What I Always Wanted!

Dear Becca & Grant,
                     Merry Christmas! The day is almost over and that's always kind of depressing for me and it always has been even when I was a child. I remember the big family soirées at Granny & Bambi Dee's back when I was a mere lad; I was always the very last person to leave because I just never wanted it to end. The ending of Christmas is especially sad this year because I had to take the kids back to their mom's late this afternoon. It was a great Christmas, but ain't they all?
      We never did get our Holiday pictures done. I really wish I could have figured out a way to have gotten them done. This will go down in the history of our little family as the strangest Christmas season of all, or at least I hope it does. I don't want things to get any stranger. We are all adjusting to new ways of doing things and while there have been some bumps in the road we are doing okay.
      The children's mother ended up taking them to Southern Lights this year with her friend Sherri so I didn't get to go this year. I always enjoyed watching Becca feed the animals at the petting zoo. Maybe next year I will take them there too.
      I had a big surprise for the kids one day last week. I told Becca & Grant that we were going to the bank and they didn't think a thing about it. What I didn't tell them that Santa, Frosty and Rudolph were at the bank. We walked in and there was Santa all by himself. No waiting in a long line. He came up to Becca all on his own and talked about how much taller she had gotten since the last time he had seen her. Becca had a nice long talk with Santa. They had snacks there as well. It was a really nice event and to top it all off it wasn't even our bank but they said they wanted as many children as possible to come because they were making a donation to some charity for every child who came through the door.
      I kind of screwed up after we left the bank though. I was talking to Mamaw on the phone and was telling her how nice it was when I mentioned that the Santa Claus was the Lexington Radio personality Jack Pattie. Becca noticed right away but it didn't seem to matter to her. Since then whenever we saw a Santa she would ask me if that was the real Santa or Jack Pattie.
      Becca and I had what we eventually called our Nutcracker Barrel day this past weekend. We had a grand time. I eventually got a red Christmas dress for Becca that suited my taste. I wanted one that just screamed Christmas. The next day we went out and I got her some thick white stockings and a very pretty pair of shoes that ended up not fitting that well. She kept losing them on stairs. Anyway, I took Becca down to Mamaw & Papaw's so Auntie Lynn and Mamaw could fix Becca's hair and that child was as lovely as I have ever seen her and let me tell you, Becca is one lovely little girl. I then took Grant over to where their Mom is staying with her friend, Sherri because this was a special father/daughter day.
      We were running a little late. I hate to be late to these type of things but we weren't late. As a matter of fact we were right on time. We were seated and about two minutes later the show started. Our box seats were okay but I don't think I'd like to sit there again. We were very close to the stage and could see the dancers close up but about twenty-five percent of the stage was blocked off from view because we were so close. I'd like to sit in the middle next time. Becca absolutely loved it. I was afraid she would be bored to tears because it's a ballet and the story is told through dance instead of dialogue. I thought I would be bored to tears but surprisingly enough neither one of us were. Becca raved about it at intermission and when I asked her if she's like to go see the show every year she excitedly said that she would like that. Becca was a huge hit at the show in her own right because at intermission we went to get us a drink of water and she was dancing like a ballerina in her beautiful Christmas dress all the way back to our seats. She got kind of bored halfway through the second act but she made it much further than I really expected her to get. After the show we headed over to Cracker Barrel, hence us calling it our Nutcracker Barrel day. Becca had a big plate of shrimp, her latest favorite food, mac & cheese and a root beer. I had a chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes, green beans, carrots and a cola. We went to look at the toys when we had finished eating, as we always do. We then went to get our boy, Grant. Becca and I had a lovely Chritmassy time and I am looking forward to doing it again next year.
      Last night we went over to Mamaw & Papaw's to celebrate Christmas Eve with them and Auntie Lynn's family. We had a huge meal. We had turkey of which Becca ate a leg, country ham, corn pudding, green beans, sweet potato casserole, dressing, salad, strawberry pretzel salad, cranberry chutney, mashed potatoes, sliced cucumbers, rolls, soda and tea with a full compliment of desserts. Then I had to run back to the house for a second. Things needed moving from there to here. When I got back we all sat in the living room for a little while and then it was down to the basement for present opening time. Grant got a big Tonka truck, a bubble making dog, a stuffed dog with labeled body parts that Becca picked out for him, some nice new clothes, a V-tech helicopter and a toy cell phone from me. Becca got a LeapFrog Tag Reader, a pen looking thing with a camera in it that reads special books that are downloaded into the pen, from me. She also got two extra books for the Tag reader, a collection of Winnie the Pooh stories by A.A. Milne, and some nice new clothes. I got a new shirt, some nice new pillows and a super nice mattress pad. All of the children played in the basement for awhile and for the most part had a fun time except when Becca and Jon got into it. Becca and Jon are always getting into it because they are so much alike.
