Welcome, Welcome 2012

First picture with my brand new camera!

I feel sort of like the reality of everyday life has been suspended in a holiday fog. The last couple weeks have been...hectic, fun, busy, messy. I've been lagging in lots of responsibilities, including (but not limited to): cleaning my house, feeding my children healthy foods, grocery shopping, exercising, blogging, and thinking about my all important New Year's resolutions.

What I have been doing...playing new games and puzzles with my kids, testing out our new Kinect, spending time with family, eating Christmas cookies, scheduling tons of doctor appointments for the month of January, and booking our first family trip of the year.

I heart Lucy's new waitress outfit.

I am so happy to report that Santa delivered and I got a new camera for Christmas. I'm still trying to figure it out, but I'm looking forward to much improved photos in 2012. I also got a tripod, so I'll definitely be playing around with that too. I feel relief washing over me. Seriously. That little pink camera of mine stressed me out in 2011.

Well at least they're all in the frame.

Enjoying dessert atop the Renaissance Center

My kids got some games for Christmas that were childhood favorites of mine. I have been enjoying Scrabble, Battleship, Mastermind, and Sorry with them. My wimpy husband has so far refused my Battleship challenges. I can only assume he knows he will get his butt whipped. I also love our new Kinect, although I will admit it is a bit frustrating and finicky at times. However, it gets me moving way more than the Wii, so I plan on using it often. My friend Tina is going to loan me her copy of Zumba for Kinect, and if it works in my little bitty family room, I will be buying it and practicing lots so maybe I don't look like such an uncoordinated fool next time I go to a real world Zumba class. I got a Kindle too, and I've downloaded a bunch of free titles but other than that haven't played with it much. I just finished reading The More Than Complete Hitchhiker's Guide, which I've been reading for an embarrassingly long time (Tina, if you're reading this, I'll return your precious tome when I pick up Zumba! Thank you for your patience!). So now I'll feel less guilty starting new books on my Kindle.

Watch out Bethany, someone has an eye on your cheesecake!

I am also the proud new owner of a pair of those toning tennis shoes. I want to put a lot of miles on them this year. Like a lot. For this I'm going to enlist the help of my friends, because I've come to a point where I find it mind numbingly dull to go walking by myself. Maybe if I lived someplace a little more exciting, I wouldn't mind it so much. But there is really no people watching to be done in my neighborhood, except for the occasional person tinkering in the garage this time of year. But walking with friends is great because it kills two birds with one stone: catching up/socializing and exercise. I live within three miles of a really great walking/biking path, and within a mile of a lakefront park with a walking path, so if I keep my priorities in order this shouldn't be too much of a challenge.

I'm pretty sure all the kids had a pretty awesome Christmas, but for Bethany it was particularly exciting. After begging for a cell phone for years, she finally got one. Chris and I grappled with this decision for a long time, but finally decided to give in allow her to have one, mostly for our own peace of mind when she is away from home. It's odd remembering life when it wasn't vital to be 100% available 24 hours a day. I mean, if my mom left me at home and went grocery shopping and I had to, I don't know, ask her if she knew where the remote was last seen or something equally as important, I guess I would have had to either #1, have her paged at the grocery store, #2, delay my gratification for an hour, or #3, find the damn thing myself. But seriously, if Bethany can prove to be responsible with her phone, keep it charged, keep it turned on, and answer it every time we call, I think we'll all feel better when she's away from home, be it at basketball practice or a friend's house. My brother-in-law also surprised the heck out of Bethany by telling her that his Christmas gift to her is a plane ticket to Florida to visit him (we still have to finalize the date) and her choice of two parks (did I mention he lives in Orlando?). That pretty much rendered her speechless, and she has been busily perusing theme park websites trying to come to her final decision.

