Looking forward to Christmas

We got groceries today (much needed... the cupboard was getting pretty bare!) The kids have been doing SOOOOOO great in stores! They each hold the cart all the way through the store, and never beg, throw fits, etc. They are just happy to be there and are excited to see the cart fill up with food that they know will eventually go into their tummies. They LOVE grocery shopping.

Then we went to a home-improvement store to get a few household fix-it things. They actually are starting to put up Christmas stuff, so I had a BLAST showing the kids the decorations. They had trees up and lit and lots of other Christmas do-dads all over the place. They had scenes that lit up with music and moveable parts. One of them was smaller, more like a music-box-like thingie, and it had Santa's sleigh flying over the sky. I overheard Adam tell Liana (very authoritatively) that it was an "angel." Um, Nuh-uh. Never heard Santa confused for an angel before. It was soooo fun to see the kids' excitement over all the pretty things. I can hardly wait until Christmas. It will definitely be a modest one with John's layoff, but I think even just the decorations will make our first Christmas together very, very memorable and fun, and decorations I have a BUNCH of! Can't wait, can't wait, can't wait!!! And the kids should be speaking lots of English by then!! Yay!!!

It is going to be bittersweet though. Christmas was my mom's absolute favorite time of the year, and with this being our kids' first Christmas home, well, it just kind of stinks that Mom never got to meet our kids, and never got to crochet them their Christmas bears like she did for the rest of the grandchildren, etc., etc. I just really miss her. She and Aleksa are SOOOOO much alike. (btw, Shar, you have no idea how much I thought of Mom yesterday when Aleksa was frosting those cookies, so your comment on the pictures freaked me out!) Mom didn't much care of the mess she made as long as she was having fun and so was everyone else. Sugar-sticky-slime never would have bothered her, just as it never phased Aleksa. Mom never noticed the butter on her fingers or the spaghetti sauce on her dress, and neither does Aleksa. They both have/had a simple way about them that make/made them so endearing and funny. Both blondies to the max (and Mom's hair was not blonde, so if you could get my drift.... ) Even some of their facial expressions are the same. They're both even built somewhat the same. Of course, I didn't think any of that when I first met Aleksa, but the more I've gotten to know her, the more she reminds me of Mom. (I hope I don't sound disrespectful of her... I loved her to pieces, but boy, did she have her quirks. Not sure how she raised such a brood of perfectionists! She always wondered that too!)

John is layed off again for next week. Not sure what the future is going to hold for us. Glad it isn't my job to worry about it.