Merry Christmas, the Ash Connection way

I didn't want to seem like such a scrooge after that last post, so I want to now sincerely wish you all a very merry Christmas by giving you the best e-gift I could think of — another double dose of Annacdotes. Thanks for humoring me (if, in fact, you humored me . . . instead of vowing to never read these again). 

Happy Holidays, everyone.

1. On the way home from church, Anna showed us a CTR sticker she got in Primary. When my sister asked if she knew what CTR means, Anna said, "Yeah! Choose the right." She paused and then said, "But I've been wondering . . . does that mean the right side of the body or the right things?" We laughed and then my sister asked, "What do you think?" Anna said, "The right side of my body."

(Later, when Anna wasn't around, we joked about how it would be if kids were taught that at church. "Don't ever use your left hand! Choose the right!")

2. I had to do a little maneuvering to get the car out of the driveway the other day, as someone was parked behind me, and Anna narrated our every move. "Okay, we're turning . . . now we're backin' up . . . and now we're frontin' up." Loved it.

3. 'Tis the season for night terrors, apparently. I guess they're pretty common around this age, but knowing that doesn't make the spontaneous screams much more bearable. I honestly have never heard Anna scream that way before, when she's conscious, with that much . . . terror, for lack of a better word. It's unnerving. On occasion, Anna will have a night terror and scream bloody murder, and there's pretty much no way I can actually wake her up and get her out of it. Talking to her, touching her, turning the lights on—nothing works. She's just so out of it. I usually just try to hug and comfort and sing a few songs and then she'll eventually quiet down after a couple minutes and keep on sleeping.

But with that said, I did have to smile the other night when I went into her room after hearing her yell. It seemed to be a more mild nightmare, because she was mostly just restless and grunting here and there with a grimace on her face. I noticed she had completely deblanketed herself, so when she started to calm down a little, I tried to put the blankets back on. With unconscious exasperation, she flung them off again. More grunts and grimaces. We went through this a couple of times until I finally won the blanket battle. But even as she settled in with her blankets on, she directed an especially mean grimace my way and stuck her tongue out at me. In her sleep. With her eyes still closed. It's so nice to know her attitude runs deep.

4. Another prayer excerpt: "We're thankful for our food and for whoever makes it. No matter what. Even if it's 'sparagus.'"


5. My mom was telling me and Anna the other morning about a funny dream she had that involved her two parents, who are now deceased. Anna got quite thoughtful and said, "Aw, it must have been good to see them." As we sat down to breakfast, Anna said the prayer and prayed for blessings on Grandma and Grandpa's parents. She said, "We hope they're doing well . . . up there . . . with you guys."

This is how Anna wanted to set up a shot. I happen to love it.

6. Anna was singing a song she was making up as she went along. She started to sing about being obedient and how "when Mom uses her strong voice, it doesn't mean she's being mean..." (Can you imagine this in a sing-song voice?) At this point, I said, "Hey! What are you doing singing about my strong voice?" And she said, "Mom, I'm just trying to improve my singing."

Oh. I see.

7. We had our primary program in church a while ago. On our way home, I was asking Anna about it and she vehemently said, "I'm NEVER going to THAT again!" I laughed and asked her why and she said that all the singing made her throat hurt. I tried to tell her that it was for a good cause and that they only do it once a year, but she still insisted. Never again.

Holiday side note: I also took her to see The Nutcracker, which she LOVED, but she said something similar about it. She said she was glad she wasn't one of the dancers because she would have been so tired after all of that dancing. Geez, lazy bones.

8. The other day, while sitting calmly at the table, Anna turned to my sister Stephanie and said, "Maybe today is the day Jen will turn into a goblin." (Jen is my other sister.) We got a good laugh out of that bit of randomness. And, as it turns out, that wasn't the day.

9. Things Anna's been saying lately:

In a fit of frustration: "Aw, drats!"
As a halfhearted whine: "Aw, Ma!"

