorite Christmas tradition of all, however, is buying our pre-made Christmas dinner.  At least while the kids are young it makes the day so much more enjoyable to be able to heat up our delicious dinner and not spend hours cooking, or shopping for ingredients for that matter. 

We ended the year with our second annual New Year's Eve Bash with great food and even better friends!  We ring in the New Year at 6pm and then hustle the kids off to bed at a reasonable hour :)

Joy



"Every time a bell rings, an angel gets his wings"

So many new toys, so little time.

Even though I was positive the Little Mister's favorite toy was going to be his Buzz Lightyear jetpack that he's been asking for for months (and was the first thing he said on Christmas morning "where's my jetpack"), it actually seems to be the horse trailer from Grandma and Grandad.  Baby sister seems most happy with the playdough she got in her stocking.

A Christmas Miracle

This morning the Little Mister ran into our room (as he does every morning) and exclaimed "guys, guys, I solved the problem!"  "What problem?", we asked.  No answer, he just climbed into bed (also like he does every morning) and after jabbering away for a few minutes said:

"I stayed in my bed all night until the sun came up!" 

And he did.  We say a prayer for this every night.  And today, this little guy who has been waking me up around 5:30 am since before he was even born, FINALLY slept past 7am.  A true Christmas miracle. 

I have no high hopes that it will continue.  I don't imagine the problem is actually "solved" and that tomorrow and every morning after that until he is 10 years old he will continue to wake up at 6am or earlier, but today I'm enjoying the miracle.

* Disclaimer - he actually has slept past 7am a few times in his life, but it is RARE.  Like, I could probably count on my fingers how many times.  Once in the last year or so he actually slept until after 8am.  I was so worried that I had to go in and check on him.