A Visit with St. Nick

In years past, we have not been as good about getting Aidan's picture with Santa done in a planned sort of way.  When he was two, we saw Santa after the Leesburg Parade, at Winwood and at a Hot Chocolate with Santa event at our park.  But, no mall Santa picture that year--he came down with RSV about this time so we couldn't really take him a lot of places.

When Aidan was three, we did get the picture with Santa at the mall. . .on a day I had kept him home due to Bronchitis and Pat decided we should go to the mall. . .jeans had a hole in the knee, he was wearing an older shirt that just barely fit and his camoflage shirt. . .oh and he had gum in his mouth!!

When Aidan was four, we did basically the same thing.  Although this time it was double ear infections and a terrible cold.  But, the outfit was the same!  Holey jeans, camoflage boots and an old shirt.  I don't thing he had gum in his mouth this time, though. 

Don't get me wrong, these were adorable pictures as any picture of my child can be!  But, it wasn't the sort of thing that we planned!

So, in a burst of holiday energy, we decided to buy the VIP pass and head to the mall after work yesterday.  I prepaid for our pictures which then guarenteed us a place in line (#2 as it turned out!!), Pat picked up Aidan, gave him a bath and got him dressed in his special Christmas outfit (although he didn't do the nice shoes I had set out and left him in his ratty old sneakers!  sigh. . .) and off we went as soon as I got home! 

We had told Aidan we were going out to dinner but that we were going to stop and see someone special first. . .is it Nana???  no. . . .I want it to be Nana!!! How cute is that?!?!  : )

We got to the mall and parked and I woke Aidan up (he falls asleep in the car all the time!) and he saw where we were. . . is Santa here???  YES!!!  Inside we went. . .

Where Santa was on a break!!  So, we went over and got our line placement and did a little Christmas shopping--now all the teachers are done!!  5 of them!!!  And then headed over to Starbucks so Mama could have a coffee while we waited.  Pat and Aidan went off to the Sport Store to look at Caps pictures. . .and came back with about 15 minutes to spare. . .

When can I see him???  When will Santa be here???

And here he is, all dressed nicely, talking it over with the big guy. . .And when asked if he'd been good, Aidan replied. . ." yes. . .and no."   Santa looked over at us and smiled big!  What a good boy!!!

Fun night and finally a nice picture of Aidan with Santa. . .

Happy St. Nicholas Day!

It's Official. . .

I am a Hockey Mom.  Sounds a bit like a confession, doesn't it??  But, really.  I think it's true!

Yesterday found us back to the Ice House after a week off.  Didn't realize we missed the place!  But, we did. Aidan's little face lit up when we got there, although prior to that he had been tired and cranky all day.  The minute we walked in, smelled the ice, heard the sound of skates on the ice and he brightened up and started laughing and was super excited.  In fact, I couldn't get him dressed fast enough!!  He was afraid he would miss one minute of ice time!!  He didn't.  He was dressed and ready to go the minute the Zamboni finished.

In spite of an early bathroom break (something about having an entire can of Tomato Soup and a huge glass of milk for lunch!. . .) he did really really good in the skills class.  I would say he was in the top ten of all the kids on the ice, about 30 or 40 or so and he is definitely the youngest out there.  They had to this one skill where they had the stick out in front and to the side, skate fast down the length of the rink while controlling the puck.  Aidan did it perfectly!!  I could hear Coach Joe saying something to him about being in the NHL. . .  : )

Other skills worked on were taking the puck in a tight turn and then going for the goal.  Aidan needs to pick up his speed a bit on the turn, but otherwise did amazingly well on this.  And the final skill was two players came from opposite sides, received a pass from the coach and then had to battle it out for control of the puck and then try to score.  Aidan beat the much bigger player to the puck both times he had a turn and then scored!!  I was beaming, needless to say.

Then, after our jersey change and a quick snack, Aidan went out for his Mini Mites session.  Normally on the first Saturday of the month, they work on skills but I had gotten a message from the head of the Hockey Program that they were going to play instead because we just had a week off and December is a short month.

Aidan went back on the ice enthusiastically and scored 7 goals against the three teams he played.  It was awesome!!  Of course, by the time we got home, he was saying it was ten goals. . .already with the exxageration!!  : )

The funny thing about Mini Mites was that all of the Ashburn XTreme coaches were there watching the boys play.  I could hear them talking about each one--the good and the areas that need improvement.  I heard nothing but good things about my Aidan!  When Aidan came off the ice, they all congratulated Aidan by name and told him about how good he had skated and played!  Aidan was beaming. . .I was thinking to myself " I think my baby just got recruited for the XTreme!" 