When I find her after she's been hiding: "How did you recognize me?" or "How did you reveal my secret?"

10. I was showing Anna some old black and white pictures of my dad and his family when he was young. She said, "Where do they live? Kansas?" I said, "No, they lived in Idaho." I wondered why the heck she was thinking about Kansas and it took me a minute before I realized that she recently watched The Wizard of Oz, where everything in Kansas is black and white. I love her brain.

Christmas music from hell: an oxymoron?

I popped in some old Christmas music while I was driving the other day and, after I sang along with the HIGHEST version of Silent Night known to man, on came The 12 Days of Christmas. {Gag.}

It is a truth universally acknowledged that this is the worst Christmas song ever.* (Okay, so it might be tied with "Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer." But where the latter wins for tackiness, the former wins for monotonous repetition, in addition to being totally archaic.) So I knew it was going to be bad, but then I realized it was an instrumental version. Uh, come again? The changing words are the ONLY thing the world's longest and most repetitive Christmas song has going for it. I didn't think it could get any worse.

But then—but then!—I realized that it was an instrumental version by a BRASS ENSEMBLE. Only brass! I almost couldn't believe it. Different-sounding instruments are pretty much the ONLY thing instrumental versions of this blasted song have going for them, and, as I just said, that's not much. This song had little to offer in the first place, so with all that stripped away, the brass version made me want to hurl. I realized I was listening to 12 verses of pain and I couldn't stand it any longer, so I skipped to the next song. But not before I said out loud to myself, "Really? A brass version? Not the best idea, folks."

*There is one version that I can stand and maybe even like. The MoTab did an arrangement on the album "This is Christmas," where each day of Christmas is in a style from a different musical period, from Gregorian chant to John Philip Sousa. So it's kind of clever and varied enough to not make you want to poke yourself in the eye AND it's educational. Just like my Jane Austen reference up there.


And, okay. Make that two versions I can stand. Anna learned The 12 Days of Halloween in her preschool class in October, and that was just plain adorable. I can still hear her now: "And a vulture in a dead tree...yuck!" I'd even listen to this version in December.

Cookie Day 2010

Cookie Day has been a December tradition of ours for the past few years. My sister Stephanie and I instituted it as an excuse to make fancy holiday cookies and candy that we normally wouldn't make. We do it all on one day and blast Christmas music while we're baking, and it's good times. Sometimes we give the treats away, sometimes we keep some for ourselves.

Here are the results this year:

You can click on the photo to zoom in. And you can see three different reflections of me taking the picture. Merry Christmas to you.

And we have...

an Andes Mint cookie (the mint is melted inside—super delish)

Black Raspberry and Apricot Rugelach, respectively (a serbian/Jewish pastry that is completely addicting)

Raspberry Chocolate French Macaroon

Chocolate-dipped Coconut Macaroon

Pecan Goody Cup

Peanut Butter Truffle

and a homemade caramel

Does the fact that they're on a silver platter make them seem fancier? I thought so.

Here's a side view so you can get a better look.

And they're in a different order, but whatever you do, don't get confused.

So are you insanely jealous? Jealous that you haven't gained 5 pounds this week? I thought so.

Christmas Cheer & Christmas Guilt — A Sampler

CHRISTMAS FUN
The Christmas season has already been super fun this year, and I'm glad it's not over yet. Anna's first coherent Christmas was last year, I guess, so this year is extra (you could even say "super") fun in that she remembers last year and knows what to be excited for. Plus, kids = Christmas fun, I say. We've already done it up right with several batches of cookies, ornament making, Christmas card making, stories by the Christmas tree, daily trips to the advent calendar, and present making—all to the tune of lots of Christmas music.

