Polar Express Christmas Party

Way back on December 19, Adam had his school Christmas party.  It was with a Polar Express theme, so kids went in their pajamas.  Siblings were invited and I decided to be brave and bring Abbey.  I knew Santa was coming and I thought she'd either love it or freak out.  I asked Tammy if she wanted to come along, too.  (That's why I have photos...she took them with her iphone which I'm able to upload). It went pretty well.  I dropped Adam off in his Santa jammies and helped him put his Yoda slippers on and went home and got Abbey ready.

They had Adam and Abbey sitting right in front, but Abbey wasn't interested in sitting much.  Here am I trying to get he to sit.  Didn't last.  She was playing in a corner while Miss Elizabeth tried to read the story.  And then Santa came.  He sat down and had a gift for all the kids.  When it was Adam's turn, he wasn't afraid, but wasn't very interested in hanging around Santa too long or getting his photo taken.  I actually love this photo...it cracks me up.

And then Santa came.  He sat down and had a gift for all the kids.  When it was Adam's turn, he wasn't afraid, but wasn't very interested in hanging around Santa too long or getting his photo taken.  I actually love this photo...it cracks me up.

As Abbey started to realize that Santa was handing out gifts, she got into it.  I had to hold her back a couple of times!! She was happy to go up and meet Santa :)

After Santa left, it was snack time.  Adam and Abbey are sitting with Isaac, who is really a cute kid.  Abbey only yelled once...when Adam took the plate they were sharing.  It was an Abbey scream for sure!!  Abbey showed her social potential.  She took her princess yo-yo, found some girls and sat down.  If she could talk, she would have been making friends.  I was so happy with how things went and that the kids really liked Santa.

Rise of the Guardians

Today, Adam and I went Quinten and Jackie at the movie theatre to watch Rise of the Guardians.  Originally, I had hatched the plan to use the two promotional movie tickets I earned through spending too much money on DVDs at Amazon, but, of course, I forgot to print them out until today and I couldn't get it to work.

Adam had just been to the theatre once before, to see Madagascar 3 in July.  He loved.  And he loved it today.  It was an Adam movie, full of wild imagination and characters.  He started talking so much, I had to take him out and remind him that we could only go back in if he tried harder to use the "secret voice" (whisper).

It was a pretty good movie.  I liked it better than most of the kid movies I see for the first time.  Good company, too!

As the movie was ending, the Dad across the aisle shuffles his two kids out, dragging them while they complained that the movie wasn't over.  He leaned right into my face and said "I don't know about you ma'am, but that movie was a bit dark."  Cue alcohol laden breathe.  He repeated himself several times.  Nice.  He clearly was drinking throughout the movie.  Sigh.  It takes all types.

A "Wicked" Good Date

Last Wednesday, Todd and I went to the Landmark Theatre to see "Wicked".  I have wanted to see it for years and for our anniversary, Todd bought me tickets.

I love the Landmark.  It's so beautiful!  But after going to the somewhat restored Auditorium Theatre in Rochester, which is a similar style, I see that the plaster decorations in the theatre need some help.  The colors are so faded and I don't think I would have realized so much without a comparison.

Anyhow, we were front row of the third level.  A pretty decent view, but the seats killed our backs.  And we weren't the only ones....only thing I heard our neighbors talk about during intermission.

But the show. It was really good.  The idea was original and interesting and done in a clever way.  The set and costumes were done well and the script was pretty tight.  Some of the songbook wasn't my favorite, but the actors did a great job, especially the young wicked witch.  Most of all, I liked the over riding message.  Everyone has a point of view that they believe to be true or that the facts have appeared to present in that way.  But the fact of the matter is, their is rarely one version of events.  And there is rarely a person who is all bad or all good.  I always strive to see the various sides of each person, so maybe that rang true for me.

I may have bought the soundtrack and the program on my way out.

And for the record?  Todd really enjoyed it, too.  I may have turned him into a theatre geek!

It's nice to do something together, just us.  Love spending time with Todd, one one one.  Thanks for a "wicked" good anniversary gift :)

Butler Family Christmas Tree

Adam is so excited about Christmas this year, we decided a big tree would be nice instead of the smaller one we've been doing on a table (to save our sanity). When Todd found out I'd never had a real tree, he insisted we get one.

Sunday night, we loaded up to drive around to see what was up there.  The guy who Todd used to buy them from didn't appear to sell them.  "I don't even know if the guy is still alive he," he commented as we drove by his dark house.  Clearly, it had been awhile....

We went over to Pigger's, but they were closed and driving by Loews' and Wal-mart, it was clear their selection was lame.  I told him a lot of people I knew went to Ontario Orchards, even though they aren't a Butler customer, we went to check it out.

Their lot looked EXACTLY how I always a tree lot to look.  White lights strung on the wooden structure with several aisles of trees.  The kids ran up and down while we looked, wondering what was the best type and size.  We asked Adam if he wanted big or little.  He said little than preceded to point to a HUGE tree.  Todd help up a few and when he asked me what I wanted, I went back to one of the first ones ...it was perfect.

The kids were awestruck and excited as Daddy and the guys strapped it to our Mazda roof and as we drive away, we asked Adam what was on top of the car "MY CHRISTMAS TREE!".

We took a detour out to Minetto to see the house with all the decorations as Abbey was practically falling out of her car seat looking at Christmas lights "I see!!" she said over and over!  Adam was impatient with the detour...he wanted to go home and get that tree up, though he enjoyed looking at the house once we were there.

