A very Merry Christmas to you!

This was our first year of living near family at the holidays, and I really enjoyed being able to have more time around Thanksgiving and Christmas this year. Cutting out 10+ hours of driving round trip is a wonderful bonus! We even got a white Christmas for our first one in our new house, which was amazing. Unfortunately the weather resulted in lots of ice, wind gusts of 60 mph and church being cancelled all over town on Christmas Eve. We had a lovely family night at home with Matt's parents and Kelli, Kiley and Cooper, so I have no complaints!

I invited everyone over for dinner and we had lasagne, salad, garlic bread and baked Alaska for dessert. (Yep, homemade!) Matt let me take a nap that afternoon (God Bless him!) and when I came out he had set the table, used the fancy silverware, folded cloth napkins, and made the salad. I love my husband! Everyone fought their way over through the weather and we had a nice evening. The kids got to open their Christmas pj's, and slacker mama forgot to get a picture! My sister in law took a few, so I will post hers later. We laid out cookies for Santa, hung stockings and tucked the kids into bed with no problems.

Christmas morning I heard the kids about 7:00, so I got Matt up and we started the video camera. I am surprised every single year at the lack of enthusiasm Meredith shows on Christmas morning. I don't know if it is just because she is not a morning person, or if she just doesn't get it yet or what, but she was so excited leading up to Christmas that we thought surely she would run over to her Santa presents. Nope, for the 2nd year in a row she walked sleepily out, looked around, and didn't dig into her stocking until we pointed it out to her! I have it all on video, as anticlimactic as it was! Kids will surprise you every time I guess! I remember fighting at the top of the stairs as we waited to be allowed down, running through the house elbowing for space as we dashed into the family room and pounced on our Christmas presents when I was a kid. Maybe next year she will care!

We did the Santa thing, and then sorted out all the other presents and opened those in rotation. Meredith was thrilled to get my old American Girls doll, Samantha, and Nathan loves his vacuum cleaner with a passion. We finished after about an hour and a half or so, and I started making brunch because we were having the family over again. Within 5 minutes of finishing with the presents the leg had fallen off of Meredith's doll, and while I was trying to re-attach it, Nathan's vacuum cleaner stopped making noise and he started crying and trying to hand it to me. While all of this was happening, Matt was digging our van out so he could go pick up his parents and Kelli, since they were stranded a mile down the road at their house! I might be the only one who finds this scenario hilarious, but it seemed like vintage Donovan family to me! Matt asked "Why do we bother to try and make Christmas special?" and I responded over the crying children "To make happy family memories like these!" Call us sarcastic or cynical, but we find that having a sense of humor makes parenting much more enjoyable!

Everyone finally made it here for brunch, we went to the in-laws house that afternoon for dinner, and played in the snow. I really missed getting to attend church, but other than that we had a terrific Christmas. I got a new camera from Matt, and he surprised me with the Nativity scene from Willow Tree, which I LOVE. Matt liked his golf club drink dispenser, and I think everyone had a good time, which makes our first Christmas living in Oklahoma a rousing success!

Cancun

Matt and I took a trip to Cancun this year with our friends Jenny and John. We all turned 30 this year, so we decided a celebration was in order. It was the first vacation we have taken since our honeymoon nearly 8 years ago, and it was wonderful! We did a whole lot of nothing for the whole week. We left on the Saturday after Thanksgiving and came back the following Saturday. We stayed at an all-inclusive resort, which was phenomenal. I'm going to let the pictures show most of the vacation, because it was too wonderful to describe with words!

The only other item of note is that the our resort was on is in a bay, so it was not a "real" beach in my mind. Matt took me to one of the public beaches on Friday of our trip, and it was amazing. There was nobody else around, the waves were crashing loudly, the sand was beautiful and it was my favorite beach experience of my life. The beach holds some mysterious pull for me, and I feel like even if I were to get to walk on the shore every day for the rest of my life, I would never tire of hearing the waves and feeling the sand and surf. My husband is wonderful for making the effort to find a real beach for me on our vacation, and I love him so much for it!

