Somee Saturday….My Post Christmas Musings

Today I purged my house of Christmas decorations, and yet I still feel like throwing everything we own away.  Christmas is officially over.  ;)

Twas Christmas

As we were putting out the cookies and milk for Santa on Christmas Eve, Abbie eyed the plate and glass of milk she was carefully carrying, and announced, "This may be a good evening for Santa!".  A few moments later, ever vigilant over the Christmas treats, she spotted her sister at the table near some goodies and yelled over, "Emma's going to eat some of that!!!!  Do you understand me?!?!?"

I hope last night was a good night for Santa, and for you, as it was for us!  May all your stories be happy, funny, full-of-awseome-real-life ones!  Praying the joy of giving fills your hearts to overflowing, like little children.  Christmas is magic, and I love seeing that in my little girl's eyes.  I hope you get to see it this year too.    

Sometimes I wonder if Jesus kept Mary on her toes, like my little ones do.  I am inclined to think He probably did.  His siblings may have found it more than a little annoying when He foretold the naughty thing they were about to do before they did it!  Emma certainly would!  It's nice to think that one mother, long ago, can always top any story I've got;)

    

From our funny little family to yours…

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Ps.  I wrote this post on Christmas Eve.  Sitting here tonight, I am in simple awe of the beauty and magic of Christmas when little kids are in the house!  Emma was sick and Abbie had trouble knowing how to be thankful for so many things all at once.  But none of that mattered.  Abbie helped her sister take her medicine when she didn't want to so she could feel better, and was so excited about her stuffed fox from Santa that she ran and put it in her room right away.  Emma was on the edge of death every time the Tylenol ran out, but she was the life of the party as soon as it kicked in, wearing her new sparkly shoes from Santa with just her diaper everywhere she went.  Good, magical, amazing times.  May all be merry and bright with each of you tonight.

Somee Saturday!

The inspiration for today's card comes from Emma:)  Last night, we were walking into dinner at the ski lodge where we are vacationing, and a stranger laughed out loud when I said, "Hey Emma, how about if we don't eat snow right off our shoes?!"

The Perfect Gift

Each holiday season is ushered in by it's own series of internet wars over the proper way to celebrate, (or not celebrate), said holiday.  These Facebook wars are waged almost entirely through a series of articles published for the sake of all your friends, and your friends in turn respond with either, a) a like/comment accolade or b) a response article that states why your article was totally wrong.  Halloween, for example, can be seen on the horizon as soon as the "Please DEFINITELY don't celebrate this horrid 'holiday'!!!!" or "It's so much fun and just relax about it" articles begin to bug up your newsfeed.  

Christmas is excellent, because you can have a couple going at once.  There is the "Happy Holidays vs Merry Christmas" debate, the "Xmas vs Christmas" debate, "The manger scene was taken down at city hall and I'm super angry, or pretty ok with it" debate, and on and on.  Something fresh each morning to go with your cup of eggnog all month!  However, by far, my favorite has to be the "Materialistic gift giving, just make it yourself" vs "I think we should all shop more" debate that comes around each season.  This year has been no exception and I am pleased to announce that Abbie has solved the whole thing.  One gift.  One.  That bridges the gap and says, "Yes, I shopped for you, and yet, I also made something at home with my own two hands, and for SURE you need this!"  I give you……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sock Panty Balls!!!!

Abbie brought this basket of demo products out during nap time the other day.  The process is simple.  Shop for your friend's favorite panties and favorite socks.  Then, simply roll the panties into the socks in the form of a ball.  The basket is a really nice touch as well.  Eco friendly packaging and useful for storing all your Sock Panty Balls!  And you know this gift is one they can really use.  We all wear socks every day, and we hope everyone changes their panties!  

I seriously, seriously love these little girls of ours!  Who thinks of this stuff?!  I'm honestly thinking of turning all my panties and socks into Sock Panty Balls, because gosh darn it, it just makes sense!

Serenity Prayer for Parents of the Intelligent

I am going to just say from the outset that this post is a vulnerable one for me.  I beg the indulgence of kind mothers everywhere to look into your hearts, (and very possibly, your very own homes), and find it in yourselves not to judge what you are about to see!

Serenity Prayer for Parents of the Intelligent

God, grant me the serenity to accept the chaos and inventive construction and destruction I cannot change,

The courage to redirect, focus and make socially acceptable the things I can change,


And the wisdom to know that when I prayed for a smart kid, I totally asked for this!

Abbie's Room After Multiple Years Of Attempts And Hundreds Of Tactics Used To Make It Otherwise 

Emma's Room After The Combination Lock On The Closet That I Could Barely Get Open Failed To Stump Her

Somee Saturday

For my husband Cris…I only had to look across the table as Abbie called down the stairs to get the needed material for this one…thank you for that:)

Sittin' With Santa

Starring:  Abbie and Emma

Screen Play By:  Mommy

Sometimes, a picture is worth a thousand words….and sometimes mom's just can't help themselves and add the words anyway!  

Abbie: "Ok, this is it!  Here with the Big Guy.  I'm being good.  I'm being so good."

Emma:  "Mrs. Santa!  Looking good!"

Abbie: "Still being good.  Wow.  I wonder how long I can hold this pose?  And exactly how long do you have to be good?  I don't think I ever heard an exact amount of time.  Should look into that."

Emma:  "PARTY WITH SANTA!!!!"

Abbie: "Ok, there's the signal.  Time to turn on adorable and seal the deal.  I'm pretty sure I've got this!"