He wanted to help Daddy carry it in and put it in the stand, acting wild and crazy running around.  Abbey sat on the floor, actually still, with her bowl of crackers, just fascinated.  Once it was up, Adam grabbed the Gingerbread potholder we had put on the top last year half as a joke since we didn't have anything else, dubbing it Gingy from Shrek.  Apparently, he recalled this and wanted to put it back up there.

"Daddy!  Stairs for Gingy!"  He knows the word ladder, but I guess he thought this called for stairs :)  It was too cute.  So Todd lifted him up and he got it on.  Am I stuck with a gingerbread potholder on top of my tree for 20 years????

Monday night, after they were in bed, Todd strung the lights and put up a little dog decoration that looks tangled in the lights.  Tuesday morning, the kids were in awe!  Their faces both lit up.

My Dad always said the best part of Christmas was seeing us enjoy it.  As a kid, I thought that was silly...I so get it now.

Saturday Night in Memphis

To cap off our crazy Saturday, we hopped in the car and drove to Rochester for the first of the four touring Broadway productions that are in the subscription Todd bought me for my birthday.  We had never been, so we were a bit concerned about getting their early enough to find parking.

Turns out, we were fine.  The theatre is a gorgeous old grand castle style building in the middle of a ....shady neighborhood in which several people were selling parking.  We paid $5 to park in what was the darkest alley I'd been in, but it was practically across the street.

"Don't worry," the guy assured us, "they are turning on some lights."

We laughed and wondered, will the tires still be on the car when we got back?

One of the art deco theatres I LOVE...in better shape than the Landmark.  All the plaster was brightly painted and I think it was bigger, too.  The place was fairly full, but we were in front of the second balcony almost and that section was not.  The seat next to me was empty...that's always so nice.

The show was decent.  The music, acting and 1950's costumes were well done.  But, it was not particularly special.  A kind of done over and over plot about a white guy and a black girl falling in love in the racist south.  The ending was not to either of our liking either.  But it certainly wasn't bad, just not great.  I think the singing was exceptional and upon looking in the program, it wasn't surprising that they were understudies from the original Broadway cast.

There was a bar with snacks, but you couldn't bring the food into the theatre.  I wish I knew that before I was stopped trying to go back in with mine!!!

Very nice night out and really enjoyed just doing something with us.  Of course, I fell asleep on the way home listening to the soundtrack I bought on the way out the door while Todd had to drive down a very dark 104....  hey, it was  LONG day!

Crazy Saturday/Part 2/Wedding Blur

One of Todd's mechanics got married on Saturday.  By the time I got Adam home from his party, Todd was home early from work, ready to go.  I got dressed and we headed to Mexico for the reception, as we felt we were too late to make the ceremony in Pulaski.  The Eis House lot was empty, so we drove up to the church.  Their lot was only a bit full, so we drove back.  Ha.  We just missed the guests arriving at the Eis House.  We hung out with the Potters, waiting for the bride and groom.  I had made the mistake of not eating much, thinking I was going to have a great dinner.  Ha.

Over three hours after the beginning of the ceremony, the bride and groom arrived.  It was almost time for us to head to Rochester!  We had to leave as our table was being called.  It's OK...I passed the food line and it didn't look spectacular.  I wasn't thrilled that my anticipated great meal turned into drive thru Burger King, but hey, that's life!  If we didn't have Potters to hang out with, it would have been a total bust.  Oh yeah, the day was about the bride and groom, not about my preggo stomach....

The restaurant was decorated very nicely for the holidays and the drinks...were served in jars.  I don't mean trendy Mason Jars.  I mean whatever jars were around.  Heather informed me I was drinking my Shirley Temple out of a Tostidoes Jar.  Hmmmm......

Crazy Saturday Part 1: Bowling Party

Saturday was one of those days where there's a lot going one and you try and schedule it all just right.  It started with a birthday party for Adam's classmate Parker at the bowling alley.  Adam had never been bowling before and it was the first party he was invited to that wasn't the whole class, probably because I've struck up a bit of conversation with his Mom and I actually kind of like her.

We walked in and Adam was floored.  He was immediately excited by the music and glowing lights.  He couldn't wait to get his shoes on and start.  It was so funny.  He'd either launch it really hard and it would practically shake the alley or he'd throw it so light it was funny to watch how long it took to get there.  He had to learn to wait his turn, which can be long at bowling, but it's good for him.  After a few rounds, he discovered their were other things to look at.  There was a "claw" machine behind us.  Ever since he saw Toy Story for the first time, they fascinate him.  Only once did Todd actually did it with him, usually we just let him "play" with it.  There was also a Ms. Pac-Man he "played".

Eventually we found our way down to the arcade room and there was another claw machine.  Which happened to have money in it just waiting for him. So he tried.  Never saw the kids have so much focus on his motor skills.  He got a little teddy bear on the first try.  Oh, was he excited!  He carried the purple, green and orange thing around and had to be convinced to put him down to bowl again.  It was cute.  Teddy sat next to him for pizza and fries, too.  Somehow, Teddy made it up his shirt, too and he told me it was baby Teddy Bear and I realized that he was reflecting on the conversations we'd been having about a baby in my belly :)

It's so funny to see a bunch of 4 and 5 year olds sing Happy Birthday to a friend.  They're all over the place and they can't wait to eat.  Never saw such quieter pre-schoolers as when shoving those cupcakes in their face!!!

The whole group got tokens to the arcade again and Adam just loved this car game with a steering wheel.  Kid just seems to love that boy stuff!

They all gathered around while Parker opened his presents.  Adam wanted to "help" but he got they weren't for him, so he settled for handing them to him.

It was a nice time and Adam had  A LOT of fun.  And it was nice to see how far he's come in the last few months in social situations.  He's better at understanding rules and answering questions.  I am so proud of him!