Friday, November 30, 2012

Tomorrow



Tomorrow is December 1.  Tomorrow we only have 23 more shopping days till Christmas.  Tomorrow starts one of the busiest months this busy family can have.  (I am still practicing my “NO”  from a few months ago!)  Tomorrow there are 3 craft shows and a community wide garage sale at my kids’ elementary school – and probably more I don’t know about.  Tomorrow Lara has a full rehearsal for Nutcracker Dream and I have to buy tickets (current count is 17!) for us and our friends.  Tomorrow the OSU Cowboy football team plays its last regular season game for this season.  Tomorrow sounds scary.  And fun. And BUSY. And perfect.  This is what I like about my life.  The tomorrows that are filled with crazy.  Memories in the making!

The USPS/UPS/FedEx elves have started filling our kids’ Christmas wish lists, and I have tried to find creative hiding places for the boxes.  The weather is looking good and the Husband is feeling better so Christmas decorating is on the weekend agenda.  There is no better time to get in the Christmas spirit, right?  It’s all fun and magical and filled with hope and sparkle!  


Sidebar – speaking of elves…  The “Elf on the Shelf” craze is in FULL FRENZY on my Facebook/Twitter/Instagram feeds!  Here are my thoughts on it – in an Instagram: 

It's gonna be a long December... #elfontheshelf
My friend @hamby71 and I have been working on a Zombie version of the little pesky guy, and my husband has come up with a "Cracker" (what 5 year old Jake calls a Nutcracker) version.  I think it is super creepy - both the elf and the tradition.  And, I have a friend whose Elf now has severe burns from hanging out on the chandelier the other night and almost burning their house down.  Plus, this über busy, full time working, over volunteering, super mom of 4 does not have TIME to play with an elf every night and come up with crazy scenarios...  I do, however, have an amazingly creative and talented sorority sister/photographer friend who does.  She had a Facebook page for her Elf, Moss Moss.  Check it out here.  It won't disappoint my elf lovin' friends!


For our family, we put the emphasis on Jesus’ birth, and what that means for our life, but we also participate in the Santa Clause side of things, too.  In our house, each child gets 3 gifts – much like the Magi brought to Jesus in the form of gold, frankincense and myrrh.  We try to do something they need (like sports/activity equipment, shoes, etc.), something they want (activity, book, specific toy), and something to share (video game, board game).  As the girls have gotten older, that model has gotten harder to follow, and with Finn being so little, there is not a lot he can share with 10 year old twin girls!  But, we still try to keep it minimal.  Then, they get the “big” thing they really want from Santa (unwrapped, under the tree Christmas morning), and stockings stuffed with fun little goodies (which always includes a new toothbrush, and usually socks!).  The Man in the Big Red Suit follows the instructions of this conservative, tight budgeted Momma pretty well!  (The Grandparents and Aunts spoil them, but that’s their business!)

As far as we know as parents, Emma and Lara still believe in the magic that is Santa Claus.  We think.  Lara asked some serious and pointed questions last year, and I bet she is pretty suspicious.  Emma, who has asked questions, too, but not “deep” ones, probably believes more.  And Jake is still oblivious!  He’s just mad the Tooth Fairy has not had to come see him yet!  But, Britt and I have had a few random (very short) talks lately about what to tell them and how to tell them when they POINT BLANK ask about the existence and reality of this Santa Claus.  The first thing I will tell them is that no matter what comes out of this conversation, they are in NO WAY to relate any of it to either of their little brothers! LOL!  I came across this blog post on Cozi.com again today.  The Truth About Santa | Cozi.com  (Cozi.com is the family calendar web based software I use and LOVE!)  I remember reading this blog post last year, and I think it does a god job of relating what I want to tell my kids.  And the first few comment threads are full of good information as well.  Read it, and see if it might help you when the BIG QUESTION comes up at your house!


So, as we hurl towards 3.5 weeks filled with hot chocolate (although not here – it’s like 73 the next 6 days!), ornament exchanges, work gatherings, Dirty Santa parties, plays, ballets, sporting events and kids on sugar highs from the fun sugary treats we all found on Pinterest, keep this in the back of your mind.  “Santa is love and magic and hope and happiness. I’m on his team, and now you are, too.”