Meredith's Kindergarten Thanksgiving

Meredith's class had 2 Thanksgiving celebrations. The first one was a program where the kids sang, danced, wore turkey hats and said what they are thankful for. It was really cute, and Meredith said "I am thankful for the angels that watch over me." Sweet, and I am not sure where she comes up with some of the things she says! My favorite part of the performance was watching the kids do the turkey trot. They were a riot!A few days later they had their Thanksgiving feast. The menu was peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, carrots with ranch dressing, chex mix and lemonade. I helped get the feast prepared (unwisely choosing the pb and j table....sticky 5 year old hands everywhere!) The kids went into the hall for a story and the other parents and I pushed the tables together and set the plates around. The kids were excited when they came in, and it was fun to watch them find their seats and chatter with their friends. The pictures are of Meredith with Mrs. Gregg, and her class at their programs.

Thanksgiving 2009

Thanksgiving this year was very nice. It is the first year we have not had a long drive on either end of the weekend, which made all the difference in the world to me! We did a low-key morning, the kids and I actually went to Matt's office with him and helped him get caught up on filing while he finished a few things. We came back home, napped, then headed to the in-laws house for dinner. It was nice to just hang out, have some wine, and play games with the family. Kelli and I are both very into the idea of making holidays and time together special by doing something all together. This year we played Scattergories, which was hilarious, and a lot of fun. Kiley and JoAnn both forgot the way to play about 4 rounds in, and started writing down words that didn't begin with the letter we were supposed to be using. Matt and Kelli both get really competetive and Matt eggs her on something fierce. JoAnn doesn't like fighting, so she tries valiantly to change the subject (her go to line it "Particularly nice weather, isn't it?"), Kiley sits back and watches and makes an occaisional wisecrack, Mike chimes in and stirs things up every once in a while, the kids play happily in the background, and I sip my wine contentedly and enjoy the show!

The Flagstaff Visit - It's not the destination, it's the journey...

Matt surprised me with tickets to fly to Flagstaff for a quick visit in the middle of November, so the kids and I trekked through 2 airports 3 weeks post knee surgery and hung out with the family for a while! It was a good visit for the most part, and even the travelling went well. Since my blog seems to have morphed into a journal entry rather than the profound insights of motherhood I felt sure it was going to be, I am going to embrace it and try to update it for the last month so I can remember what we were up to!

The flight to Arizona was first thing in the morning, so we tucked the kids into bed early and in their clothes for the next day so they were ready to go at 6 when we dragged them out of bed. There had been some debate about my ability to limp through the airport with 2 children and all the items necessary to bring with us to entertain and feed 2 children on the plane. Up until we were pulling into the airport I was still debating about needing to ask for a wheelchair. The Oklahoma City airport is not tough to navigate, so I decided I would try it on my own, since I didn't think my in a wheelchair was going to be easier when bringing the kids with me. We got through security and I was once again impressed with how thoughtful everyone here is! The guy 2 people in back of me in the security line set up the stroller for me after the x-ray machine while I was getting the kids shoes back on, and even checked to make sure it was locked. (Side note: Oklahoma City is the nicest city I have ever lived in, people here seem to go out of their way to offer help and smile and greet eachother. Maybe it's a southern thing and it happens in the true south too, but it amazes me every single day!)

We got to the gate and lucked out that the fight was not completely full, so the people at the desk said I could go ahead and just take an extra seat for Nathan, even when they made an announcement saying it was a full flight. The kids were wonderful for the flight, Nathan crawled all over our little area and played peekaboo with the people behind us, Meredith enjoyed looking out the window, and both kids colored for a long time, so I even got to read my magazine for a little while! Nathan wanted to look out the window too, and Meredith was in stellar big sis mode so she held him on her lap and was pointing things out to him as they gazed out together. It was one of those touching moments where I am so grateful to have such amazing children!

