Holiday Report

I'm na hantum prince, I'm Bear!
TRANSLATION: I'm not a handsome prince, I'm Bear!
My kids are into playing pretend. Pirates, Princesses, Monstas. When you are a mother, your princess days are over. Now you are relegated to be a monster or frog, or, if you're lucky, the princess's older sister. (Just had to share this)

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Christmas was great. There was no holiday let down that it didn't live up to my fantasies. The kids were into Santa. Santa was into coming. Cookies. Presents were opened at a pleasurable pace. Mess was somewhat contained. We played in our pajamas most of the day. I made killer pulled pork tacos. What more could you want?

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Sunday was hectic preparing for a 16 person party on Monday while having houseguests, but everything turned out fine. Monday's gathering bubbled with hugs, laughter and chatter: kids playing, women cooking, men gathering around iPads. It was a long, satisfying, exhausting day. The next morning, the kids were able to see their cousins ride off into the overcast sky from our local airport. (a.k.a. strip of runway where you walk right up the plane.)

So now the family is gone, and tonight it's our turn. We've got a babysitter. Need I say more?

Happy New Year. 

An Authentic December

The kids had their first visit to Santa yesterday. Bear wanted nothing to do with him after thirty seconds, and Boo, having just pulled my carefully placed bow from her hair, decided she could look up from her candy cane long enough to smile.

In the past fourteen days I've shopped "Black Friday", had three days of birthday celebrations, including a party with eight-3 year olds, multiple cupcakes, a visit from my stepdaughter and her boyfriend, a cheesecake, a five day visit from my best friend, two more birthday cakes and our company's Christmas party. It's been crowded, crazy, filling, fun, decadent, wonderful, yummy, festive...pretty much in that order. And there's no let up, starting next weekend we'll have more family visiting until after Christmas.

By now I know the scenario.

The planning: I'm the warm hearted and excited hostess. Ready to welcome all into our house with freshly made beds, flowers & chocolates.

The reality: The housecleaning, the laundry, overwhelming guilt as your children watch TV so you can accomplish these things. Making beds at 10:00 p.m. the night before, promising that next time I'll have the flowers and chocolates. Hostess facade completely crumbled.

But after many late night conversations over cozy glasses of Bailey's, and enjoying the kids re-bonding with their long distance family members, I settle into the chaos. It is a skill I am perfecting. It's okay if someone gets cranky. Isn't that what families do? We get cranky, make memorable remarks, and share things that an average houseguest doesn't...our realness. So here's to authentic holiday experiences.

At it Again...

---Boo just called down from her room. (She usually has a litany of requests after I put her to bed: potty, cold feet, a blanket fix.) Now it's, "Mommy, I have a booger". I really, really, really don't want to go up there. I can't believe I just told her to "wipe it on the carpet". Hmmm, probably not the best response....I think I'm getting desperate. OK, ok, I'm going up to get her a Kleenex!

--Back again, both kid and carpet are clean. Now, where was I?

The craft bug is biting me again. Actually, this is a project that I've been working on for a year now, but it was put on the back burner while I played PTA mom. Now that this volunteer project from hell is almost over (notice the word "almost"), I can get back to my own stuff and try to get something done by Christmas.

I'm creating a felt name book for each of the kids, each page will have a letter and a picture from their name.

No letters, yet, but here's sneak peek...I'll post better pictures once it's finished.

Bikes

I love sharing these photos of the kids with their best friend, K. The kids love their bikes, we've even started riding at the local BMX track. And when I say 'we', I mean the whole family! M says, "It's surreal that I'm riding bikes with three* year olds!". It's true, they ride so fast and go down these big hills that you forget their age.

(Technically, they're actually still two until early December, so it's even more amazing.)

Life Busy, More Later

My poor blog has gone by the wayside. Between houseguests, business guests and one pesky volunteer project that just won't end, life has been busy. For now, you'll just have to settle for picures.


Digging a hole with Dad (I suppose that's obvious!)


Ready to be a flagger!


Fresh from a haircut from Big Sister, V. Think he's ready for the Disney channel?


One of our granddaughters, with V's dog "Stewie"


Posing in a tree



Another free haircut!

Virtual Fridge

Boo is always coming home with artwork. Not that Bear doesn't paint, but every day, Boo comes home with 2 - 3 paintings she has done at her school. She seems to have an eye for composition and color. Am I a little biased? Nah. I thought I would kick off our first "Virtual Fridge" with one of her recent projects (one of my faves).

Safeway...aaaargh!

C'mon, I spent eight bucks. Do I really need all this paper?