The Wilsons

File this one under the “special times” section, or maybe, things Papi and Mami like.  It’s been a week since this happened, but I haven’t had time to post it.  I think one of my favorite days/times of the entire year happened last week at Grandma Jo’s house.

We spent our Sunday out and about - we took the kids sledding - and Melodia for her first time - then we took them to McDonald’s and let them play in their big indoor play structure, and a little later in the evening, we took them to look at some Christmas lights at an amazing house we dubbed, “Winter Wonderland.”  But all of this, Melodia commented on in an earlier post.

What really made that day so wonderful was what happened when we got back home that night.  Grandma Jo was sitting in front of the tv, holding Izzabelle, watching the Hallmark channel, and it was showing made-for-tv movie after made-for-tv movie themed around Christmas. We climbed onto Grandma’s couch with a few bed pillows and finished watching one with her.  Then another came on.  So we kept watching.

Now, I should interrupt and say this - we don’t have a couch right now.  We have 3 amazingly comfortable La-Z-y boy recliner/rockers.  We invested good money to get them, and love them.  Comfy.  But there are times when I miss having a couch.  This reminded me of that.  And it had me wondering about our kids’ need for a couch.  They seemed to treat that thing like a play toy; climbing up and down it often.  And I was reminded of how nice it is to sit in the same space together, rather than in our individual chairs.

We made the kids some toast for an evening snack, and then they climbed onto the pillows on our lap. Soon, they were deep in slumber as we continued to watch this Christmas Hallmark movie. There’s something about the warmth of a child emanating from his/her sleepy body sprawled out on top of you - something special. And sleeping kids are just magnetic to watch - it’s hard not to sit there and stare at them, and kiss those soft cheeks a thousand more times!

So the Hallmark movie played on, and it accomplished its goal - the goal of all those tear-jerker, heart-warming Hallmark flicks - remind us of the everyday wonder that is love, family, kids, and sharing life together.  Melodia and I enjoyed a little hand-handling on Grandma’s couch (shh, don’t tell her!).

Words can hardly capture that time, but it felt like we were in a Hallmark movie.  It was the perfect, slow, appreciative winding down to what had been a wonderful family day.

Last night, I told Melodia that I was still thinking about our time on the couch, and she admitted that she, too, had thought about it and how wonderful it was.  Definitely on the top 10 list of days/times for the Wilsons this year.  It’s things like this that we want to enjoy now, lock into our memories now (for later times), and celebrate. Kids grow up so fast. I think often about the fact that it won’t be long and our kids will no longer sleep in our laps or ask, “Papi, carry me.”  I have to hold and “hug” these times while I can.  We all do.

You know, when you get married you inherit a whole slew of things.  Not just your spouse, but the entire kit and caboodle.  In-laws, some out-laws, and if you are lucky you get a Grandma Jo.

She lives in Michigan which is where Lonni’s family is from.  She is in her mid 70’s and lives alone but has a great daughter living right next door who looks after her.

Anyway, Grandma Jo is Great! Literally and figuratively.  She remembers all of her families birthdays and anniversaries.

This is no small task.  Grandma Jo has eight children, each of those had at least two children, and now all of her grandchildren have given her (some are about to pop) a total of 20 great grandchildren! (Wil is the 10th in the mix.)

And she remembers us all!

We were able to finally make some time to visit her this past weekend which just happened to be our 5th anniversary.

It’s about a 7 to 8 hour drive. She was thrilled.  We had not seen her since a year ago last August.  Wil was only 2 and McMac was just starting to walk.

Grandma is famous for playing Scrabble, so we made sure to make time for a couple games.  (She beat us on the last one.)

Wil and McMac fell in love all over again and Izzy was quick to  con Grandma into spoiling her all weekend.  Wil started calling her Jo Grandma, which we thought was cute.

The first thing Wil asked her was how many toys she had. Grandma has tons of great toys, all inherited from the growing number of great grandchildren.

Wil and McMac spent the whole weekend without watching one lick of TV.  They entertained themselves with all the great “finds” at grandma’s house.  They made sure to make a great mess as only Wil and McKinley can.

We did get to play out in the snow.  Actually, we had planned to leave on Sunday morning and ended up staying the extra day.  We were able to go sledding with them on Sunday, which was my first time. While Grandma watched Izzy for us. Needless to say, my new winter gear came in pretty handy. (More on our sledding later.)

All in all, we had a wonderful time.

We will actually be heading out to see her again on the 24th because this would have been her first Christmas Eve without family around.  We wanted to be there for her since she is so great at being there for all of us.

The kids keep asking if we can go back to Jo Grandma’s house and we are glad we can tell them “yes, we will be there next week.”

Off to Grandma’s we will go again…

It sure is amazing how kids grow and suddenly their interests change.  Wil just had to have a Christmas tree this year because, according to him, if we don’t have a Christmas tree, there is no place to put the presents. So, as this is great 3-year-old reasoning, I had to agree that it was very important.

Just so you know I am trying to be a good Christian Mommy; I have tried to instill the meaning of Christmas.  I keep telling him it’s about the baby Jesus and the gift God gave us, and so we give gifts to each other to remember. It seems the only thing Wil hears in that story is, “Blah, blah, blah, gifts, blah, blah, gifts!”

So, needless to say, I had to put up a Christmas tree this year for sure.  Since this will be our first family Christmas staying in Buffalo - without traveling to FL or AZ - I couldn’t wait to put up the tree.

Wil was not aware of how long it would actually take to put the tree together. So from the very minute I opened the bag, Wil was ready to put up ornaments! Have you ever tried to reason with a 3 year old as to the process of Christmas tree decorating? It’s not easy. Especially when you have to use that dreaded word, PATIENCE!

After what seemed like an eternity to Wil, and after he and Papi came back from the store with more lights and a star topper he picked out for the tree, we finally reached the stage he was longing for… hanging the ornaments.

By this time, McKinley was up from her nap and she, too, was ready to “help.”  So, I did what any good mommy would do and let them hang the “beautiful” ornaments.

This year is the first year they will actually get to make their own  ornaments so the tree is pretty streamlined in blue and silver.

What I thought was so cute was that they insisted on putting every ornament right next to the last one they put up.  I kept trying to get them to spread them out but all attempts failed, and I had to break up the clusters when they were not paying attention.

Now, if you don’t know this about our family yet, we live in a virtual candy  store thanks to my hubby who just loves the stuff and likes variety.

So when it comes to the tree I have to accept the fact that when I send him to the store for candy canes, he is going to come back with a box of each kind!

The kids were in heaven. They wanted to eat them right away, so getting them to actually help PUT THEM ON THE TREE was a  task in itself.

Finally, after all was said and done, we ended up with a beautiful tree, worthy of lots of Christmas presents and some very happy kids.

Now to keep them from eating themselves into a candy cane induced coma is another story…