      Eventually Auntie Lynn and her brood headed for the house. Mamaw told Becca that the boys were going straight to bed because Santa was on his way and he wouldn't stop if you weren't asleep. That lit a fire under Becca right away. At that point we had to leave and we had to leave now. We got home and I told Becca I had to get Grant ready for bed, we had to pick up the living room, lay out milk and cookies for Santa, put the mattress pad on the bed, get her in her new Christmas pajamas and then we could go to sleep. She rushed me like you wouldn't believe. She was afraid Santa would come while she was awake. I explained to her that I had checked the NORAD Santa tracker website just before we left and he was just then starting in South America and it would be awhile before he got to us. South America was too close for her comfort. I got most of what needed to be done done but she wouldn't let me put the mattress pad on. She jumped up into bed and closed her eyes and went straight to sleep. I was dead tired myself and was afraid that I would fall asleep as well if I wasn't careful but I managed to stay awake until I thought she was fast asleep. I got up and helped Santa put out their gifts and right as Santa disappeared up the chimney I heard her calling for me. She was upset that I had left her in the night. I told her that I had merely went to the bathroom and that she needed to go back to sleep. She tried but sleep didn't come this time as easily as it did when she first laid down. She said she wanted a drink. I told her I would go get her a drink and she said she was afraid all alone and she was coming with me. I couldn't have that because Santa had already been here and I certainly didn't want her to see her stash yet. I told her what a disaster it would be if she was in the living room when Santa popped out of the magic chimney. The magic chimney is what Santa uses to access homes without a chimney. He sets the chimney up on the roof and he slides down and out a hearth made in the wall by the magic chimney. Anyway, she didn't have any problem staying by herself as I went to get her a sippy cup of cherry juicy juice. Soon after the juice she went to sleep. I got back up for awhile and installed the Tag reader software onto the laptop, loaded Becca's new Tag books onto her Tag reader, checked my E-mail and went back to bed.
      Becca woke up at around 9:00 this morning. I was surprised she slept as late as she did. She woke me up and told me to look outside. I thought maybe we were going to have a white Christmas but she just wanted me to notice that it was daylight outside. I told Becca to stay in the bedroom for a few seconds because I wanted to get the video camera ready. She did as I requested but she didn't give me a second too long. She came into the living room and the look of Christmas wonder filled her eyes. I asked her if she wanted to open her presents and let Grant sleep or if she wanted Grant to be awake with her. She looked at me like I had grown a second head. She informed me that we were going to get Grant up and away to his room she flew with the joyous news of Santa's arrival. I got him up and into the living room we went. Becca had colored a picture from her giant Christmas coloring book and we have had it hanging in the living room for a few weeks. She had me write a note on it that it was a gift to Santa and he was to show it to his elves. The picture was gone. Santa had taken his gift and this tickled Becca to no end. Then it came time for the opening of the gifts. Becca got a Kid Tough DVD player and a travel accessory kit for it, two additional Tag books, a Moon Sand playset, Baby Alive go bye-bye, a Jack in the Box, an art kit, a kaleidoscope, a spinning top, Wedding Day Barbi, a Tinker Bell doll, Tinker Bell make-up, an Etch-a-Sketch, a slinky, a big box of crayons, a Candy Land Castle game, Disco Dancing Wow Wow Wubbzy and her favorite gift of all, a Hannah Montana Jammin' guitar with a Hannah Montana doll to go with it. Grant got a Bounce and Spin Zebra with mats to go under it, a Ball Popper thing, a musical activity table, one of those ball popper things that you push, a Learning Piggy Bank, Laugh & Learn tool set, a football, stacking rings, shaped blocks with a bucket, a drum, little Tonka four wheelers, and Barnyard Bowling. Grant's favorite was between the Bounce & Spin Zebra and the stacking rings. I'm sure I am foregtting something but if I am it couldn't be too big. The kids also got odds & end in their stockings. Becca got a Spiderman spinning tooth brush, conditioner, flash card and a huge Honey Crisp apple while Grant got little sports balls, a bar of baby soap and a tiny Gala apple. They both got animal crackers, a toy flute, chocolate money, chocolate Santas', chocolate bells and balls, a sucker, a lifesaver book and a clementine. There's more but like I said a little earlier they couldn't be too important or I wouldn't have forgotten about them.
