Wednesday, December 25, 2019

Well, There You Go


Levon had a very, very track hoe Christmas. He wore track hoe pajamas and Santa gave him a new track hoe. For most of today's celebrations, he was outside playing in the mud with his track hoe. Also, playing basketball which he plays by holding the ball and asking his dad or Boppy to lift him up high enough to stuff that ball in the net. The picture above is of Maggie escorting her youngest cousin into the house. I could hardly stand the sweetness.

Lily made us all breakfast although Lauren made the delicious grits. Eggs and bagels and sweet rolls and bacon and fried potatoes. And grits. The kids were all pretty patient with that process.


August and Boppy waiting for breakfast to be ready. A Christmas movie was involved. 

August and Levon had already opened the presents at their house so they were primed for more. The Hartmann kids had been allowed to go through their stockings so they were too. And when I looked at what was under and around that Christmas tree I realized that if my presents had gotten here on time, there would not have been room for them. It was insane.

May took on the job of handing out presents. I huddled on a couch and tried not to completely lose my shit over the chaos and noise. I swear- it's just too much for me. I can't even begin to tell you what everyone got. I got some beautiful things from my kids including two silver necklaces, one with a conch shell and one with a Virgin of Guadalupe that I had actually looked at in a store last week because it was so pretty I almost bought it. Those were from May and Jessie. Lily gave me and Mr. Moon the most outrageous blanket/throw with pictures of the family on it. It is perfectly cheesy and wonderful! The pictures are actually great. I sort of want to hang it up somewhere. It truly deserves that.
I also know that Maggie got a bicycle. This Christmas had a "Frozen" theme for our Magnolia. The bike was a "Frozen" bike. Her helmet is a "Frozen" helmet. And she got on that bike and she rode circles around the driveway like she'd been born on it. She was fearless. Yes, it does have training wheels but still...


Because she's a good mother, she put her baby in the basket. There is a seatbelt so don't worry.


And, because she is a WOMAN baby, she put her cosmetic backpack bag on. One never knows when a girl will need to refresh her lip gloss. She just cracked me up. We all stood around and watched her go. She did fall a few times but got right back up and right back on. Do not underestimate the Power of Magnolia!
To continue with the theme of "Frozen" Maggie also got a light-up microphone that plays Belle singing a few of her songs (I really know nothing of this movie or the sequel, truthfully) and damn if Maggie didn't turn it on, start singing with Kristin Bell and when the song reached it's most dramatic and high-note moments, she raised her left arm in the air like a pro-damn-fessional singer.
Here she is, right before the dramatic moment. She's getting ready though, you can tell.



Here's a picture of Michael wearing his new bathrobe holding Sammy.


I just know that at some point Sammy is going to end up in that bike basket. 
I hope Maggie puts his seatbelt on. 

Gibson got a crazy, crazy helmet that has a bluetooth connection making it a sort of Star Wars-ish headset. Now, I have told you that Gibson is taking hip-hop dance classes, right? So he, too, gave us a performance. 


I swear, that kid is the most loving, innocent, darling child. He is also the world's loudest child but as a middle child, that is only to be expected. 
And you know what? I didn't get one picture of Owen. I have no idea why. Mostly because I was so completely overwhelmed by it all. I meant to get family pictures of everyone but only managed to get this one of May and Michael and Michael's beautiful mama Chris. 


They were leaving to head over to Bio-Dad and Other Mother's house. 

And that was about it. I think my favorite moment was when we were sitting around eating breakfast and Lily told the story about how when she was a little kid she was doing flips on her bed which broke a slat which caused the mattress to tilt way up and then she proceeded to pretend that she was asleep and had no idea that it happened, much less how it had happened. 
As she recalls, I did not for one second buy that. I laughed so hard at her telling of this story that my stomach hurt. 

The rest of the day has been very peaceful with Mr. Moon and me just hanging out at home. 
We opened our gifts to each other here. He gave me a bunch of fun stuff like a can of my favorite fancy espresso and a new paring knife that's sharper than a serpent's tooth and also some Le Creuset which I love but also feel like I do not need. I don't know. Maybe I do. 
I am not good at gift-receiving. 
I gave him a new barn coat to replace his beloved old one that is literally falling apart. And a box of Godiva's. 

Tomorrow Jessie and Vergil and the boys are going to drive up to Asheville for a week or so to spend some time with the mountain kin. I will miss them so. 

And we missed Hank and Rachel a whole lot. They seem to be having a fine time up in Georgia with Rachel's mother and brother and that's good. They'll be back in a few days. 

In four hours and forty-three minutes Christmas 2019 will be over. 
Sigh. 
I survived. 
I hope you did too. 

