Macy's Santaland

That sign in Macy's just made me laugh because if seeing Santa was ever a HUGE production, it was at Macy's. I'm not saying that's a bad thing, ah contraire, Santaland is magnificent and magical and totally over-the-top amazing, but compared to all of the other Santa's we've seen it was definitely a production.    

 

The lines are long, especially if you're like us and go the Saturday before Christmas (but show up about an hour later than expected because everyone is just a little bit grumpy that morning). But even a long line doesn't take that long. We waited for 45 minutes, which in NYC is like a piece of chocolate cheesecake.

Being here brought back a sleigh full of memories. While waiting in line I told the boys all about the last time I brought them here--Talmage was not yet two, Everett was still in my tummy and I was so morning sick we barely made it. I have a picture of Talmage in front of that sign from our last visit, wow he's gotten HUGE, huh?

We purposely went on a Saturday so James could enjoy the magic with us. We're always glad when Daddy can come along for a city adventure.

So, with every other Santa Talmage had said that he would be happy with whatever he was given. Cute, right? Well, starting with the Plaza Santa and continuing to the Macy's Santa he decided what he wanted...and he was not backing down. What does he want Santa to bring him more than anything else? A jack-in-the-box. Right... Good thing that the Macy's Santa lives in Macy's...which btw has almost every toy in the universe ;)

Thanks Macy's for another fun year at Santaland! And that now officially completes our Santa tour!

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Chelsea Market and the Plaza's Santa

I desperately wanted to go see an art exhibit in Chelsea. It was my third time trying to see it, and unfortunately my third fail. Going to an art exhibit with kids is one thing, but being told you're going to have to wait somewhere between two and four hours to even enter the exhibit, I know my kids well enough to know that we would be one big, fat word: miserable. So...since we were already in Chelsea and I had promised the boys some cool art we headed to the Chelsea Market, where the whole building is an insanely-awesome work of art!

My little friend Everett batted his eyelashes and the woman at the gelato counter gave both boys free ice cream. It pays to be cute sometimes!

Talmage knows how to read now, have I mentioned that lately? It's really just adorable to hear real words and sentences come out of his mouth, and sometimes I catch myself smiling from the other room when I hear him working through a book. I love books myself and couldn't be happier that my boys feel the same way. We sat in this cute bookshop reading for hours, the boys nestled comfy cozy in the wall.

Chelsea Market had a paper tree that was just lovely. We've seen our fair share of Christmas trees in the city the last month, and I loved how simple and original this one was. Now, let's talk about how grumpy I am that Talmage taught Everett (who I can always count on for a smile) to make this crazy face during pictures. Is this what being a mother to boys is all about?

Our wiggles weren't exactly all out so we decided to pop into the Plaza and meet their Santa. I must say, our Plaza Santa experience was by far the easiest, and whoa that Santa was sweet. There was no line, everyone was kind and it was just simple and beautiful. Not that I'm surprised coming from the Plaza hotel, but it was seriously a class act.

My favorite part of this Santa experience was hearing Santa and T's conversation at the end.

Santa: Can you do me a big favor?

T: Uh-huh.

Santa: I'm going to be hungry on Christmas Eve from delivering toys to everyone, so can you leave some cookies and milk under the tree for me?

T, eyes super wide: Uh-huh. Yeah. I'll do that for you, Santa.

Everyday since he's been reminding me about leaving cookies for Santa, and it's just the sweetest thing.

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Just pretend it has a stamp on it!

I had every intention of sending out Christmas cards this year. But then December just kind of happened and it was too late, which makes me sad. So, here it is: what my Christmas card might have looked like had you gotten it all postmarked and everything. It probably would have looked absolutely nothing like that to tell you the truth, but I kind of fell in love with decorating that cute little evergreen and it was all over from there. Now that I think about it, that tree might just take all the attention away from our family picture...but heck, I can share my space with a tree.

