An Early Christmas with the Wee Ones

More than any gift in the world we could give or get, the gift of time with our family is the most precious. So, this year, Jay and I decided to take our family to Great Wolf Lodge as our "gift" to our kids/grandkids on the first Saturday in December. What a great decision!! With six grandkids from 5 months to 5 years, we knew this was going to be a very special magical Christmas. What can be more fun than the holidays with these kids who all have the wonder of Christmas in their eyes. What is more adorable than a 2-year-old spontaneously breaking out in song -- nothing! But here is how our weekend went, lest I forget some day. Great Wolf Lodge is a wonderful place with a huge indoor water park, and it's just north of Cincinnati so less than an hour away. The lodge lobby was transformed into a beautiful winter wonderland, with visits from Santa and Mrs. Clause and bedtime stories in the lobby at 8 p.m., complete with snow fall. So when entering at 1:00 on Saturday, our mouths dropped at the beauty of the place. We checked in to use the water park, even though the rooms would not be ready for check in until 4:00 (although we got in the rooms much earlier). I had in tow matching Christmas pajamas for all the adults and grandkids, as well as a couple of games for the little ones. We also had plenty of snacks and libations. (Rum and diet coke, no carbs! But still comes with a hangover -- oh well, it's the holidays!) The kids had a ball spending the afternoon in the water park, while I stayed in Matt/Jenn's room with Alex who was sleeping in my lap. When it was time for him to wake up, I was able to join in the fun in the water park. About that time Jenny (Bean) got there and also joined in the fun. Jordan is the only family member not there, as he was in Gatlinburg with a group of friends. :( After lots of water rides and slides, the worn out crew had pizza from the pizza place in the lodge for dinner, then headed back to our rooms for our Pajama Party! Everyone opened their wrapped gift of pajamas and put them on. Of course, grammy had little gift bags with coloring books and crayons and stickers and candy for each precious wee one. There was also Pin the Star on the Christmas Tree, and Christmas Trivia games. Little ones love anything that's a game, so they had a ball. Charlie and Sylvia worked hard at "decorating" the tree with stickers, while Margot and Claire were engrossed in their coloring projects. The best part of the evening was the adorable pictures we got of all the little ones in their Christmas pajamas, and even the family picture (minus Jordan) turned out awesome with everyone in their pjs. Before the night was over, the "old" kids headed to the bar in their jammies for a little adult partying. It was such a fun night for all of us! The next day check out was 11:00, but you could stay at the water park the entire day. Since Matt/Jenn's kids were exhausted, Jenn headed home with the kids after checkout. Jay had to take Matt to the airport about Noon, so that just left me and the Fasciottos at the water park until about 3:00. They all had a great family day in the water while I watched Albert on the side lines. I also got to get in the lazy river with the girls and we had a ball. All in all, I feel like this Christmas season has just been the best! We had so much fun being together at such a magical place for Christmas. I hope we can do something like this every year, or at least while the grandkids are still young enough to enjoy such a trip. WE ARE SO BLESSED.

More than 30 Years of Gingerbread Houses

It was time for the gingerbread house construction. I started making these way, way back when I was pregnant with Rachael, and my then boss got 4-5 of us together for a few years at her "house" in Indian Hill (really, it was like the Sound of Music mansion) to make gingerbread houses. She would have the gingerbread pieces made by a bakery and we'd all bring a bag of candy to share in decorating the houses. After we quit doing this at Brenda's house, I wanted to keep it up, so every year since then (maybe 1 or 2 were skipped along the way) there has been a gingerbread house in my home. I've had the same gingerbread recipe and pattern pieces to cut out for more than 30 years. The kids loved it growing up, Jordan probably more than Rachael. He was really quite good at constructing it so it wouldn't fall to pieces, and he and Rach both liked decorating. Jordan, the artist, always seemed to come up with something a little different each year, and I loved to watch him get into it. As they got older, I had to do a bit more coaxing to get them to join me in making the house, but somehow it always got done. Then when they moved out, there were a few years in there when I made it myself (not much fun). But thankfully, my sister moved in up the street and it wasn't long before Abby and Tyler were joining Aunt Joycie in the gingerbread house tradition. Now that they are "tweens" their enthusiasm has lessened, but that's okay because now there are the grandkids to join in the fun. I can probably handle 2 kids at a time, but more than that would be a disaster. So, the Saturday before Thanksgiving seemed like a great time to introduce Sylvia to the fine are of building a gingerbread house and I snuck her out while her sister took her nap. (I would have loved to have Charlie join us, but getting him out of the house without Claire would have been impossible, so for this year at least, just one grandkid.) Anyway, since Sylvia loves all things arts and crafts, this was an incredible craft project for her to work on. She did a great job, especially making the M&M sidewalk and sprinkling the powdered sugar snow on the roof. I don't think any of the other women I started this tradition with are still making gingerbread houses, and they'd probably think I was crazy doing it all these years. But it's just not Christmas to me without it. I'm so happy I have the next generation to join in on the fun, and I hope this continues for many more years, even after I'm gone. It's something I hope at least one of the kids will pass on as a fond memory of Grammy and, at least at Christmas time, they will be thinking of me.

Kicking off the Holidays

Today was a day to kick off both Thanksgiving and Christmas. Jay and I took the little girls to the Tom Turkey Sing Along at Music Hall with the Pops. The girls loved the ballerinas and the dancing turkeys and dancing food. Sylvia was also in awe of the beautiful big chandelier, since it is about 100 times bigger than the chandelier in her room. It was a fun little show, but we were very glad Charlie could not go (basketball game), as he would NOT have been fond of the ballerinas. Dancing ninja turtles, maybe, but not ballerinas.