We had dinner at Coach Insignia, at the top of the Renaissance Center downtown Detroit. It's a really nice restaurant, and we saw only one other child when we were there, and that child was actually a sleeping infant in a bucket. But brave people that we are, we brought our kids along. Our philosophy has pretty much always been that our kids will never to learn to behave in restaurants if we don't take them to restaurants, and I would say that with the very big exception of Mathilda, our little gang did a great job of using their fancy restaurant manners. Mathilda had a grand ol' time, so what if she spent about 10% of the 3 hours we were there in her seat and refused to eat a single bite of her dinner? She dug into the bread basket, appetizers, and dessert, and asked to use the potty two times. And she didn't cry once. I'd call that a successful dinner.

Chris's brother was here for a few days. He went to dinner with us at Coach Insignia, along with Chris's mom and step-dad. He and my mother-in-law took the kids to see the new Chipmunks movie. My mother-in-law and her husband also hosted a big holiday party while he was home, and we got to see lots of Chris's family who we don't get to see very often. And we spent New Year's Eve together too, along with my mother-in-law and her husband, and Chris's aunt & uncle who are staying with the in-laws for a few days. Since the kids don't get to see Uncle Robby very often, it was cool that they were able to spend so much time with him during the holidays.

New Year's Eve was low key. We had a wonderful meal together, played some games and watched the Times Square festivities on television. I was shocked that all four kids managed to stay up until midnight. I think that may be a first. Bethany, Connor, and Lucy chose to stay at Meema's house for the night, and Mathilda decided to come home with Chris and I. Although we had a good time, this year I vow to not be sitting in front of a television on New Year's Eve. PERIOD. New Year's Day started with a phone call that Connor had thrown up. Happy 2012! We went to pick the kids up and so far it seems to have been a one time occurrence, with no siblings doing any copy-cat puking. Fingers crossed. The rest of the day has been more or less lazy. Like really lazy. The kids have two more days off and we plan on utilizing our child laborers to the max during that time. Some school districts around here have the entire week off, and I wish we did too. Our district is being inexplicably stingy with vacation days this year. Short Christmas break, short Spring break, and no mid-winter break. Phooey.

Cousins

We got to spend a little time with friends as we celebrated the 7th birthday of a sweet little girl. Other than that all of us have been on friend hiatus for the past couple weeks, even Bethany - which is really unusual. Although I'm sure she is texting them nonstop. I look forward to spending lots of time with my friends this year.

With Mattie deciding it was time to be potty trained, and Lucy's first two visits from the tooth fairy, it's been a pretty exciting end of the year. I'm putting some real though into my resolutions and will dedicate a post to that subject within the next day or so.

Happy New Year! I wish you all a happy, healthy, and prosperous 2012!

Lucy and Connor with their cousin

Demonstrating her blow drying techniques

Christmas Blessings

We have had a wonderfully blessed Christmas, just as we do every year. Our family is fortunate in so many ways, even though it's often easy to lose track of that on a daily basis as we go through the motions of our hectic lives. All of us have been enjoying tons of awesome new gadgets and gizmos all day long, and while that is loads of fun, what I'm most grateful for today is my beautiful, healthy family. I love being mommy to four little people, and I cherish our loud, crazy holidays together. There is shouting, shoving, kissing, hugging, dancing, singing, fighting and sharing going on every moment. At times it can get exhausting, but just when I think I can't take the chaos for one more second, the calm rolls in and everyone goes off to a different room to quietly play together, taking turns and getting along like little champs.

I try to always be cognizant of how lucky I am, that I was able to so easily become pregnant four times, to have had four pregnancies that were 90% easy-peasy, to have given birth to four perfect, healthy little babies.  I can't imagine the heartache of those who struggle with infertility. Several years ago I even looked into egg donation to help someone else experience the miracle of becoming a mother, but I believe I was already getting too old (I think 30 is typically the cut-off age). Recently I replied to an ad I saw about becoming a surrogate mother because I think maybe I could do that, knowing I was helping someone fulfill a dream of parenthood, but then I discovered that Michigan is not a "surrogate-friendly" state. Some may believe that egg donation or surrogacy would be too strange, but having a family is such a life changing and wondrous occurrence that I can understand why someone would go to any lengths to make it happen.