After changing (and snacking on what we brought) we went to say goodbye to Coach Joe and to tell him we wouldn't be there next Saturday, but we'd be back on the 17th.  He is so awesome.  He told Aidan he wanted his autograph so he could show people he knew him when!  : )

On the way home, Aidan gobbled the rest of the snacks I had brought and was a littel chatterbox about hockey the entire way.  Quite a difference from the sleepy grumpy kid I'd had in my car on the way there. . .

I insisted he go to bed after the second period of the Caps game last night. . .it was after 9:00.  You would have thought I was the meanest Mommy ever!!!  But, he fell asleep quickly.  My little Hockey Player. . .tuckered out by an afternoon of hockey. . .

Thanksgiving Review. . .and Happy Advent!

Wow.  Here were are at the beginning of day 5 of our 5 days off.  Our, meaning me and Aidan, that is.  We have been off since Wednesday and we have been having a great time! 

When I picked Aidan up on Tuesday, we already knew Daddy would have to work late.  So, we came on home and made our brine  for the Turkey and did some chopping.  Wednesday, we got up early and began chopping and we cleaned the bird, set it in the brine, made our pie, dressing and several otherside dishes.  Daddy had to work day shift, so he wasn't home again, but Aidan was a huge help!  He insisted that we play some Christmas music while we stirred and chopped.

I loved that Aidan ran up to get his Home Depot apron on in order to help me out. . .while wearing his camoflage hunting hat!!

It rained heavily all day on Wednesday so we weren't able to go outside during our breaks, but we made due with some dancing while we cooked.  We went out for our annual night before Thanksgiving dinner with friends and Daddy was finally able to meet us there for that after having to work late again!

Thursday dawned clear and cooler.  Aidan helped me get the table set and do the last minute preparations in anticipation of sharing this wonderful meal with Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt B and UB. 

But, because Daddy had to work (again!) the bird didn't get put into the oven until 1:00.  But, boy did it look and smell good when it was done!

And, finally, we were ready to eat!!!

Later, I discovered that someone was playing with the camer again.  Can you guess who?????????????

Hmmm. . . .

Anyway, after dinner, we had our dessert and then decided to get a family photo.  Fun times coordinating 7 people and 2 dogs!!!  But, we laughed all the way through it. . .

Maggie ended up not being in the group photo. . .she just wouldn't cooperate with everyone else!!  : )

Thanksgiving was a fun family day.  I had started off feeling gritchy and irritable but was able to remember that it was a day of Thanks. . .which has now reminded me that I really should sit down and write out 100 things I am thankful for.  It might help keep me grounded and humble!  I'll let you know how I do.

Friday was another beautiful day.  In the morning, Aidan and I got ourselved going and went to pick up Aunt B and UB who were staying at Grandma and Gradpas.  We had decided to venture down to the Capitals Kettler Iceplex at Ballston.  It's a bit of a trek for us out here in Loudoun County, but we did it!  I did make the mistake of depending on the GPS to tell me where to go, so we made a couple of bad turns.  Once I went back to depending on myself, we had better luck. 

Unfortunately, when we got there, we discovered that the Caps weren't practicing that day because the game was at 4:00. . .but we had fun skating anyway!  And I got a couple of fun pictures, too!

The ice got pretty chewed up, although it didn't seem any more crowded than at Ashburn.  But, we had fun anyways and will likely go down there again over our Christmas break.  Hopefully, next time, the Caps will be there practicing!  I know Aidan will love that.

Friday afternoon, when we got back, Pat got off work around 3:00 and had enough time to put up the outside Christmas lights.  Then we went off to dinner at a good Mexican restaurant. . .no leftovers on that day for us!!  Mama was not cooking. . .

Satruday, we finished with the lights and put our fake tree together.  Aidan read off the instructions on which color came when.  I think the boys had a good time working together on this project.  Meanwhile, I decorated the rest of the inside of the house.

And now, we have a new visitor.  Steopa the elf has returned.  It looks like he brought a movie and filled the Advent Calendar up.  This will be exciting for Aidan.  Today is the first Sunday of Advent, but the Calendar does not start until December 1st.  So, he'll have to do some waiting.  But, that is what Advent is. . .a time of waiting.