Emma: "This is just the best day of my life pretty much!"

Abbie:  "Is he looking?  I feel like he should be looking!"

Emma: "So this is starting to get super long!"

Abbie:  "Seriously, can anyone PLEASE just tell me if he's looking at me!?"

Emma: "Yep, it's for sure!  This is a lot of pictures and it's super long!"

Abbie:  "Ok, we're good.  I feel like I got the nod.  I wonder if he's going to bring me that drill I've been hoping for, so I can finish disassembling my room!"

Emma:  "Ok, one more.  But just because when I make this face, I know I am as adorable as a little chipmunk, and I am pretty sure Mom and Dad are going to remember this and give me candy;)"

Somee Saturday (On Sunday:)

The Case Of The Lollipop Wrapper

Abbie awoke from her non-nap yesterday, and came down the stairs, believing that all was right in the world.  But then she saw it.  Staring at her.  Alerting her to the fact that something quite wrong had occurred during her nap time……

A- "Mommy, why did you get a sucker?"

(Abbie had found irrefutable evidence that a sucker had been consumed while she was in her room, as an incriminating wrapper was to be found on the end table.)

M- "I didn't get a sucker"

A- "Then who did?  Was it Daddy?"

M- "Yes, I think Daddy did have a sucker."

A- "Why did he do that? HE wasn't SUPPOSED to cause he is SUPPOSED to eat his dinner first.  

M- (Not talking, just glad that she is in another room so that Abbie can't hear her laughing.  Is fairly certain Abbie would find laughter to be incriminating, proving M was in on the whole thing all along)

A- "Was it because he didn't see what he was doing because he didn't follow directions?"

And thus ends yet another case.  Abbie has yet to bring justice to the guilty, but I am sure it will come up.  She was once denied candy she felt she was owed in my absence and woke up in the middle of the night to let me know as soon as she became aware that I was home.  This is also a very good example of why my husband and I have become closet eaters.  Don't judge.  I once brought home cake pops for us to eat during nap time, and in typical 4 year-old fashion, Abbie woke up early and we ended up inhaling them like animals as she made her way down the stairs.  We solved our problem though.  We just hide candy and snacks in a decorative suitcase in our room now.

We are now officially those people who get super weird about food.  Well played tiny humans.  Well played.

YOU SHALL NOT PASS

Oh Abbie!

A Proper Motherly Thanksgiving Wish

     Happy Thanksgiving!  This is late.  This is very very late.  And there was a HUGE gap between this post and my last one.  And Somee Saturday didn't happen at all.  Congratulations!  You now can know for certain that I am a real mom and not just some childless person who dreams up cute things about imaginary kids while I drink my soy latte on the way to Pilates, on the way to yoga, all the while thinking that parenting is really not that hard after all if you just have sense of humor :P  Moms make Thanksgiving happen.  And they get a full week afterward to send out all the greetings they normally would if they were simply regular humans.
     We traveled home to Kansas this year for the best Thanksgiving on earth.  My kids, as always, were adorably weird.  And though I took some notes so I could share the wonder, my brain decided that I could either remember these epic stories or make it home alive.  Our home still contains four living people, so I think I made the right call.  Nevertheless, I feel like I owe you something, so here, in unfiltered glory, are my Mommy notes, the Thanksgiving version:

11/23/2013

A- "Mom, can you show me how to lay?"
M- "I think you pretty much have it"
A- "No, I'm flaggling.  I need you to show me how to lay"
D- "Go to sleep Abbie"
A- "But I wanted Mommy to show me how to lay!"


11/26/2013

*  "Children sense weakness.  Fruit snacks.  Wish for candy popsicles and a sudden cookie tragedy from 12 hours before at 11:30pm"

*  "Wish on KS stars"

*  "Do you want to wish for a self-folding blanket Aunt Maggie?  Mom, meanwhile, is almost comatose"

     Lol, oh my gosh when I read those it seems like a life that should definitely only be explainable with, "gosh I was so drunk last night…!"  Someone should do a side by side with drunk texts and Mommy notes.  Seriously.

I also wanted to share:

Count My Blessings- 2013

-  I'm thankful no one ate 25 tiny boxes of raisins and had diarrhea all the way home, (happened in 2011).

-  I'm thankful no one had explosive diarrhea in an Amish restaurant.  I'm thankful that poo didn't drip off the high chair and land in giant piles.  I am thankful that my brother didn't have to wrap his shirt around my child and carry her to the car with his arms out straight, while I left a $40 tip for the waitress that was still not enough, (happened 2010).

-  I'm thankful no one threw up even once, (happened…a lot!).

-  I'm thankful for amazing weather that never once made me wonder which part of the ditch would be the safest to slide into.

-  I'm thankful we all got to, as Abbie says, "stick together" this year.

-  I'm thankful for Aunt Maggie, who joined the brave sisterhood of Aunt Sarah, Aunt Candace, Aunt Ellie and Aunt Lillie.  These women have braved cross-country trips with my children, riding between my children, and I love them forever!!!!

-  I'm thankful for my two, beautiful little weirdos, who teach me about how funny life is every single day, (even when I'm not in the mood to listen!)

-  I'm thankful for my guy, who didn't loose his mind even once our whole trip, or even this entire year, though pushed to the very edge!

-  I'm thankful for Jesus, who somehow helped us all learn a lot about what it means to be "fun to be with", and who liked us enough to make it possible.