Jan6

Walking Disasters

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That about sums us up today…

This morning we got up and out a little earlier then usual so we could attend a fundraiser breakfast for the kid’s school. The kids were excited and I was thrilled because there are few things I like better then breakfast out.  But, we didn’t even make it out of the driveway before the drama started. Scorch wanted to bring two lego figures with him to breakfast and asked me to get him a good guy and a bad guy.  All I could find were two bad guys and he was Not Pleased. At all. So he generally threw a fit the entire 10 minute drive over.

When we got to the restaurant, Scorch dropped the hat to one of his lego guys into a crevice of the car and he couldn’t reach it.  This normally wouldn’t be a huge deal, but the Hubs was dropping us off and there was a line of 4 cars behind us waiting to get out while Scorch tried (unsuccessfully) to reach the freaking hat. The Hubs and I finally ended up yelling at him to get him to move out of the car before the folks behind us started honking.  So that’s why I walked into breakfast this morning with a 4 year telling me in a sticky sweet voice how good she’s been and my 6 year old crying. Awesome.

The kids and I got a table, I got Scorch calmed down and we went up the buffet line.  The Hubs wasn’t there, but I decided that we’d be fine. I’d hold the Bean’s plate along with mine and Scorch could hold his.  So I’m ordering my food while constantly muttering “use two hands” under my breath to Scorch. I swear I only took a 2 second break in  my mantra, but that was enough. Scorch got distracted and that big china plate tumbled to the ground, breaking into a million pieces.  Now, if there is anything Scorch hates more then calling attention to himself in a negative way, I don’t know what it is. So suddenly I’m juggling two full plates with a 6 year old burrowing into my side all while trying to help clean up a mess and apologizing left and right.  That was fun.

But the mess got cleaned up and we made it back to the table with our food- just in time for the Hubs to arrive. Finally- man on man defense. So we all dig in and make it 5 whole minutes before disaster strikes again. Just as the Hubs got done warning the Bean to move her cup to the inside of the table, he knocks his OJ to the ground- and, in the process of cleaning that, he dumps the Bean’s water.  As this point, all I can do is laugh. I mean- come on. It’s not even 10:30 in the morning.  I bet the entire wait staff (all 6th graders and parent volunteers) let out a huge sigh of relief when we left.

I wish I could say the day got better, but it really didn’t. The Hubs got a migraine, I was that mom putting her kids in timeout in the aisles of Target and Scorch managed to spill half of my much-loved Starbucks hot chocolate.  But our evening was spent with friends, the Hubs is feeling better and both kids are sound asleep.  Here’s hoping tomorrow is much, much less eventful!

 

Jan2

The Making of an Awesome Day

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Surprisingly enough, the kids slid back into the routine of school without much of a fuss this morning.  As amazing as the vacation was, I think we were all ready for a bit of routine back in our lives.  That said, I missed the little buggers like crazy and couldn’t wait to get them from school today.  As the bound into the car, I asked them how their day was.

Scorched told me it was the best day ever because I’ll never guess in a million years why.  Because he and Logan had on the same underwear, that’s why! The same totally awesome Lego Star Wars underwear and that was awesome.

I was too charmed by his enthusiasm to ask him exactly how he knew this. Honestly, I don’t think I want to know.

Jan1

A Sore Subject

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Scorch has a canker sore.  You know- those annoying teeny, tiny little sores you get in your mouth along your gum line? I get them when I eat too much chocolate and for all I know, that’s how Scorch got his too.  I keep trying to tell my boy that it’s not a big deal, but to my budding hypochondriac (a delightful bonus that cropped up with his anxiety), it’s a Huge Deal.

Mom- why did I get this?

I don’t know, Bud- too much chocolate? Or maybe not enough sleep.

Is it from too much gum?

Probably not.

What about how I got bopped in the jaw 2 weeks ago at football? Could that have caused it?

I don’t think so.

How about maybe I’m losing a tooth and that is causing this.

Rather doubt it.

And on and on and ON. Finally the Bean turned around, glared at her brother and said “Enough! It doesn’t matter how you got it. Deal with it.”  It’s very handy having a kid around who can say exactly what you’re thinking so you don’t have to be the bad guy!

