While we celebrated our Martin Christmas traditions with Daniel just after Thanksgiving,
we still made the most of the day itself!
On Christmas Eve, a police officer who was driving down my street stopped and asked if Xander would like to get in the car.
Hopefully the only cop car seat he'll ever sit in!
The officer let Xander turn on the lights. Xander was so excited. He did point out that the lights were shining off the top of the officer's head...whoops!
After thanking the officer (first name Ryan, but I didn't catch his last name) profusely, I told him that our plan for Christmas was to bake cookies for the police and firefighters that had to work on Christmas day. He said they get overwhelmed with sweets. He immediately tried to back track, clearly embarrassed by possibly sounding ungrateful, but I was so glad he was honest!
We quickly made a new plan and made spicy pretzels like I used to receive from my principal when I was a teacher in Texas. Yum!
It was clear when we arrived that both the police officers and firefighters were excited to have something other than sweets. Firefighter Scott met us at the door and immediately invited us back for a tour!
Xander was mesmerized by the original firetruck of the city.
Firefighter Scott started the engine and let Potatoes turn on the siren!
While he loved the ladders and stairs of the modern firetruck, he was intimidated by the cab.
He asked to get out of the backseat almost immediately, and turned own the offer of getting in the driver's seat.
I was interested to learn that the fire truck is the one with the ladders, while a fire engine does not have the ladders.
We are so grateful for all of those who are away from home and their loved ones to work at keeping us safe on Christmas. Especially those we know and love personally!
Our intention was to show gratitude to the first responders in our town, and instead, they gave us an experience to remember!
In the spirit of thankfulness, we also participated in the Adopt a Veteran program.
We took presents to an Air Force spouse ho lives in a nearby nursing home, and seldom has visitors. I tried to adopt multiple veterans, but the response was so great, all veterans were adopted and they had to turn away volunteers!
No problem! We ended up socializing with a lot of the residents of the nursing home, as Alexander's charm drew them all into our conversation.
The activities director was so sweet, she brought Xander a sparkly rubik's cube. We had endless entertainment passing, rolling, and throwing this with the residents.
We had such a good time, I plan to return on a weekly basis to visit.
Though Santa came a few weeks ago, we still had some presents under the tree and enjoyed some Christmas traditions.
It was cold enough to bundle up in hats and mittens, but not without our Clifford and Emily Elizabeth from Papa and Grandma Jay!
Jan had presents sent from Michigan! I was so glad that her friend Edie and my wonderful friend Alyssa thought of Jan, as we decided years ago not to exchange presents.
Xander loves his emergency vehicle mat (very fitting) from Alyssa and Kiera. He took the vehicles to nap time, won't let any other cars on the mat, and used the mat to lay down for classic Christmas movie watching.
After presents and pretzels, movies and walks, we settled in making Martin family chili and bringing the day to a close.
While I had planned to attend the children's Christmas Eve service at our church, Alexander is going through a massive growth spurt and has been waking up between three and six times a night. Yes. Really. So, when his nap took us out for the service, I did not force him up.
In the wish to not paint a picture of perfection, I must say this Christmas break has been tough. We have had wonderful times and made beautiful memories, but without sleep, Xander and I are both less than our best. There has been more whining, hitting, and begging to be held than I am accustomed to out of my independent little guy. And, I admit, without sleep my patience has not been at its peak. I think we are both ready for school to start tomorrow!
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all!
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