What to Say When A Christmas Gift is Late

I thought I ordered online early enough this year. However, one gift did not arrive in time for Christmas. I wrapped a gift containing this verse:

T'was the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Papa was stirring, looking for Jared’s book under his blouse [hey, it’s got to rhyme]

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
But the book was not there, for lack of an air fare;

The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
While Papa sat up, scratching his head;

And Nana in her ‘kerchief, and I in my cap,
Had settled down thinking while I sat,

When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from my chair to see what was the matter.

Away to Microsoft Windows I flew like a flash,
Tore open the laptop and threw on the flash [drive].

When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a miniature email, and eight tiny attachments,

With a little old Java driver, so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment it must be St. Amazon. [hey, I can’t get everything to rhyme]

It told me the book’s in the mail,
Flying through the air with a sail,

And the email told me something that I hate,
That the book I ordered long ago is going to be LATE.

Merry Christmas, Jared.

Stackrobatics

Daniel and I played Stackrobats, and managed to get all the little men stacked together at once. But then Daniel couldn't be serious any longer, so he had to build them on me! Twas some days after Christmas, and all through the house, every creature had eaten, all down to the mouse. What had they eaten though???

I finish off my last piece of my earlier display! (Another Daniel inc. Design...)

Luke at Three Weeks

Luke says, "Hi!" He came to visit Nana and Papa this week. He will be three weeks old tomorrow. Oh yes, he brought his Mommy and Daddy along too. We're so happy to have them here.

Baby Luke

Luke August was born on Monday, Dec 3 at 8:36 pm. He was 8 lbs, 8 oz, and 21 and 1/4 inches long. We were in the hospital for 24 hours before he was born, and though he was a little reluctant to make his appearance, he arrived with no complications other than a slight fever that quickly disappeared.

We've had a lot of fun the past two weeks getting to know each other, settling into a routine, spending time with Nana, and taking our first outings. Luke is now 2 weeks old, a little over 9 pounds, and no longer looks like a newborn.

Jared took the rest of the week off of work after Luke was born. When he returned to work last Monday, an escaped prisoner walked into the bank and robbed him. Jared handled it very calmly, no one was hurt, and the bank robber was caught - with the evidence - about 5 hours later. Jared is in court this morning, testifying against him.

Come Decorate the Tree

We bought our Christmas tree this afternoon, and the Professor and I had a new experience, or at least new to us for many, many years: we decorated the tree all by ourselves! No kids! They were all busy. So we hung our ornaments, and they will hang theirs later. Our tree looks quite bare and Charlie Brownish as it stands right now.

Every year we enjoy our re-acquaintance with our special ornaments, and all the memories that come flooding back. We share a few with you.

The Professor's all-time favorite ornament reminds him of Greta's tape and staples stage of childhood. She loved making crafts, and the more tape, the better. This angel is based on a TP tube. She had also recently discovered the hole puncher, and she created the pink angel smile with many tiny paper circles.

Another handmade ornament (they are the best ones of all, aren't they?), a spool angel by Heather. She was perhaps 13 when she made this as a gift for her mom.

Mom made this Japanese girl for me when I was about 9 or 10 years old. It was made completely with scraps left from other projects. She found the pattern in a ladies' magazine, and she made one for each daughter. It wasn't intended for a Christmas ornament, but I decided to use it that way many years ago. So cute.

From my childhood, when we each began getting an ornament a year for our own future tree. This one was quite unusual at the time.

Another handmade ornament. The girls and I made a number of these from old glass balls, cleaned of their color, then marbleized on the inside with acrylic paints. Their vibrant colors really show up well on the tree.

This is what my girls looked like when they were very young. I was amazed to find a set of these cute girls dressed as Santa Lucia.

A vintage-look glass ornament very much like ones my family had when I was very young. I don't remember them as complete ornaments though; every one had a little child-size finger hole in the indentation. Too much of a temptation I suppose.

More decorating here.

Ho Ho Ho

Finals now over, Greta is getting into the spirit of Christmas.

Baby!

There is baby news, but it's the new mommy's and daddy's prerogative to make the announcement. Check back later, hopefully for pictures too.