Dec30

Well, That was Awesome!

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And it was. It, of course, being Christmas!  All the shopping, wrapping, stress, anticipation and craziness was more than worth it for all the fun we’ve had in the past 8 days.

To recap, we have:

> Celebrated Christmas 7 times since last Saturday: 1) the Hub’s Dad’s side of the family, 2) the Hub’s Mom’s side of the family, 3) my immediate family (parents, siblings, etc), 4) my Dad’s side of the family, 5) just the 4 of us, 6) Christmas night hodgepodge at my aunt and uncle’s and 7) my Mom’s side of the family. And we still have one more celebration to go!

ChristmasTree_2012

> Taken over 300 new pictures.

> Celebrated my brother’s engagement!

> Gone through 3 rolls of wrapping paper and 3 rolls of tape.

> Unwrapped all those hard-wrapped presents in under 20 minutes each time we’ve exchanged gifts.

Bean_Xmas2012

> Eaten more food in one week then I have in months- and enjoyed every bite of it.

> Spent 2+ hours sledding.

Sledding_122412

> Driven well over 400 miles doing round trips to various family members homes.

reflection

> Gone on one date night, had one breakfast with friends from high school and had one girl’s night out with my sister and mom.

> Watched Scorch put together 7 lego sets and meltdown approximately 100 times when said lego sets fall apart when moving them around.

> Had a billion lightsaber fights since we are now the proud owners of 7 lightsabers (you can never have too many, you know).

> Watched 4 movies with the Hubs- only one of which I’d recommend (Trouble with the Curve).

> Enjoyed each and every day of this vacation as both the Hubs and I have been off since the 24th!

All in all? This has been one amazing holiday!

 

 

Dec20

The Season of Craziness

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Ah, Christmas. The time of love and joy and celebration. A time for family and togetherness and appreciation.

Yup, it is all that. But in my house, it’s also the time of crazy anticipation, last minute mall runs, kids hopped up on sugar and the inevitable freakout over Christmas cards not sent. It’s also the time for wrapping. I *loathe* wrapping. I also really, really stink at it.

See, I suck.

Is it wrong to want your kids to be older simply because then you can put their presents in gift bags? If so, forget I mentioned it.

All that said, I love this time of year. I love the Christmas carols and the fact that we have 4 Christmas celebrations over 4 days starting on Saturday. I love that we get to spend precious time with each side of our families and that I only have to cook for 1 of these parties. I love giving gifts I know people will love even if the wrap job is less then stellar. I love seeing how excited my kids get over each and every thing we do- from looking at the lights around town, to seeing Santa, to picking out gifts for each other. It’s fun- they’re fun- and I’m bound and determined to soak up every minute of it.

From here on out, life is going to get crazy as our celebrations go into full swing.  So I wanted to wish you and yours a very Merry Christmas!  May Santa bring all your families much love, companionship and joy this holiday season!

Dec17

Jokes from a 6 Year Old

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What do you say to a hurt polar bear?Are you all white?

Why did Santa eat a snail?
Because he doesn’t like fast food.

What did the tissue start to dance?Because it had a little boggie in it!

~*~*~*~*~*~

We opted not to tell the kids anything about what happened in CT before school. There was a police officer posted at every school in our county (state?) this morning, but the sight of a police car in front of the school wasn’t anything new to the kids as one is frequently there to stop speeders.  The kids came home happy as can be and neither one has mentioned anything.  I’m OK with that.

So now we turn towards the mundane. Keeping the kids sane before Christmas. Wrapping the endless gifts. Finishing the last minute shopping.  Trying to remember to move the stinking Elf each night (we’ve had two fails in the past week). And I’m OK with that too. My kids need normalcy and routine, and so do I.

 

 

 

Dec16

Talking about Trauma

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20 kids.

All weekend long, I couldn’t stop thinking about those 20 kids and 6 adults.  A whole classroom of 1st graders- gone. Scorch is in 1st grade.

It’s like a loop in my head that I can’t turn off- the feelings of shock and anger and sorrow and thankfulness for all that I have.  So I’ve said a lot of prayers and hugged my kids (and my friends kids) a heck of a lot tighter this weekend.  We’ve also donated, knowing it’ll never be enough, but hoping that somehow it’ll help.

