Say it ain't so, Santa...

Thursday night, just a little bit of Christmas spirit quietly trickled out of the house.  We're down one believer. :(

We've known Jacob was on the fence for the last year or so.  We reminded him that he won't bring gifts if you don't believe.  We talked him out of staying up all night to catch Santa in the act.  We shushed him when he'd being up his doubts in front of his brother.  But for a while he still seemed on board.

Thursday night I had to drag the kids to Wegmans to get last minute ingredients for birthday cupcakes for Craig.  It was his birthday but he had to work late so we didn't make plans...until the last moment when I said I'd make dessert for him, and then it got amended to him getting home a little earlier so we could do dinner after all.  But by then we were already at the store.  As we walked in, Jacob was talking about how reindeer can't fly.  I gave him an evil eye and said we'd talk later.  At that, his eyes brightened.  He then became very eager to talk, but it would have to wait.  I knew he's wanted to know for sure for a while, and I figured he knew this was his chance.

We had a nice dinner out and then cupcakes at home (which I sort of botched but at least they tasted good!).  At bedtime, we went into his room.  I pulled up a blog post I read long ago for reference and when he asked if Santa was real, I explained--as in that blog--that St. Nicholas died years ago, but we have all carried on his legacy so we make Santa real for the little kids.  He liked the thought of being in on it now, and is excited to help us with stuff for Carter.  I explained that he is strictly forbidden from telling Carter, not only because Carter needs time to believe, but also because if he has doubts he could share them with his friends and ruin it for them, which would be even worse.

Since then he's been overcompensating a little when things come up with Carter, but he seems fine.  He's a little worried it won't feel as magical, and he's probably right, but for the most part things will still be status quo since we need to keep it the same for Carter.  He'll still get Santa gifts, we'll still put out cookies, and much to his dismay, he can't eat them since he'll still have to go to bed before Santa comes.  As long as he stays in good spirits, we'll be okay with it.  It's a little sad to think we've hit this phase with one kid and we only have (at most) a handful of years left of the Santa phase, but it's a good reminder to make the most of it!

The holiday season is in full swing and will be picking up steam starting this week with one of my work parties and inevitably a lot of shopping.  I've got two full carts on a couple websites right now because we have a busy weekend next weekend that will prevent much shopping, and I'm starting to panic.  The kids are already so excited...and the good news is, I'm close to done with them for a change!  I'm starting to formulate some other ideas for other people, too.  One thing at a time!

We had a little diversion earlier today because we had a birthday party!  I always cringe a little bit when an invitation arrives in the mail, but imagine my surprise when it was the TWINS in Carter's class.  Oh goodie, two gifts to buy in the middle of the holidays!  But it's fine, really, it's just one of those things you do.  We did our shopping on Tuesday, and after two stops we were happy with our choices.

We all decided to go to the party because it was a bowling party and Jacob wanted to bowl.  It turned out that all the rest of the lanes were busy or reserved, but luckily he got to bowl with the rest of the party.  Carter has done tons of Wii Bowling, but had never been to a real bowling alley!

Nice shoes!

 He was excited to get started!  He was surprised how heavy the ball was, though!

Not only did they have bumpers, but they also had ramps.  Where was that stuff when I was a kid?!

I bowled periodically as a kid.  My parents had a monthly (I think) league when I was a kid, and my mom played in a Monday morning church league until she started working when I was eight.  And even then she filled in for her friend (who worked in the same job in an opposite schedule) when needed.  So, anytime I was off on Monday I'd be bowling down the way.  I wasn't strong enough to bowl well then, and I still stink at it to this day!  I can't imagine how different it would have been had there been bumpers!  On one hand it wouldn't have been so demoralizing, but on the other there's no motivation to learn proper technique, so...hmmm.

Carter did pretty well, but it was definitely still a challenge despite the bumpers and ramp.  Jacob was very frustrated by the way the lanes were waxed, as the balls hooked like crazy!  He even started trying to incorporate the bumpers into his strategy!

He wasn't a fan of his shoes, either, but I thought they were pretty snazzy!

We had a really good time, though.  Carter ate well, made an ornament, and had a blast bowling!  When we got home, it was time for Craig to head off for a weekend in Canada for work, and the boys and I started in on our big project for the weekend--gingerbread houses!

Jacob and I did a gingerbread house when he was four, the year before his Celiac diagnosis.  He did one in school with gluten-free graham crackers in first grade.  That was a bit of a train wreck.  But since we can't just buy a kit, we hadn't attempted one since.  But the kids were asking this year, so when I went shopping this week, I bought all the materials--gluten-free graham crackers and cookies, frosting, and lots of candy!

It took some debating to figure out who was building what.  Jacob wanted to build all together, but I argued the graham crackers weren't going to be stable enough to make a big house for all of us, so I suggested the boys could work together and I could do my own.  Carter lost interest pretty early and I offered up a lot of suggestions, but after a couple hours of trial-and-error and fun, we had a finished product:

Santa's vacation home by Jacob on the left, and the elves cottage by me on the right - front view; the cookie that's his front door is so perfect!

Mine on the left, Jacob's on the right - back view

Side view of mine - there's a path between the main house and what I termed a "she-shed" (since that's currently such a thing thanks to an insurance commercial)

Back view of Jacob's - Santa is in a hot tub on the left, and also on a tree-shaped surf board in the ocean.  Notice the brown sugar beach!  I also liked his light on the left--it sort of looks like a topiary!

Side view of Jacob's - that's a garage door on the side

Gabled roofs were not our friend, so snow-unfriendly flat roofs won out.  Despite some engineering challenges, we had a lot of fun and were happy with the result.  Now we'll see how long they last!

So, maybe not all of the Christmas spirit left this week--it's just a matter of finding new ways to keep it around!