This past week has been tough, with all the holiday preparations, and five basketball games and two pediatrician visits thrown into the mix as well. Lucy has been sick, first with an asthma flare up and now with an ear infection, and while having a sick little one at Christmastime is no fun, I know that what I'm dealing with is nothing compared to what Chris's cousin is living with as her small daughter struggles with her recent leukemia diagnosis. I know that for 10 years we have been remarkably blessed with good health, even though there have been some bumps and worries along the road, and Chris's major scare three years ago.

As challenging as family life can be, I am so very blessed to have been given the opportunity to overcome the challenges I face. I wouldn't trade one temper tantrum, sleepless night, potty training obstacle, sassy mouth, messy bedroom, or sticky hand for anything at all. We are perfect in our imperfections.

I hope that you, too, are giving thanks for your blessings today and realizing that they are plentiful. I hope that you have spent your day with people you love and who love you, having fun and smiling and laughing a lot. Merry Christmas!

Faking It Until I Believe It

My last two sort of whiny and complaining posts are proof that I need to do something to turn my frown upside down. I'm half heartedly committing myself to fake it until I believe it. What this means is that I'm going to smile and be as nice as I can to everyone, while moving forward toward Christmas acting like I'm really jolly about it. Pretty soon I will forget I'm acting and truly believe it. 

This morning I started my day off at Bethany's basketball game. It was my turn to work the concession stand, where I had a great view of Bethany scoring for the first time!! Working at the game was actually kind of fun. I like going to Bethany's games, so I'm going to resolve to have a better attitude about squeezing six games in next week amidst our holiday chaos.

After the game the kids went to my in-law's for the afternoon and I went Christmas shopping with my mom. That was fun and we had a very productive afternoon. The crowds of people didn't irritate me too badly and I think I might actually be starting to feel a tiny bit more festive (this is not the faking it part).

The best part of the day is that I don't think I changed one diaper all day long. I'm afraid to say it out loud, but I think my stubborn little potty trainer is finally starting to be seriously interested in using the potty. In fact she is up right now because she said she needed to use the potty - and she did!

Tomorrow the kids and I are going to be Christmas cookie baking fools. I have a killer headache and I'm feeling a little overwhelmed by everything that needs to get done, but I know tomorrow is going to be a great day, because any day full of yummy cookies just has to be fabulous.

I'm No Scrooge, But...

I'm just not feeling Christmas this year. It seems like I say the same darn thing every year. Judging from Facebook status updates and talking to my friends, I know that I'm not alone. Is it always like this for parents? We're just so stressed out and over-scheduled (...and broke...) that it sucks all the fun out of Christmas?

I start out excited. I love shopping for my kids, and this year I got a fairly early start. But then it starts getting closer and closer to the big day, and the obligations keep piling on, and pretty soon I'm feeling sort of sick to my stomach because, well, I'm no mathematician but I'm positive there are not enough hours between now and Christmas to do everything that needs to get done.

I'm sad that my kids have to go to school through Thursday next week. I should maybe be glad about that because at least it gives me a chance to do some last minute shopping without them, and perhaps even get started on wrapping while they're in school. But I'd rather they were home next week. I'm annoyed because just yesterday Bethany's basketball coach gave us the schedule for their basketball tournament (which we just found out about on Monday), and they have SIX games next week, including one at 8:30 on a school night (she goes to bed at 9:00!) and two games on Friday (as in, the day before Christmas Eve!), the only day my kids don't have school next week, when we could have potentially done something fun and festive together. I'm stressing slightly because I'm not sure what to get for the last few people on my list. There are things I really want to do, like bake tons of cookies, that I know I'm not going to have as much time for as I'd like. And other projects I really wanted to get to which will definitely not be happening. Will it be weird if I'm making Christmas stockings and a tree skirt in January? And then all that wrapping, cleaning, and meal planning that needs to get done.

Ugh. I need to find my joie de vivre. Like stat.

What about you? Are you all psyched up for Christmas this year? Me, well I'm going to try a little harder.

