Jonesie Bug & Freddie Bear: Celebrations of the Season

So, as they everywhere, Christmas celebrations are in full swing here in Canton. Here are a few highlights from our holiday season:

1) Jones continues to call Santa a "snowman." I don't know where he got that, but I'm sure as heck not correcting it. I know we can't avoid Santa forever, but for now, he's a non-factor for us, and I'm completely okay with that.

2) Every time we see lights or decorations of any kind, Jones will say, "Eet's Chreessmastime, Mama!" Freddie will say, "Dat preeety, Mama."

3) The boys have been sleeping with their Christmas tree lights turned on every nite. Jones will always remember to turn his own on, and it doesn't seem to keep him from falling asleep. Freddie, on the other hand, doesn't remember until he's in his bed. He'll say, "tur onnn, Mama." I have been, until the last few nites. I noticed he'd still be talking to himself for, like, an hour after I'd put him to bed. Assuming the lights were keeping him up, I've quit leaving them on in his room.

4) The Canton Christmas Parade was last Thursday. The boys and I raced back from Bible Study in Greenville to be there on time. The Pressleys had parked their car on the front line early in the day, so we had a sweet spot when we showed up. It was FREEZING cold outside - as cold as I think it's been all year - but Jones sat in the elements with me for about an hour before he climbed into Nan and Pop's car. Freddie was in there basically from the beginning, "driving" while the rest of us were watching.

About an hour after we'd put him to bed that nite, I heard Jones screaming bloody murder. I knew something was up, because I honestly can't remember the last time Jones made a peep after bedtime. When I went in there, he'd thrown up all over himself and his sheets. In true Jones fashion, he wasn't crying about his tummy hurting, he was crying about the mess. "Mess," he wailed. "Mess!" I changed the sheets and his jammies and laid down with him for a few minutes before leaving him to fall back asleep. He threw up again about an hour later but that was the end of it. He had no fever, no warning, and no other symptoms, so I'm not sure what brought it on, but I'm glad it's gone.

Mrs. Pressley brought raisins and
chocolate milk to the Canton parade,
because she thinks of everything,
always.

5) The first-ever Pressley Group Christmas Party was held on December 5th at the Waynesville Country Club. We had a room to ourselves, which ended up being perfect, because we could shut the door to the rest of the restaurant, and the boys and Henry (the son of a Pressley Group salesman) were able to play at the end of the table without disrupting our dinner or anyone else's. The entire staff was there, as well as our family, and Mr. and Mrs. Pressley. Mom and Daddy couldn't make it, because they were at Pebble Beach.

Bless their hearts.

Because we didn't get a picture of Jeremy and me AT
the party, we took one at home AFTER the party.

6) On Sunday nite, we took the boys back to Canton First Baptist to see some of their cousins in the annual Christmas pageant. Their Nan snuck them M&Ms for the first part of the performance, but as soon as those ran out, so did the boys' interest. We took them to the nursery about 3/4s of the way through the show, and they played with Miss Tosha, while Jeremy and I finished watching.

The plan is that next Sunday nite I'll have a date with Jones to a concert of Christmas music at Arden Pres. He probably won't make it through the whole thing there, either, as it doesn't start until bedtime, but I'm excited to have a little alone time with my big boy as we go to listen to something that we both love - MUSIC - and as he learns how to behave in "big church," as it won't be long before the nursery is a thing of the past.

This picture of the boys walking into CFBC
is blurry, but I still love it.

For the way that she treats both me
and my boys, I could not have asked
for a better mother in law!

7) Finally, we went to the Waynesville Christmas Parade last nite. Jeremy's office is a block and a half from the end of the route, so we were able to go in there about 5 p.m. and eat dinner with Daddy before walking down to the corner of Main and Haywood. Freddie got bored of waiting for the parade to get to where we were - either that, or, more likely, he didn't like being constrained in his stroller, so Jeremy ended up taking him back to the office to play, while Jones and I stayed and watched almost every bit of the 90 minute parade. I kept asking Jones if he wanted to go, and he'd say, "No. I just stay and watch." If there was something that made him a little nervous, he'd say, "CLOSE, Mama! CLOSE!" and I'd squeeze him super tightly until he felt more secure.

This was taken before we headed out the door to Jeremy's
office. The "BELIEVE" banner was another $6.99
special I ordered from the Jane app.
I TOLD you that thing has my number.

Jones loves to play with the calculators
at Jeremy's office. He calls them his
"'puters." At one point, he sat at the
conference table, "working" on his "'puter"
and said, "Sorry, Mama. I got work to do."

The upside of being at the end of the route
is that we can park at Jeremy's office.
The downside is that it takes a LONG
time for the slow-going parade to get
from one end of Main Street to the other.