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

There is a Season... Turn, Turn,Turn



That’s what I am doing: Turn, turn, TURN!  I feel like I am spinning!  Wasn’t Halloween, like, yesterday?  I distinctly remember going to @storybookgirl74’s house just a few days ago re-making Finn’s convict costume… No?  That was over a month ago?  You have GOT to be kidding!  On the upside, I think everyone is basically well at my house.  Husband was getting over a cold, got his flu shot, and the cold rebounded.  And Finicky Finn has decided to cough in his sleep from 3:30 – 4:30 every morning the past few nights.  Not during the day.  Strange baby. But as of this writing, NO ONE is on antibiotics, steroids, breathing treatments, prescription cough meds, or other co-pay required medications.  HALLELUJAH!  Definitely thankful for that.


And speaking of thankful, here is our Thanksgiving wrap up – in pictures:

Wednesday night – Pizza Party at the Ricker Romper Room:


Me and the Preemies!  Cousin Faith (my cousin Jane's daughter) visiting from New York, and My Finn

Little Mommas!  Lara with Faith (born at 34 weeks), Emma with Finn (born at 26 weeks)


Kayleigh (my brother's daughter) and Grandpa

Finn, Britt, and a very squeaky elephant!

Nana - testing her Wonder Sitter skills on Faith
Not sure why Jake was bare chested, but Rocco (my cousin Jane's son) LOVED it!

COUSINS! Emma, Lara, Faith (NY), Finn, Jake, Kayleigh (TX) and Rocco (NY)

Jake LOVES when Kayleigh comes up from Texas!


Thursday noon – traditional (for us, anyway) Thanksgiving Dinner at Curly’s  (I wish I had gotten pictures of ALL the food!  YUM!):


Finn - in his Turkey Day BEST (a tie...)

Kayleigh and Jake outside Curly's
Lara and Emma outside Curly's

My In-Laws and my Parents chatting



Kayleigh and Lara
Aunt Paula and Jake

Aunt Paula and Emma

Finn inspecting Cousin Peter's teeth
Nana, Grandpa and Kayleigh



Six Dream Weavers

True Love


Thursday afternoon – photo shoot at Aunt Paula’s:


Little Dream Weavers - Jake, Emma, Finn, Lara

Grands! Jake, Savannah, Emma, Grandma Mary, Peter, Grandpa Jake, Finn, Lara
 
Six Dream Weavers: Emma, Britt, Finn, Jake, Betsey, Lara






Friday – trip to Enid -- Oakwood mall for Santa Claus, Downtown for Light up the Plains (No fireworks pictures because it was SO COLD!  We were managing hats, hoods, gloves, and a baby!)


Jake on the train
Lara and Kayleigh in the caboose
Emma on the train



Finn taking it all in
Santa 2012
Kayleigh got in one, too!

























Christmas has descended upon us, Black Friday, Cyber Monday style!  Although we didn’t really do any hard core Black Friday shopping, my mom did have a few things on her list that Best Buy had on special.  She lucked out, went in at noon on Friday, and came out with ALL THREE THINGS SHE WANTED - in less than 20 minutes!  Wow!  I ordered a few things online Friday, and a few more one Monday, but I still have a long way to go.  Mom also scored a Cyber Monday deal for her last “big” gift.  WOW.  You go, Mom!  I have my Amazon.com cart full, but waiting to see if prices still go down…  ;)

Along with all that, it was time to get pictures taken so I could order the Christmas cards!  There was a time in my life where I wanted you to have MY card first.  I had them completely finished (picked out, pictures taken, cards ordered from the printer, shipped to me, envelopes addressed and stamped) by the last week in November, mailed so people would get them on the 1st or 2nd.  Not so much anymore!  I am ahead of last year, as I took the pictures Sunday and ordered the prints on Monday.  It’s on my weekend “to do list” to assemble and address them, but so are a million other things… We’ll see how it turns out!

We hope to decorate and put up the Christmas tree this weekend.  We had thought about doing it over the Thanksgiving break, but Britt is still fighting this cold, and the idea of stirring up dust in the garage to get all the boxes down did not appeal to him.  We want to get him healthy before we make that big mess!  But the real dilemma comes in when we think about Finn.  He’s our bull in a china shop.  With little to no body control and LOTS of curiosity!  WHERE do we put the tree?  HOW do we keep him out of it?  WHY does he not understand the word no?  Two good ideas I saw on Pinterest were to put a gate around the tree to keep little hands away.  Awesome.  I don’t have a gate like that.  And would rather spend my money on presents.  And the other was to use big diaper boxes (or similar), load them with books (or heavy items), then wrap them like Christmas presents to make a barricade.  Finn would just unwrap them, though…  *sigh* what to do… what to do…  Anyone with any other tips, PLEASE let me know!