Another Weekend Gone, But Not Forgotten

I just had the best weekend. It's always hard to get back to the grind Monday morning. But the sun is shining, Mathilda slept in and woke up happy, and Chris is home so I don't have to get Mattie all bundled up to pick Lucy up from school. As Mondays go, I can't complain. Yet.

Friday night Chris's band, The Smiths United, played at the Magic Bag in Ferndale and my in-laws babysat so I could go. My friend Shelly went with me, and we realized we haven't been out together - at night & without kids - in 11 years! That we can remember, anyway. And just an FYI, my memory ain't what it used to be. I loved hanging out with my Shelly and it's always fun to be in the middle of a packed house, all there to see my husband perform. It was a late night for us old ladies, and freezing cold, but it was a good night.

Saturday morning Bethany had a basketball game. I've missed the last couple games because I was sick, so I was happy to be able to attend this one. By myself. The kids stayed home with Chris, and I got to enjoy conversation with the other basketball moms and a nice hot Starbucks soy latte (my first & so good!) while I watched Bethany's team kick some butt. They are really good. And I'm so proud of Bethany, her playing is really improving. Really I'm proud of her just for trying something new and putting so much effort into it.

Later on, we had some friends over for a little Oral B Mommy Parties get together. I'll dedicate a whole post to that in the next couple days. But it was nice chatting with my friends while the kids played together and watched a movie.

Saturday evening Chris and the kids made a funny little video. Chris is still working on it. When it's all done maybe I'll post it. This is what my family does for fun. Makes videos. Bethany is obsessed with You Tube. She and her friends are forever creating quirky little videos. They had one that was actually getting a lot of hits, it was pretty funny. Until some jack-you-know-what tagged it as inappropriate (seriously - it was NOT - at ALL) and it disappeared from You Tube forever.

Sunday my mom took Connor shopping to get the poor kid some snow boots so that he's no longer banished to the black top everyday at recess. Then she and I took the kids to the symphony. It was a holiday concert put on by the Warren Symphony Orchestra. Besides my kids, there were probably only about 10 kids there. If that. Which blows my mind because kids are free! All the way up through high school seniors! The adult tickets were $23 each (and we could have bought them for $11 via Groupon, which I just now noticed when I visited their Facebook page - sorry mom!), but I still think this was a great bargain for a family outing. I love the symphony. I will admit it was perhaps a tad long for the kids, but they were great and I think they all liked it. Mathilda especially loved it. She kept getting up to dance, and insisting that Lucy dance with her. If Lucy didn't do exactly what she wanted, Mathilda loudly corrected her. "No Lucy! Put your arms up like this!" I'm sure the other patrons appreciated that. Since the kids were all together and dressed reasonably well, I decided it was now or never for a Christmas card photo. I took a bunch of pictures and crossed my fingers that one would be adequate, and that's about all I got. Today (yes I'm behind schedule, whatever!) I ordered my cards from Tiny Prints and I'm a little "eh" about the picture, but they're ordered & it's done, and if you get one please keep in mind it is anything but easy just to get 4 kids in the frame, let alone looking sort of in the same direction.

Just one more weekend before Christmas! I can't believe it, I always know it's coming but it still sneaks up on me nonetheless. I hope you had a good weekend too, and that you have a totally tolerable Monday!

It's the Holiday Season

I can't believe Thanksgiving is just a week away. I've officially started Christmas shopping, which is a fun process of making lists and comparison pricing. Some years I find it more difficult to shop for one or two of my kids, and I really have to do some research and clandestine investigating. So far it's going well this year, and I haven't run into any problems yet.

Hasbro has a new line of building toys out called KRE-O that look like a lot of fun. My kids love to build things with blocks of all kinds, and Chris and I enjoy joining them too. I particularly like huge model sets with two 75-page instruction manuals. No seriously, I do. Here are a few things I really like about KRE-O:

1. They are compatible with other brick sets. This is a huge deal, and totally genius. Mix and match - I love it!
2. The sets are versatile. The Transformers sets allow you to make either the Transformer robot character, or the corresponding vehicle, how cool is that? Plus my kids love Transformers!
3. The sets come in a variety of prices for every budget, ranging from $7.99 to $59.99.