The Hubs and I haven’t had the news on this weekend around the kids. It’s been strictly CDs and DVDs all weekend long, so the kids have no idea what’s happened. The shooting was alluded to a few times in Church today, but that went right over the kid’s heads. Which is how is should be- 4 year olds and 6 year olds should never have to give a thought to the evils of the world. Except, sometimes, no matter how you try to protect them, evils intrudes.

Our school system has been wonderful, sending out emails on Friday and again today discussing their emergency planning and how the school plans to address the shooting in CT.  The school the kids attend is PreK- 6th grade and we have been told that the teachers will not be bringing up the subject in class.  But what if one the kids does?

So the Hubs and I have been debating all night if we tell the kids about what happened. I am, by my nature, an open book and have been known a time or two to over share and give my kids way more info then they need.  I’ve always felt that I’d rather my kids hear things from me then anywhere else, even if what they are hearing is scary or sad.  The Hubs, on the other hand, sees the bad on a daily basis at his job and does whatever he can to shield the kids from the ills of the world.  Add in Scorch’s anxiety and I honestly have no idea if we should talk to them about this or not.

I’ve been scouring the internet and taking informal polls on Facebook and there is no one, right answer. There are a ton of wonderful, wonderful resources on how to talk to your kids about the CT shooting- but not one that says that yes, you should tell them or no, you shouldn’t.  The kids are asleep now, so clearly the time for talking tonight is past. I think we’re going to wait to see what questions they come home with tomorrow. Is it too much to hope for that they don’t get wind of this at all and they can keep their innocence for a little while longer?

Dec13

Code Red! Code Red!

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So tonight started out like any other night. In fact, tonight was better then a lot of other nights. We went to the library and I hit the motherload of books. And not only did I find books I can’t wait to read, I even found a new Mo Willems book for the kids. If that doesn’t make for an awesome night, I don’t know what does.

Books

Then we went to swim class where the kids had a freaking ball and we came home so we could all relax at home and life was good.  That is, until Scorch got out of bed to ask me a question.  That is when life went south. Quickly.

“Mom, June told me something today. She told me that there is no Santa Claus. Or Tooth Fairy. She said it’s really our parents giving us toys or money.”

Are. You. Freaking. Kidding. Me?!?!  He’s 6 years old- I figured we had at least 2 more years before we had to deal with this!  So I did what any other parent would do- I plead poverty and squeamishness then I plain old lied.

“Bud- do you think we have the money to buy you all those toys ourselves? And your teeth? I wouldn’t touch them with a 10 foot pole. Do you remember how grossed out I was after you lost your tooth? Do you really think I’d get up in the middle of the night just so I could go fish your tooth out from  under your pillow and touch it?! Are you kidding me?”

He considered that for a while and agreed that I was, in fact, completely disgusted by teeth. But he still wasn’t too sure about the whole Santa thing. So I pulled out the big guns.

“Alright, if there is no Santa, where does Buddy the Elf go at night? He’s not here any of the times I get up to use the bathroom- he must be at the North Pole.”

Thankfully that seemed to have stumped him for the time being- evidently I’m a very convincing actress at 6 am when I pretend not to know where Buddy is hiding.

*sigh* I think (hope/pray) we dodged the bullet this time around.  The Hubs and I synched up when he got home, so we have our stories straight. Let’s just hope we still have more power over Scorch then his friends.

Dec12

Chalk

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I’m tired and cranky tonight- even my festive PJ bottoms aren’t doing much to raise my spirits. I feel like Little Lama in Lama, Lama, Holiday Drama- there is simply too much going on right now and not enough time to do it all.   So to counteract all the blech, here’s what makes me happy right now:

> The kids and I read a wonderful book tonight called Chalk. There are no words in this book, just gorgeous illustrations and a wonderful story about the power of imagination. Scorch was not pleased when we started it, but by the end, he asked to read it again.  Love it.

> I got a compliment today that makes me hope that my crazy workout schedule is paying off.

> I know what I’m buying everyone for Christmas- now I just need to actually purchase said gifts.

> I love, love, love opening the mailbox and getting all the Christmas cards. Love them.

Ok, that’s all I can think of. Let’s hope tomorrow is a better day.