*there's a cutie

The Diannas

*there's an upcoming first

It won't be Will's first Christmas, but it will be his first Christmas at home. Although he is still a little young to really "get" how much fun Christmas can be, we are looking forward to it. I loved picking out our card last year, because it doubled as his birth announcement. But this year I wasn't finding anything I really liked.

I will admit, I found out about the prize of 50 free holiday cards from Shutterfly for bloggers before I looked at their cards. But I think it was meant to be. Cards, stationery, and correspondence in general are some of my favorite things so I'm very picky. But I really liked so many of these! My only Shutterfly experiences have been from the cards we get every year from family and friends as well as these photo books I've been hoping to give as gifts. I was waiting until we had some really good photos to use. And luckily we got some this week! I'll reveal some of them soon. I know people that use Shutterfly every year for their cards and they are always some of my favorites.

Some of this year's cutest Christmas card designs.

This one has my granddaddy's favorite red bird.

This one is honestly not my style but I think it is pretty. 

SOMEONE should have it!

This one has the classic initial.

 

 

And lastly, this one has the gift theme we used last year.

I didn't include the one I plan to use. You'll have to be surprised!

This is also a good site to use for gifts. They have photo albums, desk calendars, photo mugs, and birthday cards.

*there's books

I know a little girl that loves books. She loves them so much that she asks to be read to in the middle of a party. That party was Will's birthday party, which doesn't speak well of our ability to entertain, but it makes for a sweet story about a book lover.

Will already has an awesome collection of children's books and he loves to look at them. Thanks so much to everyone that gave them to him as baby and birthday gifts. He also gets a book in the mail every month until he is 5 years old from Books from Birth. For that reason I try not to buy him too many. But they are one of my favorite things to shop for. Since I can't get them all I did want to keep a record here of ones I hope to read with him in the future.

The Boy Who Changed the World
The Little House or any of the Caldecott winners
anything by Shel Silverstein, Eric Carle, Kevin Henkes, Todd Parr

Some new discoveries:
Beautiful Oops
Give Me Grace
God Gave Us You
The Art Book for Kids 1 and 2 
Count on Us: A Tennessee Number Book
V is for Volunteer: A Tennessee Alphabet
K is for Keystone: A Pennsylvania Alphabet

Some for me to read:
I Love Dirt!
First Art: Art Experiences for Toddlers and Twos
How Children Learn
The Creative Family
Creative Play for Your Toddler

Some classics:
Danny the Dinosaur
Harry the Dirty Dog
Corduroy
The Giant Jam Sandwich
Harold and the Purple Crayon
the Mr. Men and Little Miss collection (So far we've read Mr. Perfect.)

and just to make sure we don't miss something:
1001 Children's Books You Must Read Before You Grow Up

With the upcoming holidays in mind, I took Will to our nearest bookstore to spend a gift card with intentions of getting The Elf on the Shelf. As I looked through it I realized he will appreciate it much more when he is a little older so I decided to save that one for the future. My back-up was Olive, the Other Reindeer (which is a Christmas book about a dog with an identity crisis - who doesn't want to read about that?) but I couldn't find that one. As I looked around for something else I noticed that book titles have changed recently. I'm usually all for any tactic it takes to get people to read and I understand that books need to evolve with the times. I don't care if the book is about something silly because at least its reading. So maybe A Pirate's Night Before Christmas* (see below) is just what today's kids need. But I'm close to drawing the line at Dick and Jane and the Vampires.

I can't decide if I think the cover is horrible or hilarious. He is scary and they are smiling. The whole thing is just odd. But Dick and Jane taught me how to read so if it helps a kid that likes vampires learn to read then who am I to object?

We ended up leaving with this one:

*or one of these:
Texas Night Before Christmas 
Dinosaur's Night Before Christmas
Hillbilly Night Before Christmas
An Irish Night Before Christmas
Cowboy Night Before Christmas
Nurse's Night Before Christmas
Racecar Driver's Night Before Christmas

*there's the party

Pictures from the party!

 They are narrated with yet another poem,
but I promise its the last one for awhile.

 

  What unsuspecting miracle
Has passed through his first year?

 

Has circled round the smiling sun

To sit before us here?

 

What angel changeling changed our lives

Since he arrived from heaven,

 

Bringing home the ballyhoo

That rounds the gates of Eden?

What bright eternal soul have we

Since taken into time?

Have welcomed weeks and days

Still stunned by the sublime?

What love has love brought to this world?

What joy has pleasure wrought?

For this, our celebration, sings

Of far more than we sought.

Unknown

 

More party sights:

*Happy Birthday Will!

The happy boy at his party on Saturday!

 
In researching birthday traditions, I found some really great advice: before picking one be sure it is something that can easily be recreated if you are away from home or if someone isn't feeling well. I thought that was a good plan so I decided against big projects.

The Waldorf tradition of education is something I know very little about. I know that it has origins in Europe, I know that it is considered an alternative style of teaching, I know that it shares a name with a hotel and a fruit salad, and I know that if you do internet searches for ideas of birthday traditions you will find Waldorf mentioned over and over. I found things like birthday rings, crowns, and forts with canopies. The one I picked is not only the easiest, but I also think it's the sweetest.