I know KRE-O sets are something my entire family would enjoy, even Mathilda who, I can imagine, would joyously steal key pieces and throw them down the laundry chute.

While I love Christmas shopping, there are many aspects about the holiday season that just make this time of year magical. This is how I like to keep spirits bright and spread holiday cheer:

1. Christmas music! While I have a full on Christmas music ban in effect until the day after Thanksgiving, after that I will be playing Christmas music often and loudly. We have one or two radio stations in the Detroit area dedicated to Christmas music, plus we have some Cd's. Additionally, we have a few Christmas carol books, and the kids love when we get them out at story time and sing our favorites together.
2. Baking. I love Christmas baking. Every year I carefully choose several cookie recipes, shop for all the ingredients, and get busy. There are some favorites, like sugar cut-outs, and I also like to try something new ever year. The kids get involved, and we like to share with our friends and neighbors.
3. Host at least one holiday get-together. Most years we host two or three. Whether it's Christmas Eve dinner, breakfast on Christmas morning, or a big holiday party in between Christmas and New Year's, we always open our home to family and friends during the holidays. This is the best part for me. It's a lot of work, but so worth it.

What about you? What are your favorite holiday traditions?


I wrote this blog post while participating in the SocialMoms and Hasbro blogging program, for 8,000 My SocialMoms Rewards Points and a KRE-O gift. The opinions expressed in this post are mine and don’t necessarily reflect the opinions of SocialMoms or Hasbro. For more information on how you can participate, click here.

Seasons Greetings from Tiny Prints

November is flying by and as much as I hate to admit it, I really must start seriously thinking about Christmas. I prefer to fully enjoy Thanksgiving before decorating and wrapping presents, but it's true that I've started a shopping list. Another thing I need to start thinking about is Christmas cards, because if I don't do that soon I'll never get around to it.

I prefer photo cards, so I was browsing around Tiny Prints to see what I might like to order this year. There are so many wonderful options, I don't know how I'll choose just one! The filters on the left side are helpful. You can narrow your search result by several different factors, including design styles (with delightful and aptly categorized style names like "preppy," "vintage," and "whimsy"), the number of photos you want on the cards, the photo orientation, and many more.

Since I love old things, I was immediately drawn to the vintage category. Can you blame me? Look at these gorgeous things!

 




 


But I'm also enamored with the the full bleed photo Christmas cards. I am stymied, I tell you! As you can see, these are utterly fabulous as well!

As soon as I do the impossible and choose which card I like best, I need to get to work figuring out which picture(s) to use.


Which do you like best? Or is there another style on the Tiny Prints website that you prefer? Are you already planning your holiday cards as well?


I would like to thank Tiny Prints for introducing me to their wonderful line of cards, and for offering me this opportunity to share their beautiful products with you.


In exchange for this blog post, Tiny Prints is providing me with 50 photo cards at no cost. However, all opinions are 100% my own, and I truly do love these products! If you are a blogger and interested in working with Tiny Prints this holiday season, please fill out this form by November 11th, before midnight. Be sure to let them I sent you, and let me know if you sign up, because I'll be eligible for some free address labels to go along with my cards!



















 

Snow Days and Other Stuff

So far this week my kids have enjoyed two snow days, and it's only Tuesday! I have loved having them home, but they really do need to go back to school so I can finish my Christmas shopping. Well, the small portion of my Christmas shopping that is not done via amazon.com at least. I think I might be done with Amazon actually(maybe one more order...) since it's getting close to the Christmas delivery cut-off with the free shipping. I love Amazon. I tell everyone they should do their Christmas shopping on this glorious one stop shopping conglomerate website. They have, like, everything. Free shipping, no tax, heaven.

Today we spent hours working on making Christmas gifts for teachers and friends and building one of those Star Wars Lego things that have about seven thousand pages of instructions. I meant to get some baking done too, but that didn't happen. But I could get started on that now, since all the kids are up in bed. Yes, that's right, all the kids. Mathilda went to bed with the other kids and is at this moment sleeping in her crib! But by now I am smart and experienced enough to know that she will wake up pathetically wailing just as soon as I get involved with a project. In fact, she probably just received a subliminal message from the internet or something informing her that it's time to make a liar of her mom.

