Operation: Do ALL the Christmas Things (part one)

Soooo, hey there. It's been a little over a month (!!!) since I last blogged. I never intend to take a long break, but sometimes life just gets busy and this here blog gets put on the back-burner. I know everyone is very distraught about this, but fear not. I am back - for today, at least - to share some of the Christmas events we're hitting up around town.

On Friday night, our little town had their annual Christmas tree lighting ceremony and celebrated Santa's arrival. We had never been to this event before because it's always WAY too cold. This year, since it was 40 degrees, we figured we'd give it a shot. Funny thing, every single person in Traverse City had the same idea. It was packed.

We stood around with the boys and sang Christmas carols for about 10 minutes while we waited for Santa (he lights the tree), but the littles started to get restless.

Alden did not want to be held - he wanted to RUN and EXPLORE. And I can't blame him. So we gave up waiting for Santa and started walking to where we heard there were live reindeer.

On our way there, we came upon TC's antique fire engine. This 80-year old engine usually gives kids rides around the block at events like this, but this year it wasn't running very well, so it was just there to sit in and look at. The boys climbed into the front seat and enjoyed just sitting for quite a while. Then, as the crowd started to clear out a bit, the driver said they needed to head back to the fire station a few blocks away, but there was still quite a crowd. Because of where it was in relation to the events, they had to drive in reverse a couple of blocks to get out, but the driver couldn't see behind him. So Dave walked ahead to tell people to get out of the way and I stood on the side bar and let the driver know when it was clear. And the boys got to ride along in the front seat. Leland kept saying he was riding on Mayday (the fire truck from Planes: Fire & Rescue).

Once we got to the point where the truck could turn around and drive forward, the driver said we could ride with him to the fire station if we wanted. Our car was parked near there, so Dave and I were all about it.

What could have been a disappointing night turned out to be a pretty awesome one for our boys. I don't think we'll head to that event again until the boys are older and can wait a few minutes and appreciate the "ceremony" part of it all. They just wanted to see Santa, and with that many people, they weren't going to see him up close at all. So thankful for that fire engine!

Stay tuned for more of our Christmas adventures!

Birthday Plans...

For Leland's birthday last year, we had what I consider to be a big party. We invited our families, of course, along with close friends. Several people couldn't make it, but we still had about 35 people there.

I spent a small fortune on an adorable and delicious turtle cake (SO worth it!), and I hand made his invitations.

I wanted it to be special. Because I knew we weren't going to do it again this year. Dave and I had decided that we were only going to do the big party for his first birthday. We have gotten some flack on this from a few family members, but here's our rationale:

1. We have a small house and big families. For Leland's birthday, we rented a room at a local church. It was cheap at $30, but it was also a lot of work to set up and clean up a place that is not our home by ourselves (or...myself with a friend, as Dave was on Leland Duty while I prepped and cleaned up). I don't want to do this every year. Even if we had just our immediate family, our house is too small. I have four siblings, Dave has three. Add in their spouses and kids (we have 14 nieces and nephews), and our parents and my step-parents, and that's a lot of people.

2. It's expensive! Even having a small party is pretty costly. The food, the cake, the decorations, the invitations, the thank yous...it all adds up. I'd rather spend the money on our kids than on the party.

3. Our kid doesn't need any more stuff! When he needs things, we buy them. When we think he would like something, we buy it most of the time. He doesn't need a whole bunch of toys. He has plenty of them, and he usually prefers to play with kitchen utensils and plastic bottles, so why clutter our small house with more "stuff" than we need? For Leland's first birthday, we actually requested that people not bring gifts, but no one listened.

4. As I said, we have 14 nieces and nephews. Since one of my sisters doesn't do parties for her two boys, that leaves 12 birthday parties a year that we have to attend. And as much as I love my nieces and nephews, and love seeing them and hanging with their families, it's A LOT! It gets kind of annoying having to go to a party every time we turn around. Not to mention buying them gifts. It gets expensive and just makes our lives busier than they need to be. So we don't want to do that to anyone else, especially with Leland's birthday around Christmas. People are busy enough without us adding a birthday party to the mix.

Instead of a big birthday party, we will have our parents over for cake and ice cream on Leland's birthday. So he still has a celebration, but on a much smaller scale (even with just grandparents, that's still 8 adults). I'm going to attempt making a farm-scene cake like this...

I'm no cake decorator, so it won't look anything like this I'm sure.

But Leland won't care what it looks like.

We have again requested no gifts, but I'm sure that won't happen. But at least with fewer people at the "party," there will hopefully be fewer gifts. Hopefully.

Some family members don't understand it. I think maybe their feelings are hurt or they just like birthday parties and wish we would have one. I can sense a little annoyance/hostility in their voices when they talk about it. I almost have told some people that they could come for cake, but I stopped myself. Because then I would have to invite other family members and it would turn into a big event again, which is not what we want. What we want is a small, special gathering with our son's grandparents. So, sorry if some feel left out or think it's weird, but this is how our family will be doing birthdays from now on.

For Alden, we will do another big first birthday, but after that, I think the small celebration with grandparents will be it. And when our kids are older and in school, they can invite their friends over for birthday parties.

I am actually really excited about a more intimate "party." I will have the chance to enjoy it and visit, rather than taking care of all the guests and stuff. I think it will be really nice.

Birthday Gifts...

As promised, here is a list of what Leland is getting for his birthday.

Little People Tractor

Leland enjoys the Little People toys. He has the airplane and  a small farm set and they get a lot of use. He also has lots of fun with the bigger farm set that he has at daycare. Plus, we all know the kid LOVES anything tractor.

Little People Bus

I was originally going to give him this for Christmas, but then he wouldn't be getting many toys for his birthday, so he's getting another Little People toy.

Tractor Pajamas

He needs new jams, and he loves tractors. Win. He actually loves wearing PJs, so I think he'll be excited about these.

Steam Train Dream Train Book

I had heard this was a great book. Leland is so into books these days, so I think this will be a hit. Though it may not be as awesome to him as the Llama Llama books he's getting for Christmas. Those are his latest favorites. 

And he'll be getting a new small John Deere tractor on his cake. 

Coming soon...our plans for celebrating his birthday. We're doing things a little different this year, and in the years that follow.