Babes in Toyland....and Candyland

No reason to pout or to cry here at our house this week. Luke just happened to intercept the UPS man with a very special Christmas present from his Aunt Holly and Uncle David yesterday: a handmade, wooden Marble Track. And as nice as it is, it's really even more special because it was made by the Rothenberger boys in the the family wood working and furniture making business up in PA. We are so pleased to have such an heirloom gift for Luke to enjoy. He hasn't quit playing with it yet and tried to take the large wooden "marbles" to bed with him last night.

Luke and I also had some nice Christmas visits today; we went to lunch with a friend at a tea room and then had more friends over to make cookies and decorate gingerbread houses. We made miniature homes and Luke certainly had fun sampling all the trimmings----I see visions of sugar plums turning to tummy aches later on.

We'll be heading to NC soon and then on to GA for more visits with family. We hope all of you have a blessed and Merry Christmas whereever you may celebrate. Noel!

Holiday Express

We took Luke to see the Holiday Express displays at the UT Univerity Gardens this past Saturday. With more than 100 model buildings and 10+ trains running, it was a little boy's Christmas dream. The bigger boys, Ben included, were pretty smitten with the collection, too. Two engineers ran all the trains in concert with twinkling lights, a waterfall feature, and Christmas music. Ben's favorite train was the Pennsylvania passenger train, while look prefered the green Southren engine---he said he was going to drive that one when he grew up. The collection was entirely owned by one of the engineers, who built nearly all the structures and builidings himself. He said it had taken him nearly 25 years to collect and build it all. He had unique trains with fish-tank cars (quite a ride for little goldfish), a miniature carnival with ferris wheel and teacup rides, and a working sawmill. The attention to detail was amazing and none of it was wasted on all the starry-eyed children and families who attended. Enjoy the photos!

For more info, visit http://www.utk.edu/tntoday/2008/11/14/Climb-Aboard-the-Holiday-Express-at-UT-Gardens/

Christmas Rocks!

It was a dreary, rainy night in Knoxville, but it was warm with the Christmas spirit and rockabilly beats at the Tennessee Theater Tuesday night. For Ben's birthday, Luke and I gave him tickets to the Brian Setzer Orchestra's Christmas Rocks Extravaganza! Now that's a mouthful, but it lived up to the wordy title and then some. We felt like delinquent parents taking a little guy to such a late show, but 'tis the season for special events and getting to stay up late for some holiday fun. They had a great blues act from Chicago open the evening and Luke was shakin' it in the third row! We had great seats--so close we could make eye contact with the performers and best of all, catch Santa's attention when he made a surprise cameo during one set. The Knoxville concert was filmed for a Christmas Eve program for Billboard.com, so maybe you'll be able to see the show, too. Meanwhile, if you are looking for some fun, up-tempo Christmas music to round out your playlists this year, check out BSO---they won't dissappoint!

Deck the Halls

After rearranging the furniture and making a place for the Christmas tree, it was time to start decking those halls with boughs of holly...and pine, juniper, etc. I was pleased to find ample evergreens and berries right in our own backyard to make wreaths and garlands for the house and to spruce up the faux ones still in rotation.

We have a smaller, tabletop tree again this year but it's full of childhood classic ornanaments and even a red-and-white paper chain garland. It's not our usual tree, but it's just right for a wide-eyed little boy with Santa on his mind. Luke has been pouring over his toy catalogs but is also making some connections that this is Jesus' birthday coming up and that is why we really celebrate. The mixed messages are everywhere, but we all keep muddling through them. I have even found myself resorting to the terrible cliche of "Luke, you know Santa is watching you...." when he's starting to act up or feeling uninclined to listen to me. So yes, you know the holiday season is full upon us.

I suppose I already had one of my big Christmas wishes granted when we awoke to about an inch of heavy, wet, wonderfully white snow last Saturday morning. It covered all the trees and houses beautifully and drew even the older children out early on a weekend morning for a quick snowball fight before the sun melted their fun away. Luke and Ben got in on the action, landing a few good shots on the neighbor girl and her brother, and then we went out for doughnuts in our PJs and boots----a pretty wonderful morning whether you are two or twenty-something. I'd love to see some more snow this holiday, but if I don't we at least had a great start to the Christmas season with snow in the first week of December.