"I'm not sleeping! BAAAAA! How could you think that? I was just lying here waiting for you to get busy with something so I could start screaming and not let you accomplish anything! It's what I do!"

Yes, that is what she does. But that's not all! She also likes to take all the diapers out of the box several times a day, take as much food out of the pantry as she can reach, dump out my purse, draw in books (a fun new hobby!), pull ornaments off the Christmas tree, roll around on the floor in clean clothes before I vacuum (we have a black shedding dog people!), and so much more. Like refusing to nap. Then she ends up falling asleep in the high chair at dinner time, or today she fell asleep while standing up and looking at her current favorite book, Old McDonald. She also doesn't actually like me to read to her, but she loves, loves, loves books. She brings them to me all the time like she wants me to read to her, but then as soon as I take the book from her and start reading, she starts screaming, grabs the book and runs off with it. I can't wait until this child can talk so she can finally let me know what all the fuss was about.

Anyway, snow days are nice, but there is that knowledge in the back of my mind regarding what actually caused the snow days. As in snow. And in this case, also frigid cold temperatures and icy roads. Yuck. I am really not looking forward to leaving the house tomorrow morning. But at least I have a remote start for my van, so I can get it all toasty before we get in it. Of course, I probably forgot to leave the heat on last time I drove since I just cannot seem to remember to do that.

                                                  ***sigh***

I think I need to make one of those paper chain countdown things, counting down the days until Spring. I need a visual reminder that there will not be snow and slush and ice and freezing cold blechy weather forever and ever, because that is kind of what it feels like right now.

For now I will make an effort to focus on things I'm looking forward to. Like meeting a friend for hot chocolate on Thursday morning, and seeing Lucy's preschool Christmas program on Friday morning. And snuggling on the couch with my new, super soft and awesomely cozy blanket I recently received as a gift from a relative I've never met via a family Christmas gift exchange (yep, definitely ridiculously blessed). Which is what I think I'm going to go do right now, while I'm waiting for Mathilda to wake up and remind me that, duh, she doesn't sleep in her crib.

They Make It Look So Easy On TV

So, we spent Thanksgiving in Florida, visiting my brother-in-law. By the end of our trip, I was feeling well enough to eat almost normally. The dentist said my one tooth just got pushed up into my gums when I fell on my face, and it may never come back down. He took x-rays and reassured me that my teeth are not in danger of falling out, although there is no way of knowing whether or not they will darken in color at some time in the future, and nothing to do to prevent it. Now they are almost back to normal, although a bit more crooked and uneven than they used to be and there is still a bit of numbness in my nose. I can't yet bite into an apple, but my teeth haven't fallen out, which was my greatest fear. Maybe someday getting braces for myself will become a priority and I can have straight, dreamy teeth.

But anyway, yeah we went to Florida. It was a pretty short trip, since I've developed a bit of a complex about getting those threatening letters from school about truancy court blah blah blah and I only let the kids miss one full day and one half day of school. Gosh those letters are so annoying. But we packed a lot into our five days. We saw the movie "Tangled" (loved it!), spent a stupendous 13 hours at the Magic Kingdom (so much fun), cooked a big Thanksgiving dinner, wandered around downtown Orlando for an afternoon, and drove to Cocoa Beach for a day so the kids could swim in the ocean, even though it was freezing (around 72 degrees) and even raining a little. Lucy was the first to get out, as she told me a "giant wave was approaching" and she got lots of water in her face. 