Happy Thanksgiving!  Hope you all had a good one!

Travels with Tigger

A little over four years ago, I purchased Tigger in order to have some kind of stuffed animal to give my baby when I met him.  When we packed our bags and left the US on November 20th, Tigger was stowed safely in my suitcase as one of the gifts for our son.  We took off from Dulles airport and flew to Atlanta and then to Moscow, arriving in Moscow on the morning of the 21st.  We were picked up and taken to the Novatel where we stayed a few hours and got some much needed sleep and then showered and repacked up and left at 6:00 for the Domodedovo airport, where we met Tamara and Bill Holsinger-Robinson (our partners and lifeline to the US for the next few days) and our over night flight to Krasnoyarsk.  We landed in Krasnoyarsk at 5:30 am and were then taken into the city to a rooming house that had no wi fi and our phones didn't work (passports were taken from us too!).  We were told to sleep and then be ready to be picked up around 11:30 or so.

It was now November 22nd and Thanksgiving Day back at home.  We were in Siberia!  We were taken for a pizza lunch at California Pizza and then off to the Ministry of Education to discuss why we wanted to adopt a child from Russia and to find out anything we could about our baby.  Then. . .

off to the Baby Home we went! 

Our son was brought in. .  .he took one look at us. . .and started crying!  : (  I went over to pick him up and the care taker didn't let him go right away, so I handed him Tigger.  Still crying, but now clutching Tigger, my baby finally relented to being held by me.  Although he remained tearful for a while, he allowed me to feed him and even opened up a lot to play with both me and Pat.  We discovered he liked bubbles and that he was very ticklish.  And, best of all, he called Pat Papa.  And Tigger?  He went with Aidan and I presume stayed with him the entire time after that.

Four months later, we brought Aidan out of the Baby Home and Tigger was still there with him.  A little more worn looking, but still there!

And now, four years later, Tigger has the look of a well loved animal.  He sleeps with Aidan every night and Aidan told me the other day he is glad we'll be home for five days later this week because then Tigger won't fee lonely (Tigger no longer goes to school with Aidan.) 

And, so, here is our friend Tigger who came from Target, went to Atlanta, Moscow, Krasnoyarsk, Sosnovoborsk, back to Krasnoyarsk, Moscow, Atlanta and has now also been to North Carolina, Virginia Beach, Washington, D. C., Nevada and California!  Travelin' Tigger.  He's awesome!

Happy Birthday Tigger!!!  Four years with our baby boy as his constant companion, confidant and friend!!!

A Big Birthday Present

Friday was my mother in laws birthday.  When asked what she would like for her birthday, she replied that she wanted to see Aidan play hockey.  Okay.  We can do that.

So, yesterday, we headed out as usual for Aidan's hockey skills class, which is followed by Mini Mites.  Aidan did really well in the skills class.  He's really learned a lot during the last several weeks of this class and he is fortunate that he has Mini Mites right after to put into practice what he has learned. 

Yesterday was spent mostly on Stick Skills, which Aidan LOVES to do!  He practices moves at home, but they usually work on foot skills, power turns and endurance during the Skills class.  So, yesterday was a treat for Aidan.  I think his red jersey is a bit big so the fact that he is doing so well in this class is really amazing.  Here is a little of some of what they did:

Mini Mites, as I said immediate followed and during the end of the skills class, Pat went to pick up his parents.  Meanwhile, I got Aidan to eat a quick snack, have some Gatorade and change his jersey to the smaller Yellow jersey for Mini Mites.

And, for the first time all season, he scored!!!!  Four goals!!!  AND had a beautiful assist where he had gone behind the goal, turned and saw a teammate in front of the goal and passed the puck perfectly to his team mate.  And, did I get any pictures of any of this???  No.  I did get this, though.

Not very revealing of what he accomplished yesterday.  I wish I could show you the huge shining grin he had when he came off the ice.  I will say that it was so nice to hear the official skate over to Aidan after his assist and tell him what a great pass that had been.  The grin was stretched ear to ear!  Pat hadn't actually seen Aidan play since the beginning of October and boy was he surprised at his progression!

After this excitement, we came back to our house for a nice steak dinner, cake and presents for Grandma. 

Wish the Caps were doing better.  Not sure what's going with them.  But, it's still early in the season. 

Daddy had to go back to work today, after being off for the last two weeks hunting, so Aidan and I are taking it easy but will go outside and rake our front yard.  There seem to be more leaves than usual this year!