      There was one instance where I had to take a mental note to be careful about the paper I wrapped gifts in. As a child I remember questioning why Santa always wrapped his gifts in the same paper we did. I was given an unlikely answer but since I really wanted to believe I bought it. I was much older than Becca when this event occurred but something along the same line happened this morning. As she was unwrapping a present she got a confused look on her face and told me that the paper that her present was wrapped in was the same paper that Jacob's present from last night was wrapped in. I didn't try to give any kind of explanation at all. I just acted as puzzled as she was. I could almost see the cogs of her mind turning and dread filled my soul. She can not stop believing so soon. I'm sure it will come to nothing but from here on out Santa wraps presents in paper exclusive to Santa. I always had it in my mind that I would use different paper than Santa used to avoid such misunderstandings but I suppose I just assumed that she was still too young to put two and two together. I have to remember that my oldest child is no longer a baby but a full fledged child with a very well developed ability to reason. There was also a moment when my heart kind of broke because as she was opening up her Baby Alive Go Bye-Bye she thought it was the swimming doll she had been wanting since the summer. She was so excited but when she saw it was Baby Alive Go Bye-Bye she got the most crushed look on her face. It only lasted a moment but to me it seemed like eternity. She immediately got happy over the Baby Alive Go Bye-Bye but I do believe that that doll would have been a bigger hit with her if she hadn't been expecting her swimming doll. I didn't think Santa should even look for the swimming doll because it's December and there's not a whole lot of swimming going on this time of year.
      After presents I set up some of the toys and cussed at myself for not buying D batteries when I bought all those double and triple A batteries. I needed four of them for Grant's ball popper thing and I only had two. Becca really wanted to see some balls pop. She had as much fun with Grant's stuff as she did her own. I put the kids in their jackets and we headed on down to Mamaw & Papaw's for the afternoon. None of us had had any breakfast unless you count chocolate money and a few bites of an apple. We ate leftovers from Christmas Eve for lunch. For some reason I always enjoy a big holiday meal best when I'm eating the leftovers the day after. I don't know why that is. After lunch Grant went down for a nap and Mamaw, Papaw, Becca and I watched A Christmas Story, you know, the one about Ralphie and his Red Ryder BB gun. We didn't get it finished before we had to get Grant up and leave. I had to have the kids to their Mom by four. I was running a little late. I had to stop at the house for gifts that Becca had for her Mom, Grant's shoes and my cell phone. I would have loved to have had them all day on Christmas day but that wouldn't have been fair to their Mom. I took them up there and walked them in and gave them both big Christmas hugs and kisses, wished them a Merry Christmas and I left my babies.
      I got home and picked up the Christmas Morning disaster and then I downloaded the Christmas videos and pictures to my computers; pics to the laptop and video to the desktop. I spent four hours editing video and uploading to YouTube and a little while updating my online photo album. I sat down to post a blog and here I am. I think Grant had a nice Christmas. He's just a little young to really get into it but Becca on the other hand was whole heartedly into the Christmas thing, even though I still can't understand shy she would ever want to watch a show that didn't have anything to do with Christmas when I have hours and hours of Christmas oriented children's programming either on DVD or recorded on the DVR. She was heavily into the Christmas music though. Anyway, I know that Becca had a great Christmas because two or three times this morning as she was opening her Christmas presents she declared that this is her best Christmas ever. Of course she doesn't have that many to compare them to. It was a great Christmas for me as well. Traditions are in transition with the situation with their Mom and I so things were a bit chaotic and disorganized. Everything will eventually stabilize and Christmas will be the same year in and year out just as it should be.
