Big Announcement

I enjoy writing. I've been told that I'm fairly good at it; at least, my Facebook posts keep people entertained. So much so, in fact, that I've been encouraged many times to write a book.

The thought of that scares the snot out of me.

Why? Not because of the work it takes to write a book, or the very possible chance of rejection by publishers, or the fact that I already can barely keep up with all the projects on my desk. The real reason it scares me is this: people on the internet are mean. Awful, even. I often find myself breaking a major rule of Facebook scrolling (Thou Shalt Not Read the Comments), and some of them really upset me. If I write something that is featured online somewhere, would I be able to handle it if people said terrible things about my writing, or my family? Doubtful. But, that hasn't stopped me from submitting essays I've written to online journals, and so far I've survived the treacherous comment sections after my pieces were published. Because I would probably forever regret it if I didn't try, I've decided that it's time to put pen to paper (er, fingers to keyboard?) and write the message that's been on my heart for a few years.

I've already started outlining my ideas so I can begin to craft the first draft of my book. My book. I'm excited, but may throw up. I'll keep you posted via Facebook. Seriously, though, I have no idea where this will go, but I'm doing it.

Thanks to all who have encouraged me, and hopefully I won't disappoint anyone (read: disappoint myself). For now, keep your fingers crossed, say a little prayer for me, and stay tuned...

The End

So, here we are. One year and 365 blog posts later, the challenge is complete. 

Some posts were a bit late (not many, but some), some were just not good, but they are all there. I did it. 

I'm not sure where to go from here. Ideally, I'd like to have my own website with fancier graphics, but we'll see. 

For now, I'll wish everyone a safe and happy 2015. 

Thanks for reading. 

I Love You, Man

Every night around 7pm, it begins, without fail. Alex gets super affectionate and tells me "I love you, Mommy!" about every 12 minutes. He reminds me of a little drunk man; he will interrupt a conversation to tell me, or stop whatever he's doing to remind me. I can't help but giggle sometimes. 

It is super sweet, though, and I love hearing him say it. 

Respite

The kids were invited to sleep over at their grandparents' house; this is something they do fairly often, but it's always a treat for them. 

It's a treat for me, too, and a much needed break. I got to grocery shop by myself, run errands at the mall, get take out for dinner, take a bath (seriously, first leisurely bathing experience in ten years!), and now watch tv in peace. 

Truth be told, I miss them. But, we'll be back to our regularly scheduled chaos soon enough. Until then, I've got more turns on Soda Crush calling my name. 

Never Try to Eat All the Cookies

So, earlier I declared today Pajama Day, and decided I might eat all the leftover Christmas cookies. While I didn't eat all of them, I ate way too many and now regret it. Here is why you should never try to eat all the cookies:

When you try to eat all the cookies you end up feeling like a lazy blob, and you crash on the couch. 

When you crash on the couch, the kids think you are sleeping and try to get away with murder. 

Ok, maybe not murder, but Alex will open the back gate and let the dog escape. 

When the dog escapes, you have to chase her down the street...in your pajamas (because you declared today Pajama Day). 

Because you are chasing her in your pajamas, all the neighbors are outside to watch, because of course. 

Because they are watching, the dog is stubborn and you have to pick her up and haul her home (she is a big dog). 

While you struggle down the street, in your pajamas with the dog, your husband will text you from home. He'll text "need help", but forget the question mark and accidentally text it to his mother first. 

Because she receives a random text for help, she thinks Mark is in danger and is understandably worried. She calls all the cell phones to make sure everyone is ok. 

You finally stumble through the front door, with the dog, and collapse on the couch and refuse to make dinner because you might vomit because you tried to eat all the cookies. 

Trust me on this: do not try to eat all the cookies. It's so not worth it. 

Christmas 2014

We had a wonderful Christmas! The kids are thrilled with their gifts, and more importantly, we had a terrific time with our family. 

Andrew fell asleep on my lap last night for the first time in ages, and then I put my tired self to bed. (Hence, the late blog post.)

