Basking in the Glow

One of the best things about Christmas is the two days after, when you get to hang around in your pajamas all day and play with all your new toys!  That's what all three of us have been doing the last couple of days.  We had a great Christmas, getting to see all our family and friends, and sharing the excitement with Elliot, but it sure feels good to indulge in doing nothing.  Maybe I'll make it outside today to prune the roses, but  I don't know for sure.  Might need to take a nap or two, or lounge around the house a little longer... there's a lot of lounging to be done.  I have been drawing with my new colored pencils, Elliot has been playing his computer, which is actually an educational video-game of sorts, and watching new movies, and Erik has been playing guitar with his new blues-driver guitar pedal.  He has big plans today - off to spend a gift certificate at Harbor Freight, the cheapest tool store ever.  What a nice little vacation we are having.  Ahhh! Here are some Christmas pictures:

My dad spent hours setting up our old, super-fragile electric train around the Christmas tree so Elliot could watch it go around when we got there.  So precious getting to share that with him.  He ended up getting an electric train of his very own from Mary and Bill - a bigger one that's not so fragile, which was very exciting for him.
My sister enjoying the train with Elliot - she looks so much like our mom in this picture!
Had to throw in this great shot of the dogs.  I think Erin took this one.
Later that day, we went to Gary and Leslie's house (Nana and Papa), and visited with all our friends, which are really more like family.  Here's Annie and Beau, and their little elf, Dustin.
Christmas morning, Elliot was so thrilled that Santa had filled up his stocking, or "Boon-stock", as he likes to call it, and left him some presents.
Grandpa Timo, Auntie Erin, and Grandma and Grandpa came over for Christmas brunch, and to give Elliot his presents.  We got a little jam session going on with Erik and my dad.  Erin and I think it's the first time we've ever heard our dad play a "trap set", rather than hand drums, parade drums, and the like.

Elliot was having my dad and sister bury him in tissue paper, and then popping out to scare everyone.  It was pretty fun for all.  Then we finished off the night at Mary and Bill's house, where Elliot got his big train, but I must have left my camera at home, because I sadly don't have any pictures of it.  Erik and I ended the evening at home with a sigh of happy relief and a nice drop of chocolate flavored port.  Thus ended a very merry Nappier Christmas.

Reindeer Games

Many of you may have thought that you knew the words to the popular Christmas tune, "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer".  Elliot has his own version of it:

"Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer

Letty letty slimy mose

(a long pause for the rest of the song to go by in his brain)

.....  stor eeeeeeeee!  Ho, ho, ho!"

There it is!  Then he claps for himself at the end, and does the whole thing again.  Shorter, and also more interesting than the original, I would have to say.  I'm pretty sure we have a rock-star in the making here.

Quote of the Week

Not that I'm going to start doing a quote of the week or anything, but I just had to share something funny that Elliot said.  

As we were driving around Christmas shopping with my sister the other day, he said, "Remember what Santa says?"  I said, "Does Santa say, 'Ho, ho, ho, merry Christmas!'?"  Elliot said, "Remember Santa says, 'Hey, check out my jingle bells!'"  

We started laughing, having no idea where he got that particular statement.  He explained further by saying that reindeers love jingle bells on their leashes.  Oh, well that makes sense then.  :)  Now Erik has him doing it with a somewhat gangster-ish hand motion, which is funny, but I still like the original best.  

Okay, one other kind of funny thing.  We went to Panera for lunch the other day, and as we were leaving, he walked by this young girl sitting at a table and totally ran his hand up her leg.  I mean, all the way up to the inner thigh area.  And he wasn't even paying attention to what he was doing.  She might as well have been a picket fence that he was running a stick across as he walked by.  I apologized to her, and she seemed not to really care, but we thought it was kind of funny in a shocking way.  As Erik said, "Very few guys could get away with something like that!"  ;)

A Long Winter's Nap

That's what I feel like I'm ready for now that all the crafting flurry has slowed down.  But what it's time to do instead is shop till I drop, since up until this week I had basically not purchased any gifts.  This isn't like me.  The last few years I have had everything done by the time December came, but now I have to deal with the bustle.  Oh well.  It makes it all seem okay when you can come home and put on Christmas music, turn on the lights on the tree and light a fire in the fireplace.  Since you haven't heard about what's going on with the family for a little while, I will fill you in.  

Here is our son sitting on Santa's lap for the first time! I said to him, "You might want to tell Santa what you want him to bring you for Christmas." His response... holding up a crooked finger, making himself shake, and telling Mrs. Claus, "I'm turning into a giant bunny!" That's why she's laughing in the picture. Elliot is really cute... he just got a much needed haircut, and I decided to go on the short side so I wouldn't have to cut it again for a while.  It's sort of a modern rockstar look, which looks especially cool with food or paint rubbed into it, which is his favorite new thing to do.  I guess I should be quicker with the napkins, because if he doesn't have one, he just uses the hair.  Ironically, if you try to get something out of his hair, he gets mad at you for "messing it up". Here he is with the "red caboose" he made just for me. He made it all by himself balancing on those wheels!  

He likes to be my big helper now.  We made Funfetti Holiday cupcakes the other night for no particular reason, and he loved mixing and being a chef.  He's also been helping me put the clothes in the dryer, clearing his dishes, and holding the ribbon with his finger when we wrap presents.  Now we just need to work on picking up toys!

He's still into pretending, making fart noises, taking long baths (multiple times a day if we allow it), and building things.  One of the cute things he says now is, "Mom, sometimes boys like to --------------", fill in the blank.  Usually it's something he wants at that moment, like, "Sometimes boys just like to have a candy with their cheerlios."  He makes us laugh every day, and we are really looking forward to sharing Christmas with him together again this year.  And last but not least... well, kind of least, but you know what I mean:  Christmas dogs, and Christmas ducks!

One More Event....

So, we had a great time at holiday in the plaza!  Although we didn't make tons of money, we did make lots of sales, and lots of connections.  We talked with a couple of buyers that were really interested in selling our stuff in their stores.  That was exciting.  And it's so great and affirming to meet customers who love and connect with our stuff.  Hearing comments all day like, "This is the cutest blanket I've ever seen in my life", "This is by far the cutest thing in the whole show", "Of all the vendors here, this is what I really connect with", "Pretty soon I'll be seeing you guys in the magazines!"..... I can't help but feel like it was all worth it.  All the work and love we put into it, and all the excitement we have about it is not in vain when we get to share it with people who love it equally as much.  And it let's me know that I wasn't crazy for getting into this thing... this craft fair adventure.... just brave.  Our last show is coming up at Winter Wonderland in Atascadero, which will be quite an event!  Five snow areas, pony rides, bounce houses, fire engine rides, iceskating, train rides, BBQ, and vendors will make this Friday a night to remember! Come support your local crafters if you get the chance.  It will be worth the drive!  Come to the sunken gardens from 5-9pm this Friday!

Come and See for Yourself

If you have been following my blog, you have seen and heard lots about crafting and AMEN, and the love of creativity.  So, for those of you who are local, come out and support us, and other crafters this weekend, and see what the buzz is all about!