After lunch at Grammy's, Margot went home to take a nap, and Poppie took Claire home to hang with Charlie and Alex for the day. So Sylvia and I made some chocolate chip cookies, and then Rach called to see if I wanted to go with her and the kids to Festival of Lights. Sylvain was working at the Reds for a wedding, so I jumped at the chance to spend the evening with my favorite little family. We got there early enough to see Santa (Sylvia wants Mulan and Pocahontas costumes and Margot wants a Frozen blanket and a story book) and the reindeer with not much of a line, and we also got to see the black light show. By the time we were leaving it was so packed you could hardly move, and the lines to get in at 7:15 were so long! It was the 1st night of FOL, and a pretty, mild night, so everyone had the same idea to get to the zoo. I'm just glad we got there early, because waiting in lines all night would not be my idea of a good time. So all in all it was a wonderful day of making memories with the grandkids. I still thank God every day that He brought Rach and her family back here to Northern Kentucky. I enjoy every minute I get to spend with any and all of the little ones, and I'm also so thankful that Rach/Sylvain and Matt/Jenn allow us to be with them so much. It's our greatest joy!

In the Presence of Princesses

I got to spend today with a couple princesses. The Children's Theater performed "Beauty and the Beast Jr." at The Taft today, and my almost 3-yr-old Claire and 4-1/2 (NOT 4!) year old Sylvia were my guests. These girls are all about princesses and were more than a little excited to get to wear their princess attire outside of Grammy's house or their own homes. They got to go OUT as princesses, and no boys allowed, and what could be better! Some think this is silly and just too "girly" and teaches them to wait for their knight in shining armor to sweep them away to a wonderful world of castles and kingdoms -- and I say let them be princesses while they can. They live in castles and the grammyvan is their carriage and we drove through the "forest" on our way to the show. These are princesses with imaginations and giggles and twirls and all that is good in little girl world. They will learn soon enough that the world doesn't work like that, but when you are almost 3 and 4-1/2 (NOT 4!), the world is all nice and pretty and full of wonder and joy. Let them imagine and dream and play make-believe all they want. There is a whole life time to face the real world, but not this day, not while in the presence of Princesses, riding in Grammy's carriage through the enchanted forest on our way to the castle to see Beauty and the Beast. Soak up the enchantment while you can, and enjoy every minute of it. I sure did.

Kind and Gentle

Eunice Humbert was kind and gentle, and she died today. She was 92, in a nursing home and pretty much out of it for well over a year. So her passing is a blessing, as she is now with her God and with the love of her life, Jack. But all day I've been thinking of her and the years I had with her. She was my first mother-in-law, and I loved her dearly. I was 19 when I met her, and she was truly my second mother. I grew up with her. I think back on all the times I did stupid stuff as a young wife, and then a new mom, and she never, ever criticized, ever. Because that was Eunice. Kind and gentle. I remember I always wanted to be like her; I always hoped that some day when we had kids, I would be a mom like her. But I wasn't. Because Eunice was quiet and calm, and that's not in my genes. My family is loud, and opinionated, and laughs loud and yells loud. So I could never hold a candle to sweet, calm, gentle Eunice. But even though I couldn't BE like her, I learned so much from her. I used to relish our conversations over doing the dishes. She was just so easy to talk to, and I felt like I could confide in her about anything. She just had a way of making you feel better. Going to see Eunice was like going to a spa -- her home just had a calm aura about it. If you were stressed walking in, by the time you left you felt like everything would be okay. I used to love just sitting in her calm surroundings. She adored her husband, and loved her kids and grandkids. I think back and remember when she'd get mad at my then husband over stupid stuff he did, all she'd say was "Oh, Mike!", and that was it. She'd be giggling again in a matter of minutes, because she just couldn't stay mad, at anyone. She found good in everyone, and she never, ever spoke badly of anyone. She was a devout Christian and watched PTL and Oral Roberts (the Joel Osteen of the 70s); we think she probably built Oral Roberts University with all the money she sent him. I was so lucky that even after the divorce, Eunice was my support. She never abandoned me, and I knew she loved me as much as I loved her. And she loved her son fiercely, and she loved his new wife. And it was all okay because she had plenty of love to go around. And all of us over all these years were truly blessed that we all got to be in her world. I will never, ever forget her and the kind of person she was and the kind of life she led. Kind and gentle.

Been a little busy....

Well, maybe lazy. I was just reading my old posts and can't believe it's been 3 years since I've written anything. I really wanted this to be something I'd do at least occasionally, so I'm going to give it another try, and maybe find something to write about at least monthly. For now, I just want to do a quick catch up on what's been going on. When I left off, we had 2 grandkids, and now we have 6! We simply adore Charlie (5), Sylvia (4), Claire (almost 3), Margot (2) Alex (7 months), and little Albert (3 months). We love spending time with them and are so lucky that their parents let us have that time. Jenny is still at FlipDaddy's and recently got a dog. Matt is now a Financial Planner and father of 3. Jenn is a nurse working part time. Rachael has been teaching for ten years already, and Sylvain lost his teaching job over a year ago and now works for Google at home and stays with the kids. Jordan is still in Louisville, and just this week starting working for Amazon. We've been on a couple nice trips in the past few years; an Alaskan Cruise with friends, Nancy and Denny Goebel 2 years ago. And last year we took all the kids and grandkids to Hilton Head. Jay lost his job in April 2013, worked a couple part time jobs, then after a year landed another sales job with WestMed. It's nice having our "normal" income back and leading the life we were used to. I'm going to try to put a few pictures on here and just leave it at that... Happy Fall!!