I have officially declared today Pajama Day, which will include playing new board games and eating all the remaining Christmas cookies. Oh, and perhaps finally finishing the holiday cards. As long as they're out by New Year, it will be ok, right? 

Making Christmas...

Yep. Still up, wrapping gifts. The most difficult category is finished, and I'm about to begin the next category. I'll leave family gifts for tomorrow. 

So ready to fall over somewhere...

Tick tock...

Anyone else feeling the pressure of the holidays? I just need to calm down and realize that if something doesn't get done in time, to match my expectations, the world will go on. Cards might be late, and that's ok. The packages might not get wrapped with custom made, fluffy bows, and that's ok, too. The baking may not be as delicious as I want it to be, and that's...well, let's face it, that would be sad. Nobody wants burned Christmas cookies.

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good amount of caffeine to get this all done in time.

Elf Drama

Jingles and his hijinks might be a little too convincing.

Yesterday, Andrew stepped on his Flash action figure, breaking both legs off at the knees. Instead of being upset, though, he set the pieces in front of Jingles and asked that he take them back to Santa's workshop for repair. 

I smiled, arrogantly thinking I could fix Flash and have him back to Andrew in no time. I just needed to remember to collect the pieces after the kids went to bed, fix the toy, then stage him with Jingles to complete the illusion. Before I headed to bed, I actually remembered to grab the pieces, and initially thought I could just pop the knees back into place. 

Oh, was I wrong.

Apparently, there are little pegs which hold the bottom parts of Flash's legs in place...or, there were little pegs. They seem to have broken completely off. So, now I have to figure out how to repair Flash. Hopefully glue will work, but then Flash probably won't have legs that bend at the "joint". 

Of course, Andrew noticed that his beloved super hero was missing today, and reassured me that Jingles would bring him back after he was fixed. "Maybe Santa will even put a button on his chest, so when I press it, Flash will run super fast around the house!"

Crap. That, I can't do. I love that the kids still believe in the magic of the holiday. If I can replace this action figure, I think they will continue to believe. No pressure, right? ;) Perhaps it's time to take to the internet to search for a replacement.

The Return of Jingles

Our elf returned last night to spend the holidays with our family. The kids were elated to see Jingles waiting for them this morning, and promptly set out an elf-friendly breakfast of Hershey kisses and Smarties to welcome him back. 

Cute, right?

It really was, until I realized I had to quickly eat those candies to keep up my ruse. I stealthy unwrapped the candy, shoved it in my mouth, and arranged the wrappers around Jingles. 

Cute, right?

It was, and the kids giggled in delight when they discovered that "Jingles ate" his breakfast, and I was pretty proud of my ninja elf skills. But, they continued to "feed" Jingles all day. 

Seriously. All. Day. I don't know how I didn't get caught, sneaking the treats away each time. 

Later, they asked if they could sleep in the living room tonight (they think this is great fun). Being the weekend, of course I agreed, and then immediately wanted to bang my head against the wall. With them in the living room, I would have to stage the elf for tomorrow in the kitchen, and very quietly at that. Blurg. 

But, I managed to do it, again without getting caught. I've got mad elf skills, I guess. 

The things we do for our kids...

Cards

Holiday cards are finally ordered. Ugh. That task really should not be the most time consuming of all the holiday items on my to-do list, but somehow, it took me days to get it crossed off.

Now let's see how long it takes me to get them addressed when they arrive. I totally should have ordered "Happy 2015" cards.

Or maybe "Happy Valentine's Day"...

We're Off to See the Wizard...

Addie was fortunate enough to be cast in an upcoming production of The Wizard of Oz, which will be performed by our church's amazing drama group. Watching this show come together has been such a pleasure, and Addie just glows when she talks about it. She has a role as a munchkin in the Lullabye League, which has been just perfect for her: not too overwhelming, but enough stage time to satisfy her growing love of performing.

