A Week of Holiday Festiveness...

The magic of "Jesus' Birthday" and Santa's sleigh bells for a little girl...
Good food all around...
A few runs down the sledding hill...
Laughter filling the house...
Catching up with old friends in town...
Lots of love and little moments to cherish...
Too many reasons to be thankful...
It's been a great holiday...

Happy Holidays, Yo!

Taking a break for a few days to revel in the holiday happenings...

So throw your hands in the air, like you just don't care! The Lord Jesus has been born!

Ridic....have a wonderful week!

I Feel Lucky...

When I get to take the kids to get frozen yogurt at 11 a.m. on a Monday...for no real reason other than fun. And watch them manage chocolate cones in the back seat of the car, with their little mouths peering over their oversized winter coats. They must think their mother is a whack-job sometimes. A fun whack-job...

Whenever one of them reaches out to hold hands. Almost every time they do this, I think to myself, "I wonder how long they'll want to do this, I better remember this moment..."

When Lucy really needs a hug. She'll give me this look, with sad eyes on her poor face, and I know what she wants. And then she'll roll over to me and hug me with her head on my shoulder, just like the old days when she was a little baby. She won't let me dare call her "my baby" anymore, but at least she lets me do that every once in a while...

When I see Tommy help his sister. Lucy will pave the way for Tommy for years to come, I am sure. BUT - believe it or not, he helps her feel confident in anxious situations. He's such a different tempermant than her. At library class or in a new setting, he will jump right in. Often times she will watch him jump in, and then head in herself. Sometimes, that 21 month difference is nothing...

When I struggle with understanding my emotional Luce. Man, she has been something else lately. In ways that are too numerous to write about. Let's just say the girl is testing and pushing boundaries like crazy. And it's hard, hard work to be her mom sometimes. I think I am looking in a mirror a lot of the time. And maybe because of that, I struggle even more. Because, really, she's showing me the "pros" and "cons" of my own personality first-hand, at a preschool level. And once again, I can't control it. I like control and with kids, sometimes that just isn't possible.
Because of all of that, she is making me a better person...

Let's All Try and Act Casual....

I'm going to go ahead and pretend like last week didn't happen mmmmkay??? Great....moving on....what a nice weekend we had! Much to be thankful for...none of which costs $7,000. O.k. really...moving on....


Tommy's attempt at saying "Cheeeese!" at the Santa lunch we attended this morning...


Lucy visited Santa today...she was semi-nervous but ultimately, very brave! She even represented for Tomma, who was too shy to even make eye contact with the big guy!


Lastly, a random jam out session with some buddies. We have all known these kids since the day they were born and I can't believe they are now 3 1/2 and 4 years old...time flies...

Just in Case There Was Any Question Life Doesn't Currently Blow...

Three Glorious Ways to Have Your Holiday Spirit Squashed....

1. Realize Sunday afternoon that your sewer line is plugged. Then have Roto Rooter tell you your line is broken. Then have a company tell you it's going to cost you thousands of dollars (literally) to even be able to brush your teeth again. And then have to pee and shower at other people's houses for days at a time.

2. Have your daughter find your gift stash under your bed while trying to entertain children while husband speaks with 5 contractors visiting the house all day long. "Why do you have my pink pony I wanted, mom?" Great....

3. Come home from showering the family at someone's house, only to walk into your family room and see dog diarrhea all over your carpet. Matt is on hour two of steam cleaning and it is almost 9 p.m.

Seriously...the holiday spirit has left me...

"Fa La La!" and Fear....

I can't believe it is ONLY Saturday night. It is a good thing when the weekend feels long! It's been quite a festive one so far, kicking off with a shin-dig at our place last night. BTW, a great way to host a party is to have everyone bring one appetizer and one bottle of wine = perfect amount of food and fun samples of everything! Not to mention, totally not stressful to host at all. I kind of forgot I was even the host at times, so I would stop and take obnoxious photos such as these...


Check out my bedazzled shirt, yo!

And, after 4 glases of cabernet, did you know it's fun to make fake phone calls and try to look important? Well, it is...


(p.s. Could my jaw BE any larger?)
Moving on...