      Now, a couple of non-Christmas notes. Grant is trying to say some words and unfortunately the one he is most fond of is NO. I suppose he's so good at that word because he hears it more than any other word. He's a small hellion and he does have a temper and no patience which is always a bad combination. Also, the other day Grant pulled the letter M off of the keyboard I am using now so when I have to really press hard on the place where my M key used to be so if there seems to be a letter missing anywhere in this post it's probably an M.
      I am now able to switch Becca's earrings. She lost one the other day and I convinced her to let me try to put it back in and after much cajoling and a few tears of dread she let me try and the thing slid right in. Becca couldn't believe it went in that easily. I asked her is she wanted me to get her some Christmas earrings and she said she did. We went to Wal-Mart and got her an incredibly ugly pair of Santa earrings for a dollar. I would have thought that you could get prettier Christmas earring but what do I know, I've never shopped for Christmas earring before. Becca was so proud of her earrings. I had a little trouble getting her earrings in the next time I tried putting them in because she had went awhile with no earrings in and I think that Becca's pain tolerance is that of her mother's and that is absolutely no tolerance at all. I eventually got them back in. I ended up losing her regular earring which got me in a little bit of trouble from her Mom. I'm going to get Becca a really nice pair of earrings when I can. I'll probably let her pick out whatever she wants to wear until valentines Day and then I will get her a real nice pair because there will be pretty good sales on them then.
      The special surprise is even closer than it was the last time I posted. I am working to get it done. I have already taken numerous steps toward the surprise and I am super excited. I start another step tomorrow. I can't wait until I know for sure this thing will happen and I can actually mention what it is. Even if the surprise falls through I will attempt to achieve the goal of the surprise through alternative means.
      A whole lot of bad stuff happened this past year. It started out great. Our finances were in the best shape they had ever been in and well, I thought things were okay but then the bottom dropped out and it sunk this whole year for me. The kids were the only bright spot I had throughout this year. But I am super excited about 2009. I have plans to get my finances back under control and then there's the possible surprise and then the sky is the limit. I think this coming year is going to be a fabulous year and I haven't been this excited about a new year in forever.
      Well, I have the Christmas Eve video that still needs uploading to YouTube and I have to put sheets and my blanket in the dryer plus my finger is hurting because I have to mash in on the letter M so dad-gum hard, so I will close out this post. Daddy loves Rebecca & Grant and wishes his kids the Merriest of Christmases!

Dear Becca & Grant,
                  We are full swing into the Christmas Season. I love Christmas. I am laid off from work until the new year. Santa Claus has 99.5% of the children's Christmas gifts ready to go to the wrapping department at the North Pole. We have a whole lot to take care of once I get paid again on the 18th. I have to get clothes for our Holiday pictures for Grant and myself. I suppose Becca will wear a dress that Mamaw purchased for her. We have to actually get the pictures done, Becca and I have a date to go see The Nutcracker on the 20th and we may go to Southern Lights. Mom really wants to take the kids because that particular tradition was begun on her wishes. I have come to love Southern Lights and would love to take the kids but I know how much this means to Mom so I will wait until I know what her plans are until I take the kids. Then of course I have to get my own presents for the kids, buy wrapping paper and wrap the the presents. We have a busy next few weeks but it really can't start until I get some more money. I wasn't really financially prepared for the season this year what with this whole mess that Mom and I went through this year. I hope to really get back in the swing of taking care of my money in the beginning of the year and really being ready for next Christmas. I still have had great fun so far this year.
      Becca is so excited about Santa coming. Every night she tells me that she is going to dream about Christmas morning. I don't think she will be disappointed at all. I don't think she has as much as she had last year but she will be getting quite a nice haul from Santa. Grant really didn't get that much from Santa last year because he was so little that he really didn't care that much. He has a nice haul this year as well. Maybe not as nice as Becca's haul but he still won't car all that much.