We landed and met my dad and Brina at the little waiting area past security, and I was able to relax and turn the kids over to them. They helped get the bags, load the car, take Mere to the bathroom etc., and even tracked down 2 little rubber planes for them that were the hit of the vacation. (The more useless and tiny an object is, and the more annoying I find it, the more my children love it.) We went to see Brina's townhouse, which looks amazing (It was falling apart and a mess when they bought it, and my dad has worked his magic on it so now it is one of the nicest places a college student could live!) and they watched the kids for me while I iced my knee. It's fun for me to see Brina and Meredith together because Meredith worships Brina the way Brina used to worship me. And Brina is always very sweet and kind and patient to Mere, which I really appreciate, because I am certain that even Brina does not REALLY want to spend 3 hours listening to Meredith "play" her various instruments, analyze fingernail polish, chatter constantly about everything from dinosaurs to God and Angels and dictate what she should say!After feeding the kids a little snack (Meredith actually about ate Brina out of house and home! We must have been on her eating day that day, since she normally only eats about every 4th day) and hanging out for a while so they could burn off some energy we headed to Swensens for lunch and then made the drive up to Flagstaff.

I am always happy to see the Peaks, and as always, it was good to get to see everyone and be "home" for a while. At some point in the last few years I have made the transition to adulthood, so going back to the place that I thought would always be home now feels like I am just visiting. It's nice that I have my true home with my husband and kids in OKC now, but it's bittersweet to visit Flagstaff and realize that it is no longer home.

The kids and I had a nice visit, we got in lots of family time. We were able to hang out with my nephew Caden, and he is now old enough that it is fun to watch him crawl around and interact with Meredith and Nathan. Everyone got some one on one time with the kids, and I really appreciated how helpful everyone was with the kids so I could stay off my knee for the most part. The visit was really very positive until the last night we were in town, when for some reason Blake and his wife Gwen were in a mood. They changed Caden into a pair of Nathan's jeans (he only had 4 pairs of pants at the time, so I was irritated that they were trying to take 25% of my son's wardrobe!) and when I mentioned it Gwen was really weird and defensive about it. I was assuming that it was a mistake, but her reaction was very short and rude, and turned the entire ordeal into a much bigger deal than it needed to be. The end result was that they stormed out without saying good-bye, and Blake asked my mom to tell me that I am not welcome at his house. Sometimes I wonder why my family loves to have drama, and I wonder what it would be like to live in a family where everyone is respectful, helpful and drama free!

The drama sort of left a black cloud over the house, so we were all pretty introspective for the rest of the visit. Brina and my dad and I hung out for a while after everyone else went to bed, and I was reminded again how fantastic it is to have people who really get me! We joked and laughed and analyzed life until late that night, and then Brina drove us back down to the airport the next morning so we could fly back home. It was good to get back to Oklahoma and see Matt again. There is a song that Meredith is crazy about that Matt put on a cd for us called "If I ever get back to Oklahoma, gonna nail my feet to the ground" (yep, it's as cheesy and country as it sounds!) and that song kept playing in my head as we were driving home. Life never fails to surprise and amaze me, I really enjoy the ironies and challenges on the journey, and I can't believe that Oklahoma ended up being the true home for me.

Me time!

As I write this post I am sitting outside our hotel room on the patio in Cancun, watching the palm trees blow in the wind, the ocean move in the distance, and enjoying the beautiful green grass! I am finally getting some me time and I am loving it! It is helping me to re-prioritize and relax,and I think Matt and I are feeling more connected too! I am re-confirming my new lease on life with this trip, and I am so proud of myself for finally figuring out how to be healthy and centered. I feel confidant in myself these days most of the time, which is a new feeling for me. I am not feeing guilty about taking care of myself, which is another tremendous improvement.

Before we left for vacation I think we got everything in the best shape we possibly could, which helps me to be able to relax. The entire house was clean, the instructions were typed up and neatly organized in a notebook for my in-laws, and I even managed to do the super-mom thing and leave little post-it notes around the house for the kids, telling them I love them and left a few little treats for them. (Hugs and Kisses from Hersheys, a heart shaped necklace for Meredith from us, some silly putty to remind them of their silly mommy...)

Well, I didn't get this finished in Mexico, I took a nap instead! We have been home for a week now and as I started to update my blog again (being a full month behind now) I found this one. Immediately I felt relaxed and happy as I pictured our beautiful vacation. So, I will post this when I get there chronolgically and smile as I remember how nice it is to do just what I want to do when I want to do it!

Update: 26 days later, I am once again attacking the blog and getting things posted. Me time is few and far between these days, but I am hoping that after Mere heads back to school in January I can make myself a priority again. Hey, a girl can dream, right?