I have a raccoon for a son. 3 a.m. wandering around the house looking for chocolate…

Later today Colin called me into the bathroom as he wanted help wiping his bottom. When I got into the bathroom he said in a strained voice, “I don’t need you now but go wait right outside the door because I need you in a minute.” Last week we had a similar situation when he yelled “Mom, you know what to do!”

Hilarious boys. Yay for me!

Here we are in New Jersey at Nana and Papa’s new place. We tried a new tradition and postponed our watching of “Christmas Vacation” for “Polar Express.” From the opening scene when Brian and I quickly assured the kids to never hop a train or go anywhere with a stranger to mid-way thru the movie when Colin exclaimed “I wouldn’t get on that train” during the action scenes, I am not sure it will be a favorite every year.

One tradition that will stick: one present each on Christmas Eve.

Eva is getting more clever …

This morning we made it til 7 a.m. which felt luxurious for Christmas morning …

Beautiful tree …

Giant stockings …

Gifts …

Papa …

Nana …

Dad …

Ah, mommy …

What a family!

Good ol’ Colin.

We managed to hit Christmas Mass this afternoon which was a first. We missed our Christmas Eve Mass tradition but thought we would try things differently. It was pretty nice to park and enter the church 5 minutes before Mass and still seat 7 of us without a hitch as opposed to getting there an hour before Mass with barely room to stand as in years past. We’ll have to think about changing our game plan going forward.

All in all, Christmas was wonderful. With so much going on recently (Newtown, CT shooting of 20 children two weeks ago), it was nice to take time out to spend together and be thankful for what we have. Our kids are hilarious and we are so incredibly lucky to be able to give them such a plentiful Christmas in every sense of the word. Now back to Virginia tomorrow and we’ll celebrate again with the rest of our family in Annapolis on Sunday. More presents, more food, more fun!

This year is different.

First, the Redskins are playing their best football in 20 years. RGIII, our rookie QB, is super fun to watch. With a win next week against hated Dallas, they’ll win the NFC East for the first time in forever.

Second, Carter is 6 and cares about football. He remembers players names and stats. He talks about games with his friends. He idolizes RGIII. He even sits through most games and watches most plays. I look forward to each game now mostly because Carter does too.

So, when we figured out the Skins/Eagles game wouldn’t be on TV in NJ, Carter and I made plans to watch it at a sports bar. And, since the whole family planned to see The Grinch at the theater at Madison Square Garden in NYC, we decided to watch the game close by MSG.

First, we took the train into the city.

The train stopped at Penn Station, right below MSG.

Even though the bar — Mustang Sally’s — was just a couple block away, it was impossible to miss the giant buildings.

Carter seemed unimpressed. He was impressed, though, with the Redskins win!

Better than the Redskins win, of course, was spending 1-on-1 time with Carter — which doesn’t happen much these days. I love that boy!

Eva continues to excel at Irish Dancing. Today was her annual holiday performance, and she did wonderfully. As usual, Adena and Eva had fun picking out what Eva was going to wear.

She was focused heading into it!

She was supportive of her teammates.

And even more focused during the performance.

But had fun, too!

She graciously accepted the applause.

Oddly, Colin didn’t get any applause for this dance move.

Bennett did, though — from me.

Her brothers were very proud.

Adena (and I) were very proud, too!

Adena is always thinking of fun things to do with the kids. Today it was making pizza at home. To make it even more fun, she picked a make your own pizza set that included costumes.

Where’s Colin? Oh, he was there. He just makes such terrible faces every time you point a camera at him these days that I couldn’t include them. Just like the rest of us, though, he made and ate yummy pizza. Thanks, mommy!

For the past few years I’ve grown a beard off-and-on. Every time I shave it, I first shave in a mustache, just for fun. Adena won’t let me leave the house with it, since, let’s be honest, only pilots and old men can pull off a mustache these days without looking creepy.

Eva was with me when I last shaved.

She said with enthusiasm “is that the way you’re going to keep … yourself?!? Because you look AWESOME!”

Alas, no, it only lasted long enough to take the photo.

Colin recently gave up pull-ups at night. We had a couple of night-time accidents, so now the routine is that I take him to potty each night before I go to bed. He’s always dead asleep — having gone to bed 3-4 hours before — and never really wakes up even though I have him walk to the bathroom.

The other night I decided to carry him back to bed, and he instantly slumped to my shoulder, asleep as could be. As I leaned into the bunk bed to lay him down, I rammed my head into the bottom of the top bunk. No major injury, but it didn’t feel great.

As I put Colin down on his pillow, he didn’t open his eyes or say anything, he just reached up and rubbed by head, then gave it a little pat before curling up into his normal sleeping position.

He’s a sweet boy, even when he doesn’t know it.

Eva helped with the cooking …

… and setting the tables.

As always, there was an epic football game.

After dinner, we ate pie and watched the Redskins beat the Cowboys! What more could you want?

Happy Thanksgiving!

This morning, we got up at 5:45 am and drive an hour west to do what Eva’s been training for: run the 5K (3.1 miles). We weren’t the only ones there.

Eva kept a pretty good pace, walked a few times, and with about a mile left asked if we could just walk the rest. I told her that if we could get to the end without walking again she could get a treat. After confirming that the treat could be a donut, Eva decided to do it — and then did it. I was so proud of her!

We talked on the way home about the importance of practice and training, and how good it feels to not quit, even when you feel like you want to. She’s growing up to be a very determined person, and we keep trying to show her that whatever she works hard to do, she can.