Christmas Lights, Sleepless Nights and Sister Fights

picture of Tams and me from Meli Mac's visit last week. Once again I reap the benefits of having such a talented Melzar in my life!

In a burst of holiday joy last week, I convinced the Vaf that we NEEDED to take the girls to see Starry Nights. After all, I read online about a baby who went and loved it, and I always loved it -- so it just seemed like the right thing to do. So on Wednesday night, we loaded the girls up and headed out for what was intended to be a fun-filled adventure, complete with Uncle Alex, who is in town for Christmas break!

ALAS. From start to finish, the entire ordeal took approximately two hours, because the lines were so long. The girls may have patience for lots of things... although nothing comes to mind right now :) ... but they sure do NOT have much patience for sitting still in the car for long swaths of time. Throughout the whole episode, I kept trying to encourage Chris that surely, SURELY, the line would soon start moving faster. "Once we get off this main road and turn into the actual Starry Nights, it will be fine." Nope. "Once we get past the Party Dogs stand, everything will start moving." Nope. (And yes, we thought it was hilarious that they were selling Party Dogs... because when you think of Christmas lights, isn't that naturally the first thing you think of eating? No? And what is it about the dogs that makes them partylike specifically?) "Once we get into the main light part, it will move. I mean, who sits and gawks at the same light display for like ever?" Apparently Memphians do, that's who. So the girls got to bed WAY later than they should, which messed up their schedule to the point where they thought morning had come at 4:30 a.m. Which technically, I guess it had, but not really. The rest of the night was hit or miss after that, and lately once I'm awake, I'm awake for the long haul. So Thursday morning started out quite ominously.

By 11 a.m., I was calling the Vaf in a panic. "They're not eating well, they're not sleeping well, I'm exhausted, everything's BAD today!!!" And then he received the good news from his boss that everyone in his department was going to lunch at Texas de Brazil and then being dismissed early! Of course by the time he got home, all of us had gotten a second wind, and the rest of the day turned out surprisingly very well! It was a Christmas miracle, y'all.

So the moral of this story is that Starry Nights, while always a wonderful choice for the older set, is just not the best of ideas for little ones who don't like to sit still for very long and who have bedtimes that need to be rather strictly observed. Instead, taking them around town to see light displays at homes is a MUCH better choice, and one you can opt out of once the inevitable fussiness ensues. T and E's favorites so far are these and these. They just get so excited listening to the music and watching everything light up, and they point at all kinds of things and giggle. It's fabulous. Plus, when they let us know they've been sitting still too long, we give them their pacis and head home for the night.

Last weekend Carissa and I hit up the old Wolfchase, and I came home with this ornament for Evangelyn, ...

this ornament for Tamsie Pearl, ...

... and this ornament for both of them. Next year these will go on their own special tree, I think! Or maybe the year after next -- whenever they quit thinking that everything is delightful to chew on. (By the way, the peppermint in the background is a throwback to the '03 Tri Chi Candy show in Tunes. Mom gave it to me that year, and it always gets that "pep-per-mint" song stuck in my head!) (And of course the Pink Palace is representing too!)

Tamsie apparently can't play with one baby without finding the other and saying "Baby! Baby!" the whole time. Amy Grant would be so proud. As soon as T picks up one baby, she goes on a mission to find the other one. I guess in her mind babies just come in sets of two.

Eating Elmo-shaped organic Spaghetti-O's (yes, apparently I'm THAT mom), being served by none other than Uncle Alex, with their daddy looking on. This was leading up to that fateful trip to Starry Nights.

Found in the cover of one of my old Christmas books I read to the girls

If you're curious what the Hottest Toy of the Season this year is at the Vafi house, it's (sadly) not even a toy.

It's a white plastic crate thing that we keep their blocks in. Epic wars ensue over who gets to play with this thing. 

Today, Evie has been the victor all morning.

Tamsie and her two babies

The Great Crate Wars of 2012 recommence. 

It's intense, y'all.

I'd split them up, but they seriously have so much fun fighting over this thing.

Baby dolls have been temporarily discarded.

One last big effort from Evie...

And Evie is victorious again!

Tamsie's retreat. "I let her win, you know."

And what will the victor do with her spoil?

Hide in it...

Pull it over her head...

Turn it upside down and scratch the bottom of it...

Poke her fingers through the holes on the side. And this, folks, answers the great question of why wars are fought.

I'll leave you with a picture Melissa took of the proud Grandma.

Speaking of the proud Grandma and Melissa (known by the girls as Aunt Mo), both of them are joining us tonight, along with my Dad, for the latest installment of the Annual Cookie Extravaganza. This time-honored tradition harkens back to the days of living next door to the McMasters set, when it was nothing for Melissa to come over and help out for the big Christmas cookie event each year. Odds are, she just happened to be hanging out anyway. Last year was the only year the event didn't take place, and only due to logistics: there was just no way to have us all in the same place with such tiny girls who couldn't yet travel. So this year, we are at it once again. I'm sure I'll be posting pictures later! :)