One more thing- I really don't have the words to adequately describe how much this tiny little place on the internet means to me. Sometimes, like today, someone leaves me a comment that absolutely guts me with emotion. And every day I get comments that mean more to me than you can know, that sustain me through times of feeling worthless and useless and alone. 
I know I'm not alone. 
I hope that you know you are not either. 

Love...Ms. Moon










15 comments:

  1. a quiet day here with no visitors, just the way I like it. I bought my christmas present a couple of months ago, a small engraved piece by an artist in the UK.

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  2. That was quite the comment you got yesterday, it made me tear up. It's good when Christmas is finally at an end, I used to call it the season of unfulfilled expectations. Today we called it an excellent day to go for a hike in the desert, which we did and it was great.

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  3. My younger son and I decorated the tree today. Hubs came home from work early with stomach issues... We have been dealing with a wicked cold so have postponed Christmas morning till Sunday. My elder son messaged me Christmas greetings from Germany. Not feeling melancholy so much as seasonally sad, but the chickadees at the feeder were cheering. Love from Vermont.

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  4. today i celebrated ten years of having my own family.

    may the light of the season shine upon us all <3

    xxalainaxx

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  5. We laughed all gd day went to the beach laughed out not the storm then came home where we still have not stopped laughing I made a ton of guacamole and a broccoli quiche and a fruit and cheese plate and the damned fruit plate was all I could eat.
    Merry hoho

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  6. Sounds like a grand combination of chaos and peace in turn, and so another Christmas comes to a close and we made it through. The last third of my day was much better than the earlier two thirds so there was that. Thank you thank you for holding my hand today. Love to all the Moons.

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  7. photos of the chilluns are their usual adorableness, I was so surprised to see that they were barefoot, outdoors! hearty kids I thought, and then realized that you live next to the sun. How strange it must be to have
    christmas in good weather.

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  8. The community you have here in your blog and comments is part of my day every day. I can't even begin to describe how it has enriched my life for 10+ years. I read every single day but don't always comment, and that's honestly because many many days I lack words to say what reading a Ms Moon post means. Thank you!

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  9. Happy Christmas, Mary! I need this blog too, you're going to have to continue it from the Beyond. I'm not up to festivities this year either. Oy.

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  10. I'm thankful it's over. I cried in the morning because of my middle daughter and I cried in the evening because of my son and then I had a talk with myself and pointed out that many more people in the world have it much worse than me and that I should quit feeling sorry for myself. I actually felt better and slept for twelve hours last night, dreaming of owls. Christmas is over, I no longer have to pretend that I have a normal family, it's a fucked up family.

    The highlight of my day was visiting Miss Katie yesterday who had a great time. We had lunch with my friend and her little girl; they met Katie for the first time. That was lovely. Not all bad I guess:)

    I'm glad you got to spend time with your family, even if it was overwhelming. I'm not a fan of crowds either, not even when it's family.

    Sending love and hugs.

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  11. Rodney came and brought Ray too. Well we had to go get them but they both came. Ray's breathing machine is finally working properly and was fully charged. But his trip without it from his chair to the bathroom just about did him in. But wearing it he didn't cough one time.
    I made the ham and it turned out really nice, the side dishes not so but all were good just not the best. I'll have to get you to teach me how to make bread better. The rolls were beautiful but dry and didn't have much taste.
    I made eggnog, not the way mom used to, we don't have either chickens of fresh cow's cream. But my work around turned out well and both Ray and I had some, with some magic poured in. I think it's called Four Roses. Then we played It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World. I haven't seen it in a number of years and Ray had never seen it. We laughed really hard.
    All in all we had a beautiful day, just old men. We had a wonderful time but the kids are the magic of it all. Thanks for sharing Mary.
    Tom

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  12. What wonderful kids those are! And thank you for sharing them with us. I always enjoy your blog (even if I don't always comment) because it seems like a chance to share a kindly and peaceful world, which is the kind of place that kids ought to be. I hope you all enjoy this Christmas/New Year period, and that 2020 is good to you all!

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  13. Merry Belated Christmas to you and your lovely family. What Jenny Wolf said...

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  14. your day sounds like it was both chaotic, and warming....all rolled into one. Ours was very quiet with just hubby and I and a turkey dinner. Bro couldn't come- he went to his goddaughter's and family for the day. Must mention your chicken salad IS a thing of beauty....as is your entire family, that I have enjoyed so much these past 8 years or so. Not a day goes by that I don't send you a virtual hug for just being you, and sharing YOU with all of us
    Much love
    Susan M

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  15. Indeed you survived and your post is, as always, funny and poignant. Thank you for sharing yourself with us. As I've mentioned your openness has been helpful to me especially in my interactions with my daughter. She's noticed and mentioned it to me that I appear to understand her struggles much better.

    Take care!

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