The birthday story below was customized for Will and the plan is to read this to him every year. The tradition of hearing the same thing every year reminds me of the movie City Slickers. Billy Crystal's character Mitch wakes up on the morning of his birthday to a phone call from his mother who tells him about the day he was born...he remembers it word for word and silently recites it along with her. He also makes the comment, "Well, at least she said my birthday in years. Usually she uses months like I'm still an infant. 'How's Mitch?' 'Oh, good! He's 468 months today.'" Announcing his age in months all his life is an equally easy tradition and one that is likely to annoy Will at some point. Sounds good to me! :)

Will's Birth Day story

High in the heavens in a place that many angels call home, there once lived a little angel with a smiling face who liked to sing and laugh and dance and play. He was very happy there. One lovely day the clouds in heaven parted and this little angel saw the beautiful green earth below with all the people happily playing and working and he suddenly longed to go there and see what it was like. He saw all the colors of the earth, he saw butterflies visiting flowers, and birds flying in the air. They seemed to be beckoning him. He saw fish swimming in the sea and all the different plants that covered the earth. He saw children climbing trees, running and jumping in the meadows and walking through sand and leaves. It was all so beautiful.

So he said to his guardian angel, "Please, may I go there?" But his angel looked at him and said, "No, it is too soon. You must wait a while yet." So the little angel went and was happy and soon forgot about the earth. Then one day he saw a glimpse of the earth through the clouds again. He saw mothers and fathers doing their work. He saw bakers and engineers and writers and farmers. He saw parents loving their children. Then he saw a man and woman with love and longing in their hearts for a child and he asked his angel, "May I go to earth now? I think they should be my parents." The guardian angel said, "You must go through the land of dreams first."

The next night the little angel had a dream. He dreamed that he met the man and the woman and they stretched out their arms to him. In the dream the little angel asked if he could be their child and they said "Yes". The little angel told his guardian angel the dream and asked "May I go now?". The guardian angel said, "Yes, it is your time. You may go and share your joy and purpose with all the world".

With help from heaven, the little angel began the journey to earth. He needed to go around the clouds, through the sky, and over a rainbow bridge to meet his parents. But first he needed to visit the house of the sun, the moon, and the stars. In the house of the sun the angel received the gift of courage and it was placed under his heart. At the house of the moon he received the gift of wisdom and it was placed under each of the soles of his feet. Then he went to the house of the stars. There he received the gift of the twinkle in his eyes so that he would always reflect the humor in life.

Since he had the guidance of wisdom from heaven, the angel was able to make the journey to the rainbow bridge much more quickly and easily than expected. On a cool day in the fall, the man and woman learned that the angel was on his way to the earth. When the time was exactly right, the angel handed his wings to his guardian angel who said, "I will hold these for you until you come back". Just after saying goodbye, the little angel crossed the rainbow bridge and came to meet the man and woman he had seen from that cloud in heaven and in his dream. Now made parents by the arrival of the angel, the mother and father smiled brightly as they welcomed him with grateful hearts and gentle arms and said "His name shall be Will", for this was the name the guardian angel had whispered to them in their dreams. And so the little angel received his first gift on the earth, the gift of his name.

Everyone in Will's caring tribe laughed and cried with happiness when he arrived. Everyone was so excited and made plans for helping Will with his new life on earth, for there are many more gifts to receive and he would need help.

When Will's parents brought him to his new home on earth they helped him grow big and strong. His hands and feet started out no bigger than some of the leaves falling from the trees. He had hair on his head that changed and grew and made everyone marvel. He liked to laugh and play. This was the beginning of him sharing his joy and purpose with the earth.

As the months passed Will grew bigger and stronger. His cheeks grew round and his personality shone more and more each day. He loved his mother Jody and father Chris very much and this family was surrounded with the love of their tribe. Over the course of Will's first year, he met the other members of his earthly family. With each introduction, Will grew in the knowledge that he would be well taken care of on earth.

As the summer sun faded the air grew colder and the leaves fell from the trees again. It became time to celebrate the anniversary of the day that Will had crossed the rainbow bridge. Today his earthly tribe celebrates again, just like they did his first day on earth. In heaven one candle is being lit by a special gathering just for the occasion. In this gathering the following can be found: family members that have yet to cross the rainbow bridge, those that have already returned and retrieved their wings from their guardian angels and Will's guardian angel. Quietly they watch and listen from the clouds, while his earthly family sings a special song. For today, Will is one year old.

One!

*there's ONE more day

When I have said my evening prayer,

And my clothes are folded on the chair,

And mother switches off the light,

I'll still be 11 months old tonight.

But from the very break of day,

Before the children rise and play,

Before the darkness turns to gold,

Tomorrow, I'll be one year old.

One kiss when I wake,

One candle on my cake.


Anonymous

*Happy Halloween!

 

 

Wearing scrubs makes one hungry for socks.