Although I've seen and heard a lot of rehearsals over the last six weeks, I am excited to see the finished production, which begins this Thursday evening. If you are local, I highly encourage you to join us for one of the shows. The cast is fantastic, it's a free show, and it's The Wizard of Oz, so you know you'll love the story.

For more information about show times and location, click here. See you in Oz!

Here Comes Jingles...

I spent time today taking down Halloween decorations, and replacing them with a few Thanksgiving items. No Christmas decorations will go up in our house until at least the day after Thanksgiving, although I did complete a couple of holiday related items today.

After chatting with Alex and learning about a couple of games he likes to play, I immediately contacted Santa and put in a request for those games. Alex is quite difficult to buy for, as he has just a few real interests (like Hot Wheels cars...and he owns well over 200 cars at this point...), so I wanted to make sure that Santa knew about these items.

This evening, I spent some time putting together a photo book for the kids, as instructed by their North Pole elf, Jingles. He wants them to get excited for his arrival, and also be reminded that they need to behave in order for him to stick around, so we'll see how this goes.

These tasks, on top of the usual Saturday chores (laundry and housework, yuck!), and the excitement of Andrew losing his first tooth, made for quite a busy day. I am tired.

Happy November, friends. For what are you thankful? Today, I am thankful that my kids are able to share the magic of each season and be excited for upcoming holidays and traditions.

Yaaaawn

I am up way past my bedtime. I enjoy the quiet of this house, that is only available after 10pm, way too much. But, sadly, I pay for it dearly the next day. It's a vicious cycle.

Good night.

Family Photos

Who waits until the evening before a family photo shoot to check the weather for the next day?

Yep. Me. 

After realizing that it will be much cooler than anticipated, who scrambled about trying to find coordinating vests, scarves, and mittens?

Yep. Me. 

After finally returning home and trying to relax, who realizes that the shoot is actually scheduled for 11:30am rather than 10am?

Yep. You guessed it. 

Let's just hope that the kids are somewhat cooperative. I would really love a new family photo. 

At least I can return the vests if we won't need them...

Early Weekend

The kids don't have school tomorrow, which means that our weekend starts early. Hooray!! We're all tired and in need of an extra day off. 

Bedtime Battles

It's been a long day. I am more than ready to go to bed. 

Of course, this means that Alex is fighting bedtime. Super. 

Hopefully soon we'll all get some rest. Cross your fingers. 

Guest Blogger

I blogged over here today, with a little help from a special guest. ;) Check it out!

Life

"Hey, when you're out, pick up a new board game that we can all play later!"

These were the words from my husband this afternoon, and I agreed; it sounded like fun. Before my daughter and I left Target today, we stopped by the toy department and selected The Game of Life. My sister and I used to play this all the time when we were kids. We loved it! I was excited to share the game with my kids.

As with most things, we should have waited a bit longer before trying this.

Nobody could keep track of their paydays, there were cards scattered everywhere, everyone was talking over everyone else. Ugh. Not fun at all.

There were a couple of funny parts, but the game became exhausting and grew old. Appropriate, I suppose: life is tiring, stressful, and if you're lucky, kind of funny sometimes.

After the kids cleaned up the game, I slyly slid it under a cabinet with my foot. I hope they forget we own it, at least for a few days. I need time to recover.

Refresher

It's no secret that our schedules are nuts around here. The kids are fortunate in that they can participate in lots of activities, and Mark and I also have at least one "night out" where we can get a break. Our schedules are quite opposite these days, but he and I both need the break away from the chaos.

Right now, my break falls on Wednesday nights, when I attend a bible study class at my church. Not only is it a chance for my to expand my understanding of my religion, but it is also time for me to sit and catch my breath. I can listen to and participate in conversations with friends, without being asked for more chocolate milk, or breaking up a fight, or telling someone to get away from the dog. It's lovely.

I leave with a feeling of peace, and although it's a fleeting moment (as I'm all too soon back to filling cups of chocolate milk and yelling about the dog), it gets me through to Sundays, when I can once again sit quietly and enjoy the peace.