We totally lucked out with airport security, both ways, and nobody groped us or tried to force us to radiate our bodies while they laughed at our underwear choices in private. Mathilda mostly (maybe I should say somewhat) liked the plane ride, and was even yelling WHEE! during take off. But throughout the trip she started getting sick and coughing a lot. By the time we were flying home, she was coughing a whole lot and feeling pretty lousy (I'm guessing, she didn't actually express to us in words). She also was putting her feet on the seat in front of her. Unfortunately, there wasn't a whole lot I could do about that, she was sitting in her car seat and her feet just kind of went there. An 18-month old doesn't tend to listen very well when you tell her repeatedly to stop kicking the seat. And she cried a little bit. There was a family of three sitting in front of us. At first the mom was sitting in front of Mathilda, but then she wised up and made her kid switch seats with her. The father was sitting in the aisle seat, in front of Bethany, and every time Mathilda had a coughing fit or cried at all, he would whip his head around and glare at me. It was very apparent, Chris noticed it from across the aisle. Sorry dude, not sure what you wanted me to do. It was a short flight, man up. Glad your kid (who was about 10) is perfect, someone should really give you a medal for that. He's probably never been sick, either. And just for the record, my other three children were model passengers. I was a wee bit irritated by the time we landed back in Detroit.  But I'm over it now, really.

The thing is, on the morning of the day we left Florida, something really tragic happened that I just can't shake. My brother-in-law's neighbor and good friend died. But he didn't just die, which would have been sad and depressing enough. I don't think I want to get into details here, but it was a very violent and horrible situation, which he was 100% responsible for. What I can't quite get past is that this guy went to the movies with us and sat next to my daughter. He came over the day we had Thanksgiving dinner and had dessert with us. We saw him several times. He talked to my kids. And then he did this terrible thing. I can't believe we let him around our kids. But we didn't know, and he seemed so normal. Yet we're parents, shouldn't we know when someone is going to completely crack and is perhaps not someone who should be around kids? Honestly it's a little freaky to know someone can look and talk and act normal, even while on the inside they're plotting some horrific event. On television or in movies, people do crazy violent things all the time. They seem to have no qualms about it. It looks so easy and ordinary. But in real life, these senseless acts ruin lives. Real lives.

There's just no making sense of some things, no matter how hard you try.

Christmas is creeping up right around the corner, but I haven't found my holiday spirit quite just yet. It's in there somewhere, I know it is. I really just want to go spend the holidays in Hawaii or something, which I've been saying for years. Santa is global after all. Speaking of which, living a lie is mentally draining and inconvenient. Especially as related to shopping. Oh the things we do for our kids.

One thing I am into this holiday season is eggnog milk shakes. Yum-my! The kids are hooked too. They may not be low-fat/low-cal, but I'm not going there. Calcium is good for you! And protein! Therefore it follows that this frozen deliciousness must be good for you too.

Mathilda is my constant companion and she loves to talk to everyone, everywhere. What she mostly says is "hi" and "bye", while executing the perfect princess wave. And she smiles so big with her sweet dimples, so everyone mostly has to stop and talk to her too. I never know if I should answer for her when strangers ask her questions that she is clearly not capable of answering. So sometimes I do, and sometimes I just smile and move on.

Getting Back to Being Thankful

I've been sidetracked from my thankfulness the last couple days. Two nights ago I started feeling cruddy, so I went to bed early. Before long I woke up knowing I was about to get sick, so I got up to go to the bathroom and...woke up on the floor a minute later. Chris heard me fall and came to help me, and yes I (thank God) made it to the bathroom in time. Unfortunately passing out from a standing position, with no one around to catch you, well it ain't pretty. One tooth went through my bottom lip, and I must have fallen on the right side of my face because my top teeth all shifted over from that direction. And my face is swollen and sore and sort of numb, I have a fat lip, a scabbed up knee, a scraped and swollen hand, and a bruised shoulder. Chris is afraid for me to go out in public because he thinks people will suspect him of beating me. I look like a hillbilly with my teeth all crooked. Chris called the dentist, who said my teeth will probably go back in place when the swelling goes down. I have, of course, been freaking myself out thinking about what will happen if they don't. There would probably be a lot fewer freaking out thoughts going through my mind if I had dental insurance. So come Monday morning, if the teeth are still looking pretty mangled, I'll be calling the dentist. But I'm not sure what he's going to be able to do about it, especially since we are leaving for Florida on Tuesday. And the fun thing about that is I can't chew, so I'm not so super excited about going on vacation and not being able to  eat. I love to eat on vacation. The other fun thing about that is I haven't even started packing yet. I've been pretty much laying around and playing games on Facebook, trying to make sure my kids avoid all my sore spots when they are climbing all over me, and Christmas shopping. 