Anyway, were I to have sent you a Christmas card this year, it probably would have included these highlights:

Everett

"Had a Ball" at his 2nd birthday party surrounded by family

Moved out of California and had his first airplane trip in one swoop

Went on a special father/son trip to Chicago to meet his great-grandmother, Mum

In his words: "Wook Mom, I big. I grow uped!" That pretty much sums up his year!

But one more cute quotable:

Me: You want to be a doctor when you grow up?

Ev: Yeah. I be a big doctah. I be Doctah Seuss.

Talmage

Spent the 1st half of the year obsessed with CalTrain, and the 2nd half obsessed with the Subway

Mourned hard core about leaving Stanford, but quickly fell in love with Central Park

Taught himself to read, loves to do math, and asks more questions than any kid you know!

Gave his first talk in primary (written himself, completely memorized and delivered beautifully!) and afterwards we had this conversation:

Me: How did it feel to give your first talk?

T: I cried.

Me: Why did you cry?

T: Because I'm just so proud of myself!

We are obviously proud of him as well!

Heather

Ran her first, and possibly last, 1/2 marathon!

Found a fabulous apartment in the perfect part of town and successfully set up shop for our family's newest New York adventure

Fulfilled a lifelong dream by seeing the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in person (with front row seats thanks to the best husband ever!)
Fills her time teaching T's co-op preschool, adding celebrities to her "ha! I've seen 'em!" list, doing just about every free and child-friendly thing in the city, writing to stay sane and being truly, truly grateful for her blessings

 

James

Participated in the first ever Religious Liberty Clinic at Stanford (and was quoted in the NYT to boot)

Graduated from Stanford Law School

Passed the California State Bar--woot! woot!

Began his clerkship at the Court of International Trade in NYC and is loving federal employee hours!

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'Twas the Sunday before Christmas

'Twas the Sunday before Christmas and I made them wear sweaters,

they also wore ties so they could look even better.

I wore a sparkly belt and James wore a suit,

and we took a picture by our lobby Christmas tree to boot.

It was a beautiful day with California weather,

which made me less bitter that our family's not together.

But from us in New York, to all you on the west,

Merry Sunday before Christmas and we think you're the best!!!



 

T in his bow tie--we've gotten mad mileage out of J and M's wedding tie!

Ever almost never let's me down in the smile department. I kind of want to eat this kid! 

Be still my Sunday before Christmas heart! There is only one word to describe how I feel when I look at this picture of my two beautiful boys: blessed.

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The weather outside is certainly frightful.

My boys were itching to play in the snow after {read: during} our first blizzard of the season. They kind of thought it was the best day of their lives; or shall we say, best 10 minutes of their lives before they were frozen solid and hysterical. What can I say, we have California blood! But those 10 minutes, gosh they were fun. And so was the hot chocolate that followed.

 

Ever wanted to be cuddled and followed me around looking ridiculously adorable:

Talmage meant war! He is somehow already a professional snow-baller:

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His bomber hat

He flies jets and scrubs toilets, sometimes at the same time.
I'm raising a very talented little man.

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Botanical Garden Trains

For years I have heard the greatest reviews of the Bronx Botanical Garden's Holiday Train Show, but tickets are a little bit outrageous so I've not allowed myself to truly dream of how great it would be to visit the exhibit with my boys. BUT...since God is seriously looking out for me (and I mean that truly, honestly, and from the bottom of my heart) we were given four tickets for free to see the exhibit right after our church's Christmas party last Saturday. One minute we were heading home for naps, and the next we were hopping on Metro North for a super adventure. James and the boys were excited, but I was giddy central!

 



The exhibit features New York buildings and landmarks, hand-constructed from organic materials. But of course, my boys just wanted to watch the trains (and throw rocks, but that was not in Mama's playing cards today much to Evie's chagrin). There were butterfly trains and vintage trains, but does it shock anyone that Thomas was still the fan favorite? He looked so cute in a Santa hat!

You should have heard the laughs from everyone around us when the boys made this face at my request for a smile. Oh, boys. I guess it serves me right for trying to get a picture when there were trains to be watched.

This was a little better. I think. Maybe? They really are cute little kids, whether they smile in my pictures or not!

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