Holidays with the Ballesteroses

We just had the best Thanksgiving ever! I have concluded that five is the most fun age for the holidays. They've just start kindergarten, they're starting to develop character, conscience and compassion, whilst still retaining all of the wonder and curiosity of the preschool years. Sharing this tradition with Greyson this year was so precious. Alongside the usual Thanksgiving like marshmallow sweet potatoes and pumpkin pie, we talked about thankfulness, and about what it means to have as much as we do. We talked about the homeless, and he was able to see firsthand what that looked like in the Haight Ashbury district. School has been wonderful in reinforcing that message, and teaching about being thankful not just to the universe, but to the one Almighty God. I am loving him being in Catholic school.

On Wednesday, we attended Thanksgiving Mass at school. It was a lovely service led this week by the Kindergarteners and 8th graders. Even though I've always been leery about Catholic mass, I thought the school did such a great job at making the service relevant and enjoyable for the kids. The Scripture readings were in a version that was easy to understand, the music was upbeat and Roque and I were really impressed to see kids from ages 5-13, sitting still in church, learning to be reverent and respectful in the house of God. After Mass, the kids had a Thanksgiving feast in the gym and watched the 3rd graders put on a Thanksgiving play. It was so much fun.

On Thanksgiving Day, Papa instituted a new Ballesteros tradition. After all the dishes were started and prepped, he packed us a picnic lunch headed to the beach for a beachfront picnic. Our van, Daisy, is a Godsend to us from Roque's generous Tito Ippe. We recently took the middle row of seats out, so Ella and Greyson sit side by side now, and with the huge space in the middle, it's like a little house in there. We spread out a picnic blanket, and had our pre-feast of peanut butter and honey sandwiches, crackers, blackberries and cheese to the sound of Pacific Ocean. It was a beautiful day. The kids loved it. There's no question we'll be doing this every Thanksgiving from now on.
 

We got our Christmas tree yesterday. I wish I could have captured Greyson's excitement and put some away for myself so I could get a little dab of it on a bad day. The kids was singing along to Christmas songs, talking incessantly, hanging ornaments and talking to himself saying things like, "Yes, that's perfect", "Awesome!", "What a beautiful tree!", "Good job, Mama." He's always been my Little Mr Sunshine, and throw in some Christmas cheer and he's practically delirious. We decorated while Ella napped so we could surprise her when she woke up.  It was her first Christmas tree and I love that we captured her reaction on camera. Man, I love the holidays.