Today was Lucy's very first dance recital. I had low expectations of the day, so that was a good start. From the following pics, you would think she had a blast and was "Dancer Johnson," right? Sadly and frustratingly, the answer to that question is NO. She is NOT Dancer Johnson. And no willing, bribing or motherly techniques by me would help her with her anxiousness of being on stage, looking out at 300 adults staring at her. If only I had a video camera from this century, I would totally post the video, because it was ridic. Totally absurd. She sat up on stage for all of 5 seconds and then ran off. Then ran back. Just in time to get the candy cane at the end. Of course...
To be honest, I am happy she even went on stage. She didn't want to do it at all.
Anyway, after watching the show, I giggled a little and it didn't seem so annoying in retrospect. At the time, I pretty much wanted to kill her.
I am a person who has been paid for my skills in public speaking! I have been a corporate trainer for a national company! I had a college scholarship for dramatic oral interpretations! I took 8 years of drama class! You need an announcement made in front of 100's of people? Call me. Play the guitar or sing a ditty among strangers? I am your girl. Audition for Second City in Chicago with a fake resume? Done.
But little is it known that in the 6th grade, that very same girl gave her first oral report on the topic of bed wetting (topic chosen for reasons unknown). I will never forget the fear. I was so scared to death, that I actually started CRYING in front of the class mid-way through the report. I was mortified. I couldn't cope with everyone staring. I was frozen with the fear of all eyes on me. It was my personal hell.
Well, what the hell is my point, you ask?
The lesson here is that things shall be overcome. Confidence will grow. Three-year-olds are usually freaked by 300 people staring at them and a white light blazing on their eyeballs. And just because she ran off the stage, doesn't mean she is ruined for life. She just wasn't into it.
She told me tonight that she loves dancing CLASS, just not the "show part." I get it. Too much pressure. And isn't it about "the process," not "the end?"
And come on, she still got her candy cane. So life is good...

We Can All Dream...

After visiting a friend's new baby this week and hearing announcements of baby #3 in the works for a few of her preschool classmates, Lucy throws this request out yesterday:

Lucy: "Mom? Can you put more people in your tummy?"

Me: "I don't think so, Luce. Mom is all set having babies."

Lucy: "But I'd really like a baby sister!"

Me: "Just pretend with your babies. There will be no more "people" coming out of mom anymore...."

Gym Shopping....

O.k. so the weather is winning in the "me running outside" vs. "freezing butt ass cold winter weather" match.
After last week's freezing outside runs, I am waving the white flag. I just can't do it. I try to be hard core but it's just killing me.
Therefore, I have been "free passing" it and "gym shopping" over the past week and I need to probably make a decision on it next week. I think I will just be a short-timer (hopefully I only need the membership until end of March).
I am not a big "class" person or "weights" person, per se. I also don't enjoy people walking or running beside me or me having to hear them breathe.
So, if I can't brave the weather, I guess I will be joining them...at least until I can get back out there without my nostrils freezing over.
I took Tomma to the gym day care this morning. He was NOT PLEASED. Until...they opened up the gym for the kiddies! All of a sudden, I see little Tomma waddle into the gym area holding a ball. For the 30 minutes that I saw him, he stood around holding the ball, wandering around the big kids and breaking out into random sprints every now and then. All I could think was, "PLG."
When I picked him up, he started waving at me and yelled, "Mama! Yeah!" and I asked him if he liked the ball and the kids. He dropped down from my arms in the parking lot and started yelling, "Kids! Kids!" and running back towards the gym.
Total kid-loving, ball-loving, shock and awed by everything, PLG Tomma...

Post-Christmas Event Hangover Gone Wrong...

This is a new phrase in our house that Matt and I shall remember for all ages.

"Post-Christmas Event Hangover."

Description: How your 3.5 year old acts the day after a large family gathering, while playing well with other kids and no break in the action from 11:30 a.m. - 7 p.m. This may include screaming, sobbing, breaking down when they turn left too quick, not wanting to do anything you ask, hitting siblings, drawing houses with black crayon on your new basement carpet and walls, having to leave Sunday school while kicking and screaming, having to leave the gym child care area while kicking and screaming, having to go to bed kicking and screaming because scared of "monsters," etc. etc. etc....

Cure: 13 hours sleep and lots of booze for mom and dad.