So what I'm going to do is dissect this situation and find the good in it. Because I'm trying to be thankful and all. 

First of all, I am so thankful I didn't get hurt worse. I have a very small bedroom and fell right between my dresser and the foot board of my bed, so it could have been much uglier. I could have knocked my teeth right out, or wound up with a concussion or worse. So the damage I incurred was minimal, compared with what it could have easily been.

Second of all, I've experienced an outpouring of love from my friends and family. Knowing I'm loved makes me feel all warm and tingly inside. I've had lots of phone calls, sympathetic posts on Facebook, and offers of help. Chris and the kids have been so sweet too. Bethany put a sign up on the fridge that says, "Do Not Bother Mom Unless the House is on Fire."

Then there is the matter of the aforementioned Christmas shopping. I'm feeling pretty good about the fact that I got more than half of the kids' shopping done (all online), and before vacation to boot. I know some procrastination-lacking people have been done since July, but that's not how I roll. Having this much done this early is a big accomplishment for me, and I'm hoping to get even more done this week, so when we get back from Florida I can concentrate more on enjoying the holiday season, and less on shopping.

When things get totally crazy and I start trying to get maybe too much done than is humanly possible, my body has a way of shutting me down for some mandatory rest time. So okay, point taken body, I've had my rest. Hopefully I'll be feeling almost back to normal by tomorrow so I can start getting myself and five other people ready for vacation. In the meantime, I'm going back to bed.

Why I'm Thankful for Winter

This is totally counter-intuitive, and I'm really stretching my gratitude muscles here, because what I really feel like doing is creating a list of a million and one reasons whey I absolutely loathe winter. But here goes.

• The groceries stay cold in the car. It sounds like a little thing, but how nice to be able to run an errand or two or pick the kids up from school after grocery shopping without worrying about the milk spoiling.
• Hot chocolate, which is maybe my favorite drink ever. It warms you up inside and it's chocolate, therefore it is perfect. 
• Christmas. There are so many reasons to love Christmas. I love shopping, spending lots of time with my family, homemade gifts from my kids, baking, getting Christmas cards in the mail (bonus if they contain pictures and/or annual letters!), and the music. It is the most wonderful time of the year, after summer of course.
• The preschool holiday program. And I am completely confident that Lucy will happily participate this year, and that she won't stand with her peers scowling and crossing her arms, whispering (loudly) that she is not going to sing this one either at the start of each new song, and that maybe she will even smile and not insist on clinging to me throughout the entire performance.But even if it doesn't go quite as I imagine, I will nonetheless love every second of it.
• Bethany is in her school choir this year, and will be doing a holiday performance as well. 
• Snow days, because if it must snow, it's very kind of Mother Nature to snow enough so at least I don't have to drive my kids to school in it.
• Playing with my kids in the snow, which truthfully I only like to do once or twice each winter. I'm going to try to enjoy it a little more often this winter.
• Sweaters, tights, and boots, and otherwise feeling like I have a whole new wardrobe when I pack up my summer stuff and take out my winter clothes.
• Celebrating birthdays; first my mom, then Chris, me, and Connor.
• Theater season. I love the theater, and if I'm lucky I might get to see a show or two each season.
• Going somewhere warm while everyone is freezing their booties off at home. Yes, I realize my admitting this will probably result in Florida experiencing an unprecedented cold spell on our next visit. 
• When it first snows, and everything is blanketed in a clean, white, sparkly beauty. The world seems so quiet and peaceful.
• Having nowhere to go, just sitting in my nice cozy house and watching the snow fall. Preferably with a good book, or a cuddly kid on my lap, or with something baking and making the whole house smell delicious.  

Well that was less painless than I thought. Maybe winter isn't so bad after all.