      Last year I downloaded tons of Christmas shows off of the internet and TiVoed a bunch more and transferred them to the computer. My plan was to spend the summer months burning those shows to DVD so we could all have an awesome collection of Christmas programming. The thing with Mom kind of changed all my summer plans so I was going to do it closer to Christmas. I had all of the files on my 500 gig external hard drive, 500 gigs was a pretty big hard drive in 2008. One fateful day Grant who has a habit of pulling things off of tables one day pulled my hard drive of of the table it was sitting on and broke it. All of my Christmas files were gone. I was so incredibly bummed out. I purchased a few DVDs, Rudolph, Santa Claus is Coming to Town, Frosty and the Little Drummer Boy when they were on sale for Black Friday this year but the lions share of programming I had to download again. I think my collection is nearly complete. I am still in the process of downloading a huge file with some rare and incredibly old versions of a Christmas Carol. What do I have in my collection? I have Miracle on 34th Street, The Grinch with Jim Carrey, Elf with Will Farrel, Rudolph (1964), Frosty, Frosty Returns, The Little Drummer Boy, A Charlie Brown Christmas, Celebrate Christmas with Mickey, Donald and Friends which includes old the very old cartoons Santa's Workshop, The Night Before Christmas, Cookie Carnival and the more recent Pluto's Christmas Tree; I also have Mickey's Orphans from 1931 and Mickey's Good Deed from 1932, Nestor the Long Eared Christmas Donkey, The Mystery Science Theatre 3000 versions of Santa Claus Conquers the Martians and a really terrible Mexican movie called Santa Claus, Christmas in Connecticut with Barbara Stanwyck, National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, A Christmas Story, The animated Grinch, Shrek the Halls, Ernest Saves Christmas, The Polar Express, It's a Wonderful Life, the old and the newer versions of the Twilight Zone episode, Night of the Meek and White Christmas with Bing Crosby. I also have a few versions of a Christmas Carol such as Mickey's Christmas Carol, Blackadder's Christmas Carol, Christmas Carol with Patrick Stewart from 1999, the 1984 Christmas Carol with George C. Scott, the Muppets Christmas Carol, Scrooge from 1970 with Albert Finney, the 1951 Christmas Carol, the 1935 Christmas Carol, the 1938 Christmas Carol, the 1910 Christmas Carol, Barbi's Christmas Carol, Scrooged with Bill Murray from 1988, An American Christmas Carol from 1979 with Henry Winkler, a Rankin/Bass version called The Stingiest Man in Town, an animated 1971 version and I have the very first surviving Christmas Carol film from 1901. I don't have the whole story of the 1901 version because it's been lost to time but I think it's a cool addition to my collection. I am also trying to download the 1913 and 1923 versions. That is my Christmas movie collection. I love Christmas shows.
      Grant was a holy handful the past few days. Just the other day he bit Becca so hard that he actually drew blood. She cried and screamed and ran around like she had been stabbed but even through her tears she told Grant that she still loved him. What a sweet little girl I have. Later that same evening while I was preparing Becca's new favorite food, shrimp for supper Grant got a hold of the laptop I am typing on right now. He tore off three keys and I could only replace two of them so if you happen to notice a missing letter M every now and then you will know what happened. He's all boy and so much more mischievous than Becca ever was.
      Becca's parent teacher conference was yesterday. She is doing great. She's right where she is supposed to be for her age. Ms. Dykes told me that last year Becca kind of hung back and let the stronger personalities lead but that this year since she is one of the older ones in the class she herself has developed into a strong personality in the class and she is the one to take the lead. I am proud of her in that regard. I myself have never been much of a leader and I would love it if Becca did develop into a leader type person. She also said that Becca is one of the few kids in her class that will interact with a mentally and physically handicapped child in her named Cesar. She said the other children consider Cesar a baby but Becca will talk yo him and doesn't get all out of sorts when he pulls on her clothes or even when he pulls her hair. I suppose it's because Becca has her little brother that makes her able to interact with Cesar. Ms. Dykes said that she scores high on the empathy scale as well. When someone is hurt or not feeling very good she shows true concern for them. Becca has always been a very empathetic child and I have always been so proud of her for that.
      I remember years ago in this blog I spoke of a special surprise that was coming. Things happened to throw that particular surprise out the window for a time, notably Grant being born which was a much better surprise than the one I had planned but now the original surprise is back in play and I am closer than ever. I am so excited about it. I don't want to talk about it until I am 100% sure it's going to happen but I am crossing my fingers.
      Well, Mom has the children today and I am off from work so I think I will relax and watch some television and have a lazy day. Daddy loves Rebecca & Grant!

Becca and Grant Playing with Rocking Eyore

The day after Thanksgiving 2008