THE S.C.
And it seems like almost everyone (every parent, at least) has their own beef or belief about the Santa Claus issue. I've never felt super strongly about promoting his story as a parent, mostly because I don't ever remember believing in him. (I think this is due to the fact that I had seven older siblings.) So I knew I'd never be Santa crazy, but I still think there's some fun in his story. I do try to downplay his involvement (Santa will be bringing Anna one present this year, for instance, and all the rest of us will get the credit for the other presents), we honestly don't talk about him all that much, and I don't use him as a threat to get good behavior. But he provides a little more magic for the season. Best of all, I think he's a great metaphor for the real reason for Christmas, the one who really gives gifts to all the world.

CHRISTMASES OF YORE

In trying to create some Christmas fun for Anna, I've thought a lot about what made my childhood Christmases so special and what I would like Anna's to be like. The Christmases I remember the most are the ones where we did some service as a family, like shopping for, wrapping, and delivering presents and Christmas dinner for a nearby family in need. That particular memory is so vivid and it was probably 20-ish years ago. My parents were pretty great at creating these opportunities for us to serve.

...AND BRING ON THE CHRISTMAS GUILT

And, to be honest, I still remember the Christmas where I went to my mom and complained that I didn't feel like I had gotten very many presents (I'm pretty sure this was just after I had opened a ton, including a green unicorn sweatshirt). What a brat. I'm so ashamed. But back to all the warmhearted service...

So I wanted to start a tradition like this with Anna this year. Some people in my neighborhood were organizing a service project where we could buy a toy and a hat and gloves for a Navajo child, so I signed us up and took Anna shopping. I don't think she really understood what I told her about some people not being able to afford certain things, but when I told her we were shopping for a 3-year-old girl, she got excited that that was almost just like her. (Small steps, small steps.) She eagerly ran around the toy department, looking for things she thought this little girl would love, and helped me wrap the presents and make them pretty so the little girl would like them. And Anna did understand the part about how we have so many blessings and that we can afford to help someone who needs it because that's what Jesus would do and what he wants us to do.

After we delivered the presents, I'll sheepishly admit that I was proud of myself for doing some service, no matter how small, and that I had provided this experience for Anna. I started to think about how Christmas is such a wonderful time of year, when people really reach out and give to others, when I stopped in my tracks. Why am I only doing this now? Why do I have to wait for December to roll around before I turn on the kindness and giving? That's so hypocritical.

AND A LITTLE MORE CHEER

So I felt guilty. But I assuaged these feelings by thinking that, if nothing else, at least people are reminded to love and take care of each other for a whole month out of the year. 30+ days of that isn't too bad. And hopefully, it's just a jump start to changing our attitudes toward each other and not a fleeting, once-a-year charity drive. Here's to that and a merry Christmas.

It really can be summertime all year long

So I recently read the book Their Eyes Were Watching God. It was pretty great, I must say. I read some short stories by Zora Neale Hurston in high school and college and really liked her writing—and I'm pretty sure I wrote at least one paper about her, although I don't remember what it was about—but I had never read one of her novels until now. It was an engaging story and thoughtfully written. It went onto my list of favorites (which, to be honest, is undeniably pretty long).

But anywho, that's not really what this post is about. I wrote down two quotes I really liked from the book and wanted to share.

The first is a little bit of fun:

"It happened over one of those dinners that chasten all women sometimes. They plan and they fix and they do, and then some kitchen-dwelling fiend slips a scorchy, soggy, tasteless mess into their pots and pans."

Isn't that the truth? Has this happened to you? It's happened to me.

And the next quote offers more explanation for the reasoning behind Anna's middle name. I loved it. This is the main character explaining why she loves her husband.

"He kin take most any lil thing and make summertime out of it when times is dull. Then we lives offa dat happiness he made till some mo' happiness come along."

I also think that this quote totally applies to Anna's personality, so props to her parents for coming up with such an appropriate middle name. I mean, you can tell from only this picture that I'm telling the truth, right?

(And let's talk about where my photography skills came from—out of nowhere, I tell you. My skills are usually nothing to write home about, but this picture is almost magical. Her delightfulness was captured so well, I think.)

Okay, enough patting myself on the back for having a cute kid and one good